No sign of Angelina, Ta Prohm

After breaky we headed to Ta Prohm, the temple where some of Tomb Raider was filmed, and the one which is being reclaimed by the jungle.

Each temple has their own feel, and this one was lovely because you walked quite a way through a track in ether jungle to reach it.

Then you see these massive trees, figs I think, growing over it.

The roots looks like a giant serpant

I keep thinking ashes to ashes, dust to dust

So much of the temple is carved with beautiful pictures

The restoration work, funded by different international governments at different temples, is staggering

Moosie and I found an amazing series of side rooms that you could barely get through

Ad just so you don't think I'm to crazy with my temple pants check out this couple

I find it funny that everywhere us visitors have built little cairns or inukshuks, I guess the urge to pile up stones to say I was here is a human trait, it's just these kings thought on a much bigger scale:)

On the walk in and out through the jungle tunnel there were bands of 5 or so men playing Cambodian traditional music. They were land mine victims and all had limbs missing. Very confronting.

Bayon temple

Got up at 430 and had a magic tuktuk ride in the cool darkness to see Angkor Wat sunrise. While the sunrise didn't eventuate it was nice to see the pre dawn life, driving past a cyclists morning fire where he had camped in the forest was my favourite sneak peek.

Thousands come to see the Angkor sunrise, and I gladly slipped all the humanity and headed to Bayon temple. Being there at around 7 meant that it was very quiet, and perhaps this is part of the reason that I loved it so much

Built in the late 12 th century I think that it is one of the first temples, build by the king Jayavarman  VII.

I found these massive stone faces to by very moving, and spent quiet a lot of time here. The actual feat of carving and then building these statues is so impressive.

 But beyond that there was something so moving about the face.

I was then able to move to other temples in the area, and had time in the forest, feeling alone and quiet ( but always staying to the path because there are still active land mines!)

You come upon so many glorious pools

Buddhas, small

And large, all of which are lovingly tended and visited.

My driver was a lovely man can robin, who had great English and so gave me a guided tour as well

He explained that the elephant terrace was a place where the king and queen would sit up on high and receive the visiting people, who came on elephants, what a fabulous scene to imagine.

By now it was 9 am, so time for breakfast, which I invited Robin to join me for. In return he shared with me his story, how he has worked to pay off his motor bike and now is paying off his tuktuk. His mum is ill and he must pay for her medicine, she is 63 and here that is quiet old. His next goal is to study English and computers. As we talked I watched a woman bring her sleeping baby out on a pillow, and all the other mums came and looked at it and smiled and then she placed it in a hammock between two trees and tied the top over. The baby would sleep there while the mum worked in the coffee shacks.

Sihanoukville

Well what can I say, now I know what it would be like to be stranded in an island paradise. An island paradise where you are staying at the Japanese version of Fawlty Towers. My accommodation is beautiful as you can see by the pool. But it is in the process of being built, 7 am onwards it is all noise. Everyone speaks two languages, Khmer and Japanese, and all the food is Japanese. They all think I am a hoot, and try to look after me, but it's a bit wild. And we are on a big hill that tuk tuks can't get up, so my options of ducking out are limited. Sihanoukville is amazingly beautiful, but with very limited English language, so some bits are hard going.

My days have been like this,  breakfast

Morning activity, Moosie is always sunsmart, this is victory beach

Lunch

Afternoon 

Dinner

It's so exhausting I had to visit another beach, sokha. It's mostly a big resort, and I spent the afternoon in the spa.

I needed the spa to recover after I verified that beaches all over the world have three things in common. Sand, waves, and large men in tiny bits of fabric. Keithy I'm sure he is related that man fishing near us at bawley.

Luckily I have been obsessed with reading, so am truely relaxed.

Mamas birthday

Today is mums birthday, always a special day. I'm sad that I don't have my brooch to wear, the ones that we all wore at the funeral, but I know Gai will be wearing hers.

Another magic sunrise 

Then to Wat Prom, a large Buddhist pagoda. It is very popular with locals. I didn't take photos, as it doesn't feel right, but I sat for an hour and thought of Mama and watched people. The temple is cared for by a man, he removes the food offerings which locals bring at an astounding rate. Bananas, jackfruit, grapes, and other I can't name.

Latter I wondered where that food went.

The pattern is that you climb up many steps, enter the inner temple, kneel in pray for a while, then place you offering before the Buddha statues. Then you light your incense sticks from the candles burning at the feet of the statue. Some light bunches of sticks, and wave the incense smoke around. One poor man got greedy a lit a big heap, which caught fire and he eventually had to leave, much to the quiet mirth of the older ladies.

As I left I had question answered. I had seen people on mopeds with cages if sparrows, and wondered what they were for. Well here they were, being sold to people leaving the pagoda, who then held then and whispered wishes to them and let them go. It was charming.

As I descended the many levels of gardens I sat again, and thanked my lucky stars that I had Nellie as my mum.

Musings and reflections

As I have said before , Phnom Penh has suprised me with its charm.

It only takes a five minute tuktuk ride to see outside the city, where much of the produce that you see in the markets is grown.

You seepeople in boats tending these greens, which are then loaded into trucks and taken to the market for sale. No expiry date here. It's odd, on the one hand the food hygiene makes me gag, and yet isn't this the essence  of the 100 mile, locally grown, eat what you can recognise movement that is occurring in the west. They live in the raised huts you can see.

I've been away for a while, so time for a haircut. Can I just say that boys outside temples may not be the best stylists ? However Tom assures me I'm all set for music festivals now :)

Sunrise from my balcony is magic

And the view from my dinner table hysterical, as I watch these locals and some foreigners keep fit

 I'm enjoying yoga classes whenever I can, getting to the place is always a great adventure. I spotted this cool blue lion outside a childcare centre . Love that colour!

