River Deep, Mountain High

Bhutan

This is my second trip to Bhutan- having visited previously 4 years ago- and the only trip I've ever repeated which should indicate how much I loved this small Himalayan kingdom that takes pride in measuring "gross national happiness"

The main purpose of the trip was to kayak the amazing rivers there, but we also tried to explore the rich culture and landscape of Bhutan- here we went to an animal preserve to see the Takin, the national animal-

and visited dzongs- once fortresses to defend against invaders, now Buddhist monasteries-

We watched some of the favorite national sport, archery-

and were fortunate enough to be guests at a festival in Indochilling, the site of the winter residence of the 2nd king of Bhutan, now a dzong-

There was lots of construction and expansion going on since my previous visit to Bhutan- new roads, new towns and expanded cities. Sadly, the once pristine rivers are being marred by the sign of "progress", with large dams being built to supply energy to India-

But that didn't deter from an outstanding paddling trip with a great group of people-

East of the Sun, West of the Moon

Bangkok

In Bangkok for a few days to get reorganized before heading to Bhutan to paddle for the next 2 weeks. Met up with my friend Chuck at the airport then we spent a day sightseeing around the Royal Palace and some of the famous Wats in Bangkok.

Caught up with more friends arriving this morning, George, Leslie and Peter. Now we're all getting ready to head to the airport for a VERY early morning flight to Paro, Bhutan for a couple of weeks of kayaking, hiking and culture in one of the most special places on earth. We've already been warned that internet access is spotty at best, so I'm leaving the netbook in Bangkok and probably won't be able to update until I get back. And early Happy Thanksgiving to you all. Tashi Delek.

Sunny Road

I can't even pretend my next few stops in Cambodia were even remotely cultural or historical- it was all beaches, boats, beverages and books.

Sihanoukville- Serendipity Beach and Bamboo Island-

Splashed under a waterfall- and yes I actually allowed of photo of myself to be taken- contain your shock!

I checked into going diving but did not for several reasons- the dives were very far away and not that good anyway (when I asked people if the diving was any good they would answer- "yeah, in Thailand"), an offshore storm was coming in, and the dive boats were sketchy at best (and not good to be caught in with a storm heading our way). So I did some snorkeling instead which gave me a chance to play with my new waterproof camera- but I forgot to switch it to the underwater setting (D'Oh!) and I'm sure the pics would have been better if I did.

From there I went and stayed at an eco-lodge on the Tatai River for a few days- where I paddled a kayak for the first time in months! Only flat water but completely gorgeous- and I at least got a little warm up before my kayaking trip to Bhutan next week.

Now I'm back in Phnom Penh for a day of souvenir shopping. Next stop is Bangkok where I'm meeting up with Chuck, George, and Leslie before we head to Bhutan!

Fins

Kratie

Next stop on my tour of Cambodia is Kratie- to get there I had a 5 hour bus ride from Battambang to Phnom Penh then a 6 hour bus ride from Phnom Penh to Kratie. It's a small town on the banks of the Mekong river that is lovely in and of itself, but its major attraction is to go dolphin-watching on the Mekong. It's the home to the Irrawaddy dolphins, an endangered species of fresh water dolphins that are shrinking in numbers and found in small groups in a number of spots in the Mekong (they can also live in salt water but are rarely found in the sea). I was very excited to see a group of 4 of them- they are very elusive and even more camera-shy than I am-
And after an afternoon of dolphin-watching- enjoying a beautiful sunset on the Mekong-

The Great Escape

Battambang

From Siem Reap I took a boat ride (6 hours) to Battambang. The LP guidebook describes it as having "colonial charm". And while there were charming colonial details to be found, I found the city to be more "uninspired modern" than "colonial charm".

It did hold a great deal of charm, however, in how decidedly non-touristy it is, a nice change from the charming but heavily touristy areas I have been in in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. It was possible to walk down the street without having a thousand people try to sell you scarves/postcards/guidebooks/etc, eat in a restaurant filled with Cambodians, and see more local flavor.

I spent a day exploring the countryside by motorbike with a few tourist stops along the way- to the "killing caves", site of more Khmer Rouge genocide, and the Bamboo Train. Since the railways in Cambodia are in such bad shape, railroad use is rare and takes 3X longer than transportation by road. Cambodians in the countryside use the railroad tracks for their own train system, the bamboo train, to transport goods and people between towns. When I was there the only riders were tourists, but I completely enjoyed the kitsch for the short ride since soon the bamboo train will be no more, the government is going to rebuild the tracks to get the train system improved and up and running again, so the bamboo train won't be able to keep running when real trains are speeding along the tracks.

I also took a cooking class to learn some Khmer recipes. It started with a tour and shopping trip through the market and then went back to the restaurant to learn the techniques for classic local dishes of fish amok and chicken lok lak- it's fairly similar to Thai cooking but with a few extra spices- ginger, garlic, tumeric- added to the Thai basil, lemongrass and chili flavors.

My trip to Battambang was a really great change of pace after so many days of temples and ruins (and busses of tourists) at Angkor.

Watershed

I've had a few boating excursions that have brought me to some unique Cambodian villages.

The first village I visited is entirely surrounded by water (the Tonle Sap lake) for 8 months of the year, for the remaining months there is dry land between the houses but it is still close enough to the water for the inhabitants to continue fishing. It was called a "floating village" but it's actually on stilts- but I suppose "floating village" sounds more interesting than "stilted village".


The people here are fishermen- they paddle over to the Siem Reap market early in the morning to sell their fish -

then they return to their village with supplies from the market for the villagers.

After having my fill of archeological ruins at Angkor, I made my way from Siem Reap to my next destination, Battambang, by boat (since this is the end of rainy season and the water is still high the trip is the same length by boat and by bus, but when the water level is much lower it's 2X longer by boat). On this trip we made our way through several villages that were actually "floating" on the Tonle Sap lake- built to float and rise and fall with the lake level.

then through more fishing communities along the Sangker river-

Not exactly the