Odds and End

I'm knew I was tired when I sarcastically asked the security guard in Dubai if he wanted me to take off my pants off after he made me go through the metal detector for the 4th time. Fortunately he merely turned fifty shades of red and pointed out that I hadn't emptied all of the many pockets on the leg of my pants. I left Siem Reap with a head cold on the 1st and decided to crash at the transit hotel at the Bangkok airport instead of going into town for my 15 hour layover. It was 7 hours to Dubai, a 4 hour stop over and now I'm a few hours into a 14 hour flight. This is one of the longest non-stop flights that you can take to/from Canada. Toronto to Hong Kong is the longest at 15 hours 25 minutes. Also didn't pack enough decongestant on my carry-on bag so I can't sleep. This a round about way of saying that I won't be in the office till Wednesday.

This is how you make a left hand turn in Siem Reap: just turn left into the oncoming lane. Bikes will tend to move to the curb and vehicles to the middle of the road. Merge on the left side of the lane going in your direction when the oncoming traffic clears. The speed limit is 30km/hr in town. People do adhere to it so this method of turning left seems to work. BTW when no one was around one day except for a cop, I pedalled like mad and broke the speed limit to see if I would get a ticket. The cop just smiled and waved.

I realized that  I didn't explain what thanaka was - the women in Burma apply a pattern of paste made from ground tree bark to their cheeks to act as a sunscreen. It's sometimes a fashion statement and formed in leaf patterns or finished a with stylish flourish. For others it's purely utilitarian and they look they have just been dunked in  a bucket of the stuff. Children and some country menfolk also use it. Urban guys, not so much.

Early in my stay in Cambodia I realised that I got way better service when I used both hands to give money etc. to others and to perform sampeah (press your hands together and bow your head) in thanks or in greeting.

In both Cambodia and to some extent now Burma, they are many people who don't have running water or flush toilets but do have cell phones. My Prek Toal guide was astounded that I didn't own one. What an oddity I was, flying halfway around the world to ride a lowly bicycle while phone less.

At lunch today there was a new graphic on the in-flight information screen. It was a plan view of the plane framed inside a round compass with an arrow pointing to a graphic of the Kaaba in Mecca. I guess this is so Muslims know which direction to focus the mind relative to the direction of the plane when they pray. I don't think there is a prayer room on board but goodness knows that there is room for one. I'm on the super jumbo jet again. They had three gangways set up to load the thing today.

I was keeping an eye on our route to see how wide a berth we were giving Israel - turns out the short line between DXB-YYZ is across Iran and then eastern Turkey. Nowhere near the mess. Oh. and I did get my box of chocolate covered dates in the Dome of the Rock box. Meral, guess what you are getting!

I found Burma fascinating and was very glad I went but, would I recommend it to others? I definitely wouldn't recommend doing a package tour like mine - they pack way to much into too little time. Buddhists may enjoy visiting but those higher up on the spiritual scale might find the glitziness very un-Buddhist-like. Architects, archaeologists, artists for sure but give it plenty of time. Adventurers may find it more tedious than adventurous and those who demand creature comforts, give it another 10 years.

Cambodia has something for everyone. I highly recommend going. It's not a particularly accessible country - surprising given the number of landmine survivors - but there are a lot of helping hands.

A few people have asked where my next big trip will be. I know where Sherree I will be heading. Apart from that I've been thinking I would like to go scuba diving in a kelp forest. It would be as close as you can get to the sensation of flying and I do think that flying is amazing.

Raffles

Today was a stellar gastronomic day. I splurged on a cooking class at the swankiest hotel in town, Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor. This hotel was originally set up in 1932 to house the first wave of Angkor visitors. It was picked up by the Raffles, now Fairmont Raffles chain in the 90's. (Raffles being the hotel in Singapore where the sling was invented.) Rooms in low season start at $200/night (i think my guest house worked out to $13/night) so a stay was out of the question. At $85 the cooking class was an expensive "tour" for Siem Reap but it turned out to be the best bargain of my trip.