And then enjoyed yoga, which was like bikram just because it was so hot.

Most evenings are ended with drinks on the rooftop, and reading. I have discovered Sebastian Faulks, reading Human Traces , and I am hooked. Oh and the margaritas are amazing.

And yes my tattoe is lovely, k for kkkkk Katie,and I do have a matching one for Tom.

Tuol Sleng and the killing fields

Over the last few days I have visited both Tuol Sleng, the genocide museum, a high school which was converted into a security centre, S21, and the Killing Fields associated with s21, about 15 km from Toul Sleng.

Sadness does not express the feeling that came over me during these days, for it is not a deep enough word. Sorrow, an ache in my heart and my bones, a bleakness? I shan't describe the details, as they were hard enough to go through once. Suffice to say that the fact that it just looks like an old school, with the play ground and everything there, steps that you can imagine kids running up, and then you hear what happened, it makes it even more sickening. It has been left so intact that there is still blood on the cell floors.

My guide was a lovely Cambodian man who spent time with me after the tour. I asked him what it was like for him as a Cambodian. He said that he was lucky, his parents and grandparents had survived because they lived far away from the city, and were already farmers, so could survive the hard labor better than some. He said every day he has one big question, why did no other country come and help?

Between 20,000 people were tortured at S21 and taken to the Killing Fields and murdered. This was no 21 of such centres and associated killing fields, and millions died in total. At s21 the last 14 were murdered on site as the rescuers approached, and they are buried here.

Seven men survived, and no one ever escaped. The men who survived were allowed to live because of a skill. Of the 7 only 2 are alive today. I had the privilege of meeting Mr Chum Mey, who was a mechanic and kept alive to fix typewriters. All his family, many of his entire generation, were murdered. Anyone who was educated, or wore glasses, was killed.  He is an extraordinary, ordinary man. I keep wondering why he would spend his days now at Tuol Sleng? He has testified at war tribunals, and written a book, in which he says he now considers his torturers victims like him, because who knows what they would have done in the same situation.

The Killing Fields are about 15km away. Victims were taken by truck, and murdered in the night by having their throats cut so no one would hear shots. Walking around listing to the audio was harrowing, and I had to do a few extra laps of the lake listening to the classical music piece on the the audio to be able to continue. There is a tree where the killers would murder babies by hitting them against it. There are no words to describe how sad I felt. Many people have left wrist bracelets as a sign of respect. I had none, but I did have my new shawl so I left that.

There is a beautiful stupa which houses many skulls. I spent a long time in reflection there.

I had gone out early, so was there when it opened at 730, and it was quiet. On the way out the sky was beautiful, like an old religious painting. Today I need to believe that their is a God.

Just walking around

Spent a great day walking around. It feels very safe and I get up and eat breaky early so it's nice and cool. There are markets everywhere, selling everything you can think of.  I have to take a deep breath before I enter, it's like going into another world.

The produce always looks amazing

But it's the raw meat that makes me gag

The buildings here are either ramshackled or very ornate. The high court is fantastic

And always with intricate detail

This is one of my favourite things so far, I may try and get a job here haha. It sounds very Harry Potter

Spent ages around the Royal Palace. It's hard to reconcile how a country can have such grandeur in official buildings and then such poverty elsewhere. But I guess we have that at home too.

You can't go inside the main palace, only into what is called the silver pagoda. Apparently the king is overseas a lot, and many people resent him for not caring for his people.

There is a garbage collectors strike in, so bags if rubbish are starting to pile up.

Tomorrow the genocide museum, I'm a little nervous about that, but feel that I must go.

Phnom Penh

Well I headed off from Angkor Zen with reluctance, had met some amazing people, young and old, world travelling house sitters, young people on uni break, full time yogis, and women in search of a baby to adopt, amazing. I had loved the yoga, meditated twice a day and generally felt renewed. Everyone warned me than Phnom Penh was noisy, busy and that you had to give it time to grow on you.

But for me it was love at first sight! Not sure if the funky, minimalist hotel that I had booked ( thank you again lonely planet), right in the river, hot shower, air con, amazingly cheap, was the reason.

I felt like a seventies porn star would appear at any moment, but it is fabulous . 

Each morning, after meditation for an hour if course, I open the blinds to see the sun come up. Smog can be really pretty.

I then watch the multitudes tune up their bodies. Tai chi, aerobics, strength training, cross training, running, watching,  they are all sports here in the dawn coolness.

Boats go by on the river, which flows amazingly fast.

Right next door is the home of Buddhism in Cambodia, Wat Ounalom and yes I did meet a monk and chat for at least an hour.

It is literally around the corner from where I am staying and houses1000 monks, and 500 students. So obviously it quite a business.

Inside they have a statue of Buddha which the Pol Pot soldiers threw into the river, as he was the only one to be worshiped. Years latter the monks retrieved it, and it now has pride of place. I did not want to photograph inside, but this is where the young monk talked to me. He had been a red Khmer soldier for a year, then became a monk.

I still cannot reconcile the poverty and the lavishness of architecture.

.

And here is the  pick taken by another solo traveller

The monks are everywhere, in the back of bikes, in tuktuks, and collecting alms in the morning. That means they go from door to door with a silver bowl, like a large crockpot with a lid, collecting food.

It's proving to be an incredible experience, I feel like I am on another planet, but in a good way. Everyone is so friendly, especially when I'm rocking the grey hair. Traffic is hectic, but as soon as I stand looking each way some body grabs my wrist and stops the traffics and I cross. Haha, work it baby!