I love the markets in Southeast Asia. There's pretty much anything that you would ever want to buy, already listed at cheap prices, and then you can bargain the vendor down even lower. I'm really enjoying the art of bargaining as well. Although I'm not as good as I could be perhaps, I am getting over my shyness when it comes to asking for lower prices. Maybe that will come in handy when I return to South Korea.
The Chatuchak Weekend Market is the king of all the markets I've visited so far in terms of size. I spent almost three hours wandering around through the T-shirt and shoe shops, but there were also ceramics stores, a food market, and a lot of other kinds of stores that I didn't have the time to visit. I would say I probably visited only 5-10% of the stores in the market, and that's over the course of three hours, so that might give you an idea of the size of this place. I stopped for snacks at some stalls with some delicious street food. I also got a fruit shake at another cafe where they were playing the strangest music: big band + singer versions of 90s alternative music. Some covers that were featured were "Wonderwall" by Oasis and "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden. That last song being turned into big band music really brings a smile to my face.
It's so easy to spend money on clothes here. My backpack is gradually running out of room.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Stupidity
This morning I was supposed to catch my cheap AirAsia flight from Phnom Penh to Bangkok that I had booked a month in advance. Instead, I caught a much more expensive (but nice) Bangkok Airways flight to Bangkok an hour later than I was scheduled to leave. Wherefore the discrepancy?
This morning, I ignored the three wake-up knocks that the hotel staff gave me this morning, because I kept looking at my watch at the side of the bed, and it was telling me that I had plenty of time before my driver was scheduled to leave with me for the airport. But, it turns out that sometime between yesterday and today, my watch stopped working for an hour and a half, so it was actually an hour and a half later than I thought it was. I suppose I should have judged that something was wrong by the height of the sun outside the window, but I just went by the watch, and I thought that the staff must have gotten the wrong wake-up time for me, thinking that I had requested an earlier time. This combination of bad luck and ignorance on my part caused me to miss the AirAsia flight. The moral is: Never trust that you are in complete possession of the correct time. Truly, time is fluid.
This morning, I ignored the three wake-up knocks that the hotel staff gave me this morning, because I kept looking at my watch at the side of the bed, and it was telling me that I had plenty of time before my driver was scheduled to leave with me for the airport. But, it turns out that sometime between yesterday and today, my watch stopped working for an hour and a half, so it was actually an hour and a half later than I thought it was. I suppose I should have judged that something was wrong by the height of the sun outside the window, but I just went by the watch, and I thought that the staff must have gotten the wrong wake-up time for me, thinking that I had requested an earlier time. This combination of bad luck and ignorance on my part caused me to miss the AirAsia flight. The moral is: Never trust that you are in complete possession of the correct time. Truly, time is fluid.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Battambang Province
Today I took an excursion to some of the sights around Battambang, but the thrill was traveling on these bumpy dirt roads through pretty rural area where I was the only tourist that was there for most of the journey. We drove past rice fields where the harvest was already taking place, since the wet season just ended last week, I believe. We passed a lot of palm trees and various kinds of fruit trees on both sides of the road.
About 15 km southwest of Battambang is a mountain, Phnom Sampeau (more of a hill, really), made of limestone. About halfway up the hillside was an old temple, which seemed pretty peaceful and quiet in the hazy morning. But, further in from the temple gates were a couple of ominous-looking caves where the outsides of the entrance had been scrawled over in Khmer writing and arrows. The Khmer Rouge used the caves as mass graves for people that the executed near the mouths of the caves. In one of the caves was a 20-m-long statue of a reclining Buddha. Along another wall perpendicular to the Buddha, a memorial stood with windows where you could look onto the skulls and bones of people whose bodies were found in the caves. Symbols of peace and devastation in such close proximity to each other were unsettling to say the least, as if my mind couldn't make sense of what my eyes were seeing.
The hike up to the top of the hill was hot, but I got to watch my child guide point out a green snake and catch the biggest lizard I've seen so far on this trip. The temple at the top of the mountain was beautiful, especially the murals surrounding the Buddha in the interior of the temple. The style of the paintings reminded me of what I had seen in Hindu illustrations and prayer books.