I was the only one signed up for today's class. The executive sous-chef Ngin Chantha started me off with a tour of the local wholesale market - this was his day off but he insisted on coming in. We drove there in an air con chauffeured van and by chauffeur I mean uniform, white gloves and cap. Phsar Leu Thom Thmey  is the market that the local neighbourhood grocers buy from - I'm fairly sure I was the only tourist there today. At 10:30a it was winding down for the day but still lively. Chantha said that at 5a it's hard to walk through the crowds but now the occasional scooter was driving by. There were household goods and tailors on the edges with produce on one side and fish on the other. The fish was so fresh it didn't smell so fishy.
Saw a few old favorites and a number of new items.



Chantha and turmeric root



Chilies and green beans



Fish cakes

 

Lotus root



Sugar cane


Back at the hotel they had set up the class area in the Grand Dining Room which only opens for dinner.

Junior sous-chef Ming Tyn took over. He is a Phnom Penh native and very passionate about his country's cooking. He was thrilled to fill me in on the history of cooking in Cambodia and how India and China influenced it. The actual cooking part was more demonstration rather than hands on. All the prep was was already done so I was just combining ingredients and cooking them. It was a good compliment to my previous course where we were slicing, dicing and pounding all the ingredients.

Dishes covered were: mango salad, sour fish soup, khmer chicken curry, beef lok lak, pumpkin custard. Oh, I also got to keep my apron and funny chef hat. A small hard covered cookbook was included which I got Ming to sign. I had a good taste of all the dishes and a full slice of the desert and then was seated in the Cafe d'Angkor with a glass of wine to have the full 5 course meal. Starting off with fresh out of the oven bread and finishing with quite decent coffee and cookies.

Mango prawn salad

Sour fish soup

Khmer chicken curry

Pumpkin custard

I was quite pleasantly stuffed and had no need for dinner!

Nosed around the main floor after lunch - best washroom on the trip was here for sure. Saw that the prix fixe dinner was only 4 courses - I had made 5 dishes - for $80 bucks and wine pairings were an extra $45.

Then I hopped into a tuk tuk - a block away so the driver wouldn't jack up the price if he saw me come out of the chi-chi hotel - and headed out to Angkor for a last visit. It was lovely. Beautiful blue sky with fluffy clouds and relatively few people. There was no wait for the stairs up to the third level terrace and no time limit so I spent about an hour and a half poking around and enjoying the views from the top. By the time I left the sunset bus tours had arrived and the lineup wound half way around the second level terrace. This left the first level bas relief galleries almost empty so had an unobstructed wander about.

What a fabulous end to a fabulous trip!

Banteay Chmar

The ultimate jungle temple Banteay Chmar, is another Khmer masterpiece brought to you by the maker of Angkor Wat, Jayavarman II. It's just on the verge of getting UNESCO designation so I decided to beat the crowds.

Just to be clear the site and surrounding satellite temples have been swept clear of landmines...although we did pass a mine clearing base camp on the way to Siem Reap...
Had a little break in the tiny village of Kralanh en route. As always, stop and wait a bit and something interesting will happen in Cambodia.

Discovered here that the racks of glass coca-cola bottles on the road side are petrol and not local moonshine as I had previously thought.

After a long bumpy ride and a simple tasty veg/rice/soup lunch at the visitor's centre, we drove a short distance, parked the land cruiser and headed down the a farm track into the jungle to find, a small satellite temple. We reached an impassable portion of the surrounding moat cover in luminescent duckweed then circled back to find the remains of the causeway. Initially these moats were symbolic, then were a water supply and accidental, were defensive. Causeway was overgrown. Kong tested the waters and placed some strategic stones and branches for us to cross. With some hacking at the undergrowth and scrambling on mossy fallen stones we were rewarded with a view of a crumbling tower with the remains of a smiling Bodhisattva face.

