...and then Cambodia!

Three wonderful days in delightful Cambodia! The weather was perfect, the people are warm and engaging, visiting the markets was fun, the meals were delicious, and exploring the ruins and reconstructed ancient temples was magical! The temple and palace sites, which are everywhere under re-construction, seem to ignite primal and ancient memories.

Visitors climb, straddle stones, and crawl up steep stairs, through archways with none of the usual distance-back-behind-ropes-and- barricades.

Celestial Dancers

~ancient and contemporary~

Angkor Wat Temple

Celestial Dancers at Ta Som Temple

There are two 90-meter bas relief murals at Angkor Wat showing all the Hindu gods and their mythologies. Spectacular!

The temples in the region of Seam Reap, Cambodia were built first by the Hindu King Jayavarmun II who declared himself "Emperor of the World" early in the 9th century. Successive rulers over the next several centuries maintained power and continued building temples, tombs, palaces and public parade sites. Many of the temples, palaces, parade fields and arenas that are being reconstructed today were built by Suryavarman II (from c.1113 to 1150) and Jauavarman VII (from c.1181 to 1220).

Our Temples of Angkor tour visited Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm, Pre Rup, East Mebon, Ta Som, Keak Pean, and Prean Khan sites over 3 fabulous days.

By the 16th century, the Khmer rulers and people had largely converted to Buddhism and the capital had been moved to Phnom Penh.

Ta Prohm Temple

Pre Rup (cremation) Temple

For some reason when I saw this Cambodian tee shirt "Dependent Vowels of the Khmer Letters" with the rest of the alphabet on the back side it completely tickled me! ...... anyway,

the alphabet is lovely and rather flamboyant and the language is difficult to learn because it, like several of the Southeast Asian languages, is 'tonal.'

In Cambodia the women and the girls, even little girls, do the selling (and begging). They locate themselves in great numbers outside all the temples with postcards, local crafts and trinkets and just enough English to assault visitors, persuasively playing on sympathies. Often they say "I need money for school" but just as often this is right during school time.....

All the warm Southeast Asian countries have also perfected the Night Markets, open to tourists until midnight after the temples and historic buildings have closed for the day. It is great fun bargaining for the already-inexpensive goods.

At a gas station, a spirit house, a sculpture, plants, and speakers.

Buddhism

Cambodia today is primarily Buddhist, though before the 16th century it was Hindu, and the Buddhism of today seems to be all-inclusive, incorporating some of the Hindu structure mythology into the temples, stories, and contemporary practice. Everywhere there are spirit houses outside homes and businesses, there are temples, and there are evidences of Buddhist practice.

Tonle Sap Lake floating villages

Cambodia has a huge central lake called Tonle Sap Lake where some Cambodians and many Vietnamese in separate movable locations have lived on boats for centuries. As the lake dries up seasonally the houseboats, stores, and schools move "to the outside" in the middle of the lake. As the lake fills up in the rainy season the villages move toward the edges, closer to the land. Boats carry visitors to the current locations; women and children beg for money "One dolla lay la" "One dolla lay la" while families harvest tiny fish in nets they beat behind their houses. The fish are used for bait, for fish meal, and for the many locations in the vicinity where these tiny fish eat the dead skin off of the feet of tourists (and others?) who pay by the 5-minutes. (I thought I would try this but the reality of fish eating off my feet - no doubt they would have had a feast - was too much for me when I got right up to the edge of the tanks!)

Tonle Sap Lake water 'regular' village school - and the English language school too!

A gateway: Vietnam

Vietnam seemed like a gateway for me as I spent only the first and the last days of our 5 days in country with a wonderful 3-day trip over to Cambodia sandwiched in the middle 3 days. Perhaps just two days were insufficient to accurately form an enduring feeling for Vietnam today. Nevertheless, here are some reflections on Vietnam.

At 4 a.m. the Pilot boarded the ship for the long ride up the Saigon River. Sunrise was mysterious and rather emotional. For several days in the pre-port seminars and discussions on the ship we had sessions "Protest and Civil Disobedience," "Vietnam, Then and Now," "Vietnam and the Draft." Strong feelings and issues were aroused in many Faculty, Staff, and Life Long Learners who were actively or politically engaged in the Vietnam war and protest in the 60's and 70's. The several-hour ride up the Saigon River to Ho Chi Minh City was intense as the sun rose through the thick river mists.