Another 10 km to the east of the mountain was the departure point for the bamboo train. Let me explain what the train looks like. A 12'x5' pallet of bamboo is mounted onto a pair of wheels that fit onto the train tracks. A motor is attached to the pallet, and this provides the energy for acceleration of the train. The train that we were on was a hundred years old, according to my tour guide. Watching the fields and vegetation race by at 20 km/h while bracing myself for the large bumps that happened whenever we passed over an uneven part of the track was pretty exciting. Sitting directly on the pallet and having no walls or windows to separate me from being outside made the speed of the train seem really fast. The 10-minute ride reminded me of a safer roller coaster, as long as I kept holding onto the rail.
About 15 km southwest of Battambang is a mountain, Phnom Sampeau (more of a hill, really), made of limestone. About halfway up the hillside was an old temple, which seemed pretty peaceful and quiet in the hazy morning. But, further in from the temple gates were a couple of ominous-looking caves where the outsides of the entrance had been scrawled over in Khmer writing and arrows. The Khmer Rouge used the caves as mass graves for people that the executed near the mouths of the caves. In one of the caves was a 20-m-long statue of a reclining Buddha. Along another wall perpendicular to the Buddha, a memorial stood with windows where you could look onto the skulls and bones of people whose bodies were found in the caves. Symbols of peace and devastation in such close proximity to each other were unsettling to say the least, as if my mind couldn't make sense of what my eyes were seeing.
The hike up to the top of the hill was hot, but I got to watch my child guide point out a green snake and catch the biggest lizard I've seen so far on this trip. The temple at the top of the mountain was beautiful, especially the murals surrounding the Buddha in the interior of the temple. The style of the paintings reminded me of what I had seen in Hindu illustrations and prayer books.
Another 10 km to the east of the mountain was the departure point for the bamboo train. Let me explain what the train looks like. A 12'x5' pallet of bamboo is mounted onto a pair of wheels that fit onto the train tracks. A motor is attached to the pallet, and this provides the energy for acceleration of the train. The train that we were on was a hundred years old, according to my tour guide. Watching the fields and vegetation race by at 20 km/h while bracing myself for the large bumps that happened whenever we passed over an uneven part of the track was pretty exciting. Sitting directly on the pallet and having no walls or windows to separate me from being outside made the speed of the train seem really fast. The 10-minute ride reminded me of a safer roller coaster, as long as I kept holding onto the rail.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Farewell to Siem Reap
Yesterday I rode about 20 km in a farewell bicycle loop past some of the temples I had already visited and some new ones that I hadn't. A lot of the children selling things at temples like to impress with their knowledge of U.S. state capitals. I had a friendly little girl tell me a long series of correct state capitals before saying that the capital of Massachusetts is Boston. A forgiveable mistake -- the answer is Springfield, which I told her. She seemed a little disappointed.
Ta Keo was a tall temple in the shape of a pyramid maybe six to seven stories high. This was the most unadorned of the temples I visited with no carvings and not much in the way of other buildings besides the central pyramid. The climb up to the top was challenging, and the view of the whole structure was great from the top. It made me think of the Mayan pyramids, although I've never actually visited those monuments.
Ta Prohm is the temples where some recent movies have been filmed, and visiting the temple in person demonstrated why this is such a popular shoot site. Not much has been done to stop nature from overtaking the temple, so it looks like a long-ago palace that everyone forgot about until a couple of days ago. This isn't true, because restoration efforts are taking place, but only where the decay in the building has rendered the path to dangerous for people to walk through. I'll remember this temple for all the sorts of trees I saw whose gigantic roots had grown out of the temple stones. No trees have seemed more alive and capable of movement that these trees, whose roots had coiled themselves around the stones like huge snakes.
Today I took an eight-hour scenic boat ride from Siem Reap to Battambang, passing through Tonle Sap, the giant lake in a north-central location in Cambodia that I am guessing is fed by the Mekong River. The lake was peaceful and mostly empty of other boats, with only some kind of vegetation floating along the water. The same sort of vegetation can be seen in the Chao Praya in Bangkok, but I forget the name of the plant. The boat got a little hot in the afternoon, but I enjoy traveling by boat because I can actually read during the trip, something that I can't do on a bumpy bus ride.
I reached Battambang at 4 in the afternoon, had a quick meal at the market, and walked along the river to check out some of the old French architecture. There's a lazy feel to this town that I like so farm, and it's seemingly empty of foreigners after the hordes at Siem Reap.
Ta Keo was a tall temple in the shape of a pyramid maybe six to seven stories high. This was the most unadorned of the temples I visited with no carvings and not much in the way of other buildings besides the central pyramid. The climb up to the top was challenging, and the view of the whole structure was great from the top. It made me think of the Mayan pyramids, although I've never actually visited those monuments.