We made our way through the tower and around to the west side of the moat only to find if empty save for water buffalo track. If we had continued 50 meters more along the track we would have gotten there much more easily!

Headed to the west side of the main  Banteay Chmar temple for the afternoon light and to see the multi armed Bodhisattva relief carvings - exquisite!

The sun sets early here as we are close to the equator - 6p and it's dark. Checked into our home stay, a modest little two storey building. It had gaps in the floor boards and was a little shaky but was may of solid teak. The two deck chairs. solid rosewood. Dinner was tasty veg and rice with a noteworthy fish dish with fresh ginger sauce. The lady of the house proudly set down a platter of her best exotic fruit for desert: peeled and quartered apples. Funny.

As I mentioned before, November is wedding month and this village was celebrating one. It was loud. Louder than the barnyard animals. It was boom-boom club music supreme...in the middle of no where. I went to bed around 9p after looking at some of Dave's terrific Vietnam pics. The boom boom continued...until the generator ran out and, I suspect, after a few coke bottles of petrol topped off the generator. At 3:15a a tinny speaker came on. Came on loud. Came on playing loud tinny music. Chinese music that sound vaguely 1940's Hollywood WWII. The a voice came on. Did I mention that this started at 3:15a? The voice sounded like it was broadcasting chinese communist propaganda. In spite of the noise I did get a good night's sleep. I all stopped around 5:45a when the workers were heading out to the rice fields so there was no need for noise. Turns out it was a "celebration" of a monk graduating after 3 months of silent meditation.


Up a 5:30 for some sunrise pics. Breakfast was a tasty fried noodles with egg then it was a scramble around the east side of Banteay Chmar. Great trees. Great relief carvings.

Dave lent me his 8mm-16mm lens for some super wide angle fun.

Time for another jungle scramble to the west satellite temple, Prasat Pranag Ta Sok. Not quite as hard as yesterday but but still lovely faces. Had to crush more than one red ant who piggy backed on my knapsack.

Lunch veg/rice/soup then again, one last temple stop, Prasat Ta Prohm. Best part of this one were all the kids who jumped in the moat for a swim as we were leaving.

Kong made a short detour en route to Siem Reap to show me the remains of an old Angkorian bridge. People here are so considerate if you make an effort to connect with them.


Checked into Le Tigre Hotel - felt a bit anonymous after the Cashew Nut but the owner, Guillaume, came over and chatted with me a bit on the way out so now feels a bit more homey.

Another first - got a ride back into town on the back of a scooter. Who needs thrill rides?

Roluos Group

Back in the saddle again and out to the Roluos group of temples today. But first I met with Dave Perks. No, not my ex-classmate, but British expat photographer who is running the tour tomorrow to Banteay Chhmar temple. It's just me on the tour. This is is the temple near the Thai border where fire is NOT being exchanged with Thailand. (That was extra.) Dave is an interesting guy and enthusiastic about Cambodia and photography in general so it should be fun.

Armed with a map, a scale and my cycling GPS I attempted today's ride via "small roads." Alas I kept on ending up on Route 6, the main road between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. Good pavement but dull scenery comparatively. I did mange about half the distance on good country dirt roads though which I think has been the favorite part of my trip. Everyone says hello, all the kids wave and  high five me from my bike. I gave chase to a pick up truck load of women returning home from the fields and gave them all a good laugh - almost grabbed a hand to get a tow too!

Temples were great! Just couple of Korean bus tours and a handful of tuk tuk visitors so had the places to myself for the most part. Just before my first stop I saw a weaving workshop so  stopped and had a browse. Very low key place so I picked up a few silk scarves. 

Stop One was Preah Ko with six standing towers on a terrace. Walls and gopura (entry pavilion) are long gone. Interesting steps here with scalloped edges - very Indian looking which shouldn't be a surprise since it's a Hindu temple originally. Also nice buff brick and traces of faces on trim stones.