Those little dragons are traditional Vietnamese water puppets - totally amusing, swirling, & fun.

Ho Chi Minh City: bustling with people and motorcycles and motorbikes and cars and a few bicycles. Though in the minority, I did not love HCMC, primarily because it is nearly impossible for a pedestrian to walk across any street especially after dark. Well, that's not exactly true: all one has to do is begin to slowly walk out into the oncoming flow of traffic and (hopefully) all the motor vehicles will go around you, one side or another. Some folks found this exhilarating but I experienced it as annoying and frightening. Those who loved HCMC were the shoppers - you could buy 'knock offs' of any and every product such as North Face, Nike, Ray Bans, any DVD in the world, and more. Believe it, I did not actually go shopping.

In a Vietnamese Buddhist temple, a grim reminder of the self-emmolation protests to the Vietnamese War, which is here called "The American War." Vietnamese people are warm, welcoming, and apparently forgiving to Americans (and their dollars).

A Vietnamese-Chinese temple, air thick with incense, dedicated to a female goddess. Chinese have a fairly large presence in Vietnam.

The Mekong River Delta

Vietnam has many interesting fruits and foods, preparations and presentations. Unfamiliar fruits, ginger being candied, a variety of eggs, and food animal sculptures.

The Mekong is the main or central river for 5 Southeast Asian countries. Originating in China, the Mekong flows through Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, and out at the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. Alarmingly, China is "borrowing the water" putting up multiple hydroelectric and reservoir dams which may, perhaps, stop or reduce the water supply for all the other countries. Negotiations and international pressure is being applied on China.

We enjoyed a ride in sampans (like broad, stable canoes) paddled mostly by lovely Vietnamese women (though there were a few men too). Although pleasant, this part of the day felt a bit too much like an amusement park ride because the boats were all quickly circling back up the waterway to hurry-up and pick up the next load of tourists. At one point I caught this photo of the traditional sampan woman quickly and quietly conversing on her contemporary cell phone! And why not?

Water buffalo spend a portion of the day .... in the water! This buffalo was tethered near where we enjoyed a lovely lunch in an open dining structure in the jungle. His job, apparently, was to swish around in the water .... probably for the tourists. It's a good job if you can get it!

Singapore

Dragon fruit for sale in Chinatown

Approaching Singapore the seas are busy with shipping traffic. Soon skyscrapers with odd and twisted shapes come into view along with fancy bridges and the sight of hundreds of high rise 'public housing' where most of the people live (purchased from the government) in this densely populated city/state nation. There are 270 square miles and 5.5 million people. It is both crowded and prosperous.

Singapore is impressively modern, clean, friendly, and safe - all these are mandated and enforced by the (mildly) authoritarian government. Singapore is the southeast Asian center of finance, banking, and shipping. Everyone seems happy and fairly prosperous. And by the way, you can chew gum in Singapore but you cannot spit it anywhere. Laws are strictly enforced in Singapore by caneing, imprisonment, or death! Fortunately, all the SAS students got the message at the Cultural Pre-port sessions and from the Diplomatic Briefing on the morning of arrival - no one got into difficuties!

The Marina Bay Sands Hotel and it's observation terrace was a popular destination.

Immediately off the (climate controlled) ship we visited Singapore's Botanical Gardens which were remarkable for their beautiful orchids, abundant tropical plants, and high humidity! Here is a garden gremlin with a bird's nest on his head and Judy with a bird (apparently) on hers.

Little India

After a brief visit on the City Orientation tour of the first day in port, I headed back the second day for more of the sights, smells, sounds (and shopping!) in Little India.

The Hindu people of Little India were in the midst of Deepavali, the Festival of Lights. For this celebration, the streets and stalls were filled with brilliantly colored home decorations and the streets themselves were elaborately lit and ornamented.

Crowds fill the brightly lit streets at night enjoying street foods and music.

During the British colonial era, ethnic groups were separated into various neighborhoods: Chinatown, Arab Street, Little India, and Malay Town. After independence, Singapore has a strong and regulated policy of ethnic integration in schools, neighborhoods, and government.

With goldsmiths on every corner (and in between corners as well), with gold twinkling and beckoning from most windows, with unfulfilled dreams of purchasing a gold necklace in India, what could I do but seek out and purchase a golden necklace in Little India????