Ta Prohm is the temples where some recent movies have been filmed, and visiting the temple in person demonstrated why this is such a popular shoot site. Not much has been done to stop nature from overtaking the temple, so it looks like a long-ago palace that everyone forgot about until a couple of days ago. This isn't true, because restoration efforts are taking place, but only where the decay in the building has rendered the path to dangerous for people to walk through. I'll remember this temple for all the sorts of trees I saw whose gigantic roots had grown out of the temple stones. No trees have seemed more alive and capable of movement that these trees, whose roots had coiled themselves around the stones like huge snakes.
Today I took an eight-hour scenic boat ride from Siem Reap to Battambang, passing through Tonle Sap, the giant lake in a north-central location in Cambodia that I am guessing is fed by the Mekong River. The lake was peaceful and mostly empty of other boats, with only some kind of vegetation floating along the water. The same sort of vegetation can be seen in the Chao Praya in Bangkok, but I forget the name of the plant. The boat got a little hot in the afternoon, but I enjoy traveling by boat because I can actually read during the trip, something that I can't do on a bumpy bus ride.
I reached Battambang at 4 in the afternoon, had a quick meal at the market, and walked along the river to check out some of the old French architecture. There's a lazy feel to this town that I like so farm, and it's seemingly empty of foreigners after the hordes at Siem Reap.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Angkor Thom
I rode a rented bicycle to some of the monuments in Angkor Thom, the ancient walled city of the Khmer during the reign of King Jayavarman in the 11th century. Traveling by bicycle was pleasant enough in the cool shade of the morning but got pretty tiring and hot by noon when I had finished visiting the temples I had wanted to and was tired and hungry.
Highlights from some of the temples I visited today:
Bayon -- The eerie faces of gods with the face of King Jayavarman peer out at the visitor from every side of every tower in the temple. Also, it was difficult to find the way from the outside courtyard to the highest inner courtyard if you tried to accomplish this from any direction other than from the front of the temple. My normally great sense of direction was confused by some of the twists and turns it took to get to the top of the temple. Also, if I was in an enclosed area of the temple, I tried not to look at the ceiling, because it seemed like there were rocks up there, building blocks of the temple, ready to fall at any moment. The uppermost courtyard was impressive, with all those faces up close looking at you and all the outer towers encircling and encroaching upon the center tower.
Baphuon - The grounds of this large temple were a mess, and most of it was closed off due to restoration efforts. The real find on the grounds was a tall temple in the shape of a pyramid that you could climb by going up a long, steep narrow flight of steps that left me breathless when I got to the top. The temple wasn't talked about at length in the guide book; I think the name of it might be Phimeanakas, which strikes me as a somewhat Greek name.
Terrace of the Leper King: Intriguing at first just because of the name. There's a statue at the top of the terrace that could be the image of an Angkor king in the 12th century who had leprosy, or it could be the image of the God of Death, Yama. The monument has a couple of layers of carvings on the walls, with the inner, original ones really well-preserved. In the narrow walkway, I met a landmine victim who had lost both of his legs but seemed really cheerful. I had given him a 1000 riel note (equivalent of 25 cents). He asked me where I was from, how long I was staying in Siem Reap and what I had seen so far. He seemed to speak excellent English. I think most of the people here pick up their English from speaking to foreigners, because a waitress I had spoken to at a restaurant said that they didn't teach English at any of her school up through high school. She is from Banteay Srei, which is 30 km northeast of Siem Reap. I think that the level of English I have seen in Cambodia is higher than that I experienced in Vietnam, and that proficiency is even more amazing considering that the teaching of the English language seems to be spotty in pre-university education in Cambodia. I have had really good conversations with some of the Cambodian people I've met in Siem Reap and, before, in Phnom Penh. It makes me feel guilty for being barely proficient in a second language.
Highlights from some of the temples I visited today:
Bayon -- The eerie faces of gods with the face of King Jayavarman peer out at the visitor from every side of every tower in the temple. Also, it was difficult to find the way from the outside courtyard to the highest inner courtyard if you tried to accomplish this from any direction other than from the front of the temple. My normally great sense of direction was confused by some of the twists and turns it took to get to the top of the temple. Also, if I was in an enclosed area of the temple, I tried not to look at the ceiling, because it seemed like there were rocks up there, building blocks of the temple, ready to fall at any moment. The uppermost courtyard was impressive, with all those faces up close looking at you and all the outer towers encircling and encroaching upon the center tower.