Bakong next which I loved. It's a big-ish site, about 0.85 x 0.65 kilometres at the inner (square) moat. Then a series of concentric stepped up square terraces. BTW all of these terraces are perfectly aligned NSEW. Causeways connect here across the moat form east to centre and then centre to west.

As usual when I pull in the vendors hunt the newcomers down and try and sell or try and commit them to purchasing from them when you come out. So this woman 'Lah" came and chatted me. She was very sweet and personable. She was fascinated that A) I was a woman travelling alone and B) that I was on a bike. What a novelty for the locals where bikes are a sign of the lower class, scooters for the middle class and cars for the riche.

Right away she said, and her English was very good, it must be nice to make your own decisions about where to go because the tuk tuk drivers or tour companies here control where their customers go. (Of course all the tuk tuk drivers are men.) I had a look at her menu and said I would think about it while visiting the temple.  I asked if she was cold as she had long sleeves and two layers of shirts. She said she wants whiter skin so she covers up up. I said I want browner skin so I wear short sleeves. We had a good laugh and agreed to trade.

This site was interesting as it had a functioning monastery on site and there was a gaggle of kids running around all over the place who were more interested in playing hide-and-seek that they were in scamming candy off of me. Delightful!

Also some elephant statues remained at at the terrace corners. It must have been quite the sight in the 9th century when it was intact. This site is also small enough to get a snapshot of the full extent. It's almost a mini Angkor.  Scalloped steps here too and a touch of colour in the flowers at the main entry - vache et fleurs.

Decided to have lunch at stall No. 5 on Lah's recommendation. She assured me that all food was cooked fresh. I selected a coconut from her cooler - heavenly! AND you can scrape a layer of tender flesh from the inside. She then fanned me until my memsahib guilt set in and i told her i would take care of the air con myself. The cook offered to cut fresh chili for my noodles but I opted for the mild chili sauce. Chatted with Lah about her business - November has been good so far but December is usually not so good for them. Not so many people come out to these temples. She sells scarves and hustles for the restaurant but she's not hard core like some I've encountered but she did jump up mid meal to flag down a new comer. I ended up getting a scarf  from her - a man's scarf as like with clothing worldwide it's sturdier and better made.

Set out for home about 3p as I had to return my bike by 6p and had to allow for time to get lost which I did , kind of. November is wedding month here. Apparently weddings are minimum one and one half days of partying. (Sounds like the Malay wedding Donna and I went to!) So there I was biking down my peaceful red dirt road when the boom-boom club music started - the cows were nonplussed.

Video if it uploads!

Some people are harvesting rice so there is much of it drying on the road side and the rice haystacks are building up. There was high water lat year that flooded area that I was biking so  a few places had built platforms to stack the rice stacks on.

Asked directions at a 'T' in section and ended up back on the route 6. Ah well, good bye villagers and hello paved shoulders. I've loved cycling here even in in the Buddhist low temper crazy nutty traffic. I may rent a bike for my last day after I come back from Banteay Chhmar.

Route 6 delivered me to the Royal Gardens, a big Buddhist party and the resident fruit bats. THEN just about the last thing I expected to come across was an out door photo exhibit about violence against women sponsored by Médecins Du Monde. Images and stories spanning seven countries - very moving.

Returned my bike and headed back to Le Tigre Papier for a repeat of last nights stellar meal. Started with a Margarita and finished with a heavenly espresso. During all this I had a nice chat with a young German woman woman who reminded me of my new sister-in-law, Lisa.We both agreed that this was THE best meal on our trips. As I was finishing the street went dark and the full moon shone even brighter. Grabbed one last caramel cashew nut ice cream cone from the Blue Pumpkin and actually hired a tuk tuk to take me back to the guest house. I miss my bike.