Baphuon - The grounds of this large temple were a mess, and most of it was closed off due to restoration efforts. The real find on the grounds was a tall temple in the shape of a pyramid that you could climb by going up a long, steep narrow flight of steps that left me breathless when I got to the top. The temple wasn't talked about at length in the guide book; I think the name of it might be Phimeanakas, which strikes me as a somewhat Greek name.
Terrace of the Leper King: Intriguing at first just because of the name. There's a statue at the top of the terrace that could be the image of an Angkor king in the 12th century who had leprosy, or it could be the image of the God of Death, Yama. The monument has a couple of layers of carvings on the walls, with the inner, original ones really well-preserved. In the narrow walkway, I met a landmine victim who had lost both of his legs but seemed really cheerful. I had given him a 1000 riel note (equivalent of 25 cents). He asked me where I was from, how long I was staying in Siem Reap and what I had seen so far. He seemed to speak excellent English. I think most of the people here pick up their English from speaking to foreigners, because a waitress I had spoken to at a restaurant said that they didn't teach English at any of her school up through high school. She is from Banteay Srei, which is 30 km northeast of Siem Reap. I think that the level of English I have seen in Cambodia is higher than that I experienced in Vietnam, and that proficiency is even more amazing considering that the teaching of the English language seems to be spotty in pre-university education in Cambodia. I have had really good conversations with some of the Cambodian people I've met in Siem Reap and, before, in Phnom Penh. It makes me feel guilty for being barely proficient in a second language.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Angkor Wat
Today was a tiring but ultimately rewarding day. My driver came to pick me up at 4:40 am to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat. I had had a fitful night of sleep in the top-floor fan room where the fan was doing a great job of circulating hot air around the room. But the experience at Angkor Wat drove away any cobwebs in my head for the time being.
Sunrise at the temple was unbelievable. I almost felt like I was visually giving thanks for the coming day. I feel like if everyone was able to do this ritual at least once in their lives that there would be a lot more happiness in the world.
I don't remember ever being in a place this immense ever before, except maybe the Taj Mahal. Even though there are a thousand people who are visiting at the same time as you, it's still possible to find yourself alone with the monkey urine and the wonderful architecture along a corridor you've never visited before. The temple is surrounded by a giant moat that runs over such a great length and width that it made me wonder how long it took to build the moat and what the process was. The temple itself is divided into several courtyards, each further inside from the entrances and at a higher level than the courtyard below. The climb up to the innermost courtyard up steep, narrow steps was dizzying but offered some spectacular views of the temple grounds and the surrounding coutryside's lakes and greenery.
The outer wall of one of the lower courtyards is ringed by vast bas-reliefs depicting mostly scenes from the Ramayana. Unusually, depiction of the Mahabharata is also present, even though this story isn't depicted widely in other Cambodian temples. The images were without color besides the pink of the sandstone, although some of the faces were polished from hands touching them over the past ten centuries. I think a lot of the scenes were lost on me because there was too much going on, but the famous Churning of the Ocean of Milk scenes was as powerful as a painting. Visiting Angkor Wat was the primary reason that I decided to travel to Southeast Asia for vacation; I'm glad being there in person was as wonderful as I had hoped.
Some highlights from other temples I visited today:
Banteay Srei: The sandstone carvings in the edifices above doorways were finely intricate and remarkably well preserved for a temple built in the 9th century AD. The sandstone had several different colors that came out in the sunlight: yellow, pink, and gray.
Ta Som: A gigantic tree had the pretty substantial eastern gate of the temple surrounded by its huge roots. I feel like the temples' slow decay and return to nature is the most beautiful thing about Angkor.
Also, I was excited to buy some things in a fair trade store in the backpacker district: a checked Cambodian scarf that I hope will filter out the exhaust fumes from my breaths as I ride my bicycle today and a shirt featuring another animal for Elena.
Sunrise at the temple was unbelievable. I almost felt like I was visually giving thanks for the coming day. I feel like if everyone was able to do this ritual at least once in their lives that there would be a lot more happiness in the world.
I don't remember ever being in a place this immense ever before, except maybe the Taj Mahal. Even though there are a thousand people who are visiting at the same time as you, it's still possible to find yourself alone with the monkey urine and the wonderful architecture along a corridor you've never visited before. The temple is surrounded by a giant moat that runs over such a great length and width that it made me wonder how long it took to build the moat and what the process was. The temple itself is divided into several courtyards, each further inside from the entrances and at a higher level than the courtyard below. The climb up to the innermost courtyard up steep, narrow steps was dizzying but offered some spectacular views of the temple grounds and the surrounding coutryside's lakes and greenery.
The outer wall of one of the lower courtyards is ringed by vast bas-reliefs depicting mostly scenes from the Ramayana. Unusually, depiction of the Mahabharata is also present, even though this story isn't depicted widely in other Cambodian temples. The images were without color besides the pink of the sandstone, although some of the faces were polished from hands touching them over the past ten centuries. I think a lot of the scenes were lost on me because there was too much going on, but the famous Churning of the Ocean of Milk scenes was as powerful as a painting. Visiting Angkor Wat was the primary reason that I decided to travel to Southeast Asia for vacation; I'm glad being there in person was as wonderful as I had hoped.
Some highlights from other temples I visited today:
Banteay Srei: The sandstone carvings in the edifices above doorways were finely intricate and remarkably well preserved for a temple built in the 9th century AD. The sandstone had several different colors that came out in the sunlight: yellow, pink, and gray.
Ta Som: A gigantic tree had the pretty substantial eastern gate of the temple surrounded by its huge roots. I feel like the temples' slow decay and return to nature is the most beautiful thing about Angkor.
Also, I was excited to buy some things in a fair trade store in the backpacker district: a checked Cambodian scarf that I hope will filter out the exhaust fumes from my breaths as I ride my bicycle today and a shirt featuring another animal for Elena.
Siem Reap
Siem Reap has a lot more dirt roads than Phnom Penh. The bus dropped me off at an undisclosed location instead of in the main backpacking area where I was expecting to be dropped off. Then the hotel where I was supposed to be staying was also hiding from me and the tuk-tuk driver, even though I thought I had pegged the location down correctly on the map in my book. The driver Prohum tooke me to a series of guesthouses all of which were full, until we found a nice one that has a swimming pool but didn't have any A/C rooms for Saturday night, only fan rooms. So it was a hot Saturday night until yesterday when they moved me to a much more comfortable A/C room. After checking into the fan room, my driver was taking me to see the sunset at one of the Angkor temples, and I spotted the sign for the missing guesthouse along the way, but it really was difficult to find.
The drive past Angkor Wat was amazing with the large placid moat surrounding the huge temple. There were lots of picnicking Khmer by the side of the moat on the grass, since it was a Saturday afternoon. I visited a temple a little to the northwest of Angkor Wat. The temple Phnom Bakeng was up a hill after a hike through some pretty dense forest. The temple ruins were definitely crumbling at parts, and the way was blocked at some points around the exterior because it was too dangerous. The climb to the top of the temple was up five steep flights of steps, which were exhilarating to walk up and down because the steps were so narrow. The top of the temple was supposed to give a nice view of Angkor Wat, but the way was partially blocked by some trees, and there are some unsightly green tarps covering parts of the exterior of Angkor Wat where they are doing restoration work. But there were some amazing views of some lakes and mountains in the distance, and the cloud cover gave everything a sleepy feeling. But the cloud cover meant no real sunset. I was hoping for better lucks in my plans to catch a sunrise at Angkor Wat in the morning.
The drive past Angkor Wat was amazing with the large placid moat surrounding the huge temple. There were lots of picnicking Khmer by the side of the moat on the grass, since it was a Saturday afternoon. I visited a temple a little to the northwest of Angkor Wat. The temple Phnom Bakeng was up a hill after a hike through some pretty dense forest. The temple ruins were definitely crumbling at parts, and the way was blocked at some points around the exterior because it was too dangerous. The climb to the top of the temple was up five steep flights of steps, which were exhilarating to walk up and down because the steps were so narrow. The top of the temple was supposed to give a nice view of Angkor Wat, but the way was partially blocked by some trees, and there are some unsightly green tarps covering parts of the exterior of Angkor Wat where they are doing restoration work. But there were some amazing views of some lakes and mountains in the distance, and the cloud cover gave everything a sleepy feeling. But the cloud cover meant no real sunset. I was hoping for better lucks in my plans to catch a sunrise at Angkor Wat in the morning.
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