Another terrific day - have a look: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/247564593

Tonle Sap

Tonle Sap lake is a curiosity. It's Cambodia's largest but the size and water flow changes seasonally. As the Himalaya melt waters make their way down the Mekong they saturate the delta region and start to back up effectively reversing the flow of water into Tonle Sap. The water depth change can be dramatically depending on how rainy the rainy season was. As the water recede as they are now the newest growth is on the lowest part of the previously submerged vegetation.

Fishing and floating are big on the lake. A number of floating and/or stilt house villages dot the shores, fishing is the way of life. Today's outing was to visit Prek Toal floating village and take a swing through the protected bird sanctuary adjacent. Again I was solo on the trip so I was joined by  the manager and a guide from Osmose. A company I chose because they are big on community based tourism and have set up several initiatives to help the villagers help themselves. They also discourage giving gifts to the villagers preferring instead to train and hire cook staff for the restaurant,have villagers paddle visitors around on the lake or make and sell crafts all on a rotation basis.

Pick-up was at 7:30a followed by a 45 minute air con car drive to the port. Quite unexpectedly, as I was heading down to the boat landing a shirtless little boy ran up to me, whipped out a small digital camera and took my picture! I had been reading about an annual photo contest in town where underprivileged kids are given some lessons and the loan of cameras to participate. I made the young hopeful wait before running off to his next shoot so I could take *his* picture.

Then it was off on a long river boat - another gorgeous clear sunny day with fluffy clouds. At the village we transfer to a smaller boat to navigate through the receding waters of the lake into the bird sanctuary accompanied by a poacher-turned-park-warden. There are tons of water birds here, pelicans, cranes, ibis, kingfishers and on and on. Best part was getting out a tree and climbing up 30' to a rickety bamboo platform to have a look through a high powered telescope.

Lunch was back at the floating restaurant - rice + veg + fish tasty as usual. One of the local ladies paddled me and my guide around to have a look see. Stopped at a crocodile farm, (crock's go for about $900 USD per;) catfish cage, (catfish go for about $2/kg;) and floating garden (which they eat themselves.) The floating gardens have really caught on here. People are even growing papaya and mango trees on them. The most innovative version was a floating pig pen strategically positioned over a catfish cage. And thus, I have given up on eating that lowly bottom feeder.

As we were leaving the boat landing a German bus tour pulled in and was unloading. In an instance a group of young photographers were in everyone’s faces taking pics much to the horror of more than a few of  tourists. It sure feels a different on the receiving end of that attention.

Hot, burnt and sleepy after this most enlightening outing.

Khmer Khooking

When we started dodging cows on the road I was sure I was heading for a "rustic" cooking experience. 

The tuk tuk pulled down another dirt track and pulled up into a mini shangrila hotel complete with fountains, lotus ponds and basins of floating frangipani and hibiscus blossoms. My cooking mates this morning Linda from Beverly Hills and Richard a UK student on break from his studies in China.

We had a short walk to the village next door and brought them a gift of 2 kilos of rice and had a look around their property at various fruits and herbs. Very nice to nibble on these new flavours fresh off the plant. A very sweet 4 year girl kept bringing us things to smell and nibble - some medicinal and some for cooking.

One  leaf was a combo of curry + coriander with a peppery after taste. Another just tasted like Christmas - was supposed to be used as a poultice on measles.

The teaching area was in an open air pavilion surrounded by bamboo and palm trees. U shaped and big enough for 8 people.

There was a small catfish pond with a walkway to a dining pavilion in the center.

A lot of the prep had been done so Narum, guess you could call her the the sous chef, introduced each ingredient then got us chopping and pounding in the mortar and pestle.


First 3 dishes: Khmer Mango Salad, Fish Amok, Sticky Rice Flour Balls with Palm Sugar and Fresh Grated Coconut

Then we ate.

Linda only signed on for the morning so a US/Aussie couple joined Richard and I for the afternoon session They were on a mission to eat freaky food but hadn't made to the town that servers spiders.

Second three dishes: Fresh Spring Rolls, Cambodian Curry and Nom Tong Noun (crispy crepes)
The we ate, but I was so stuffed I only ate the spring rolls and Nom Tong Noun and got the curry to go. Interesting to note that there are no plastic take away containers here so I got a plastic bag of curry to go. Must investigate further.

We finished up and was back at my guest house at 4p so hopped on my bike and took off for the sunset at Angkor...from a balloon.

Today's balloon route: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/246975226

Beng Melea by Bike

"A trip to Beng Mealea, which in itself demands an entire day, can be combined with a hunting party, since the region is rich in both small and large game and wild animals; - tigers, panthers and elephants, herds of oxen and wild buffalo inhabit the forest as far as Prah Khan of Konpong Svay in the east."   Maurice Glaize, The Angkor Guide

Needless to say times have changed since M. Glaize wrote this as there is nothing left to hunt and, ick. I settled on full day bike ride with the company I'm renting my bike from, Grasshopper Adventures. Along with guide, Sum and driver Date, was Allan from the UK and local student Sousoudey.

It rained last night and was nicely cooled off - may have even been below 30C.  Sum took us off the beaten track but on well maintained dirt roads for the most part. They were more or less dry but enough puddles remained that I was coated headed to toe with red mud by the time we arrived. It was an early start - 6:30 - so we had a breakfast stop after about 10k. Local fare at a roadside restaurant: rice noodles in light coconut broth with and egg yolk stirred in, cabbage and green bean. Slightly sweet and very yummy - much needed carbs.

Heading east from there we had a stop to see some palm nectar collecting. A single pole bamboo ladder with the tiniest cross pieces for rungs is used to scale the trees. Bamboo segments act as cups and are set in place under the flower for the day - collection is done in the evening. This man had fashioned a bamboo bridge connecting several trees. He invited us to try some that he had collected over night. It was cool and lightly sweet. This will be boiled down in sugar.

Around the corner from here the road was lined with cut palm leaves for about 200m. Laid out perpendicular to the road and left to try. They'll be used in roof thatching.

Some rice harvesting is beginning. The ladies working in the fields are bundled up. Sum told us that the ladies covet white skin. Darker skinned people are looked down on and we're told that working in a supermarket is a coveted job as you are not exposed to the sun. Surprised to find out that young women may not be able to get a supermarket job if they are "too dark." Meanwhile people in North America are frying themselves in tanning machines...

AT the 1/2 way point we had a break with cool towels, cold water, lychee like fruit and bananas. I've come to LOVE bananas here. Fresh ones. Ones that have never seen the inside of boat or a plane. They are always yummy buttery and a touch tangy. Those banana shaped things we get at home pale by comparison.

Odd visitors on fancy bikes are a novelty out here so of course every child must yell Hello! One school emptied to should hello and wave. After a while I started leaning over to the side and high 5-ing then in a row as I rode by. Great fun - felt like Queen Lizzy and a rock star at the same time.

Another break with cold fresh mango and dragon fruit this time. I was chagrined that I was finding the going tough at the 2/3rd mark on such flat land when, duh, I realized that the bumpy roads had loosened the seat post and my seat had dropped by 2" which made pedalling more like deep knee bends. With that adjusted the rest of the ride was a breeze, a hot breeze.

Allan and I decide we deserved a cold beer with lunch (hot Khmer chicken+veg) after our 72k ride. Sum, our guide told us he aspires to do adventurous biking when he too when he's...older. Alana is 60 - I'm sure he was talking about him!

Beng Melea certainly has atmosphere. There's a wooden walkway threading through jumbles of mossy, tree covered cut stones - in the end we scramble though a heap of fallen columns to exit. Fun.

Chilled out with an ice cold tequila and Khmer King Prawns with star anise at the Butterflies Garden Restaurant after - they wash they veg in purified water and have a netted in patio full of butterflies. Then tracked down the Blue Pumpkin for another caramel cashew nut ice cream.

Today's ride - the first 72km are by bike, we returned by van: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/246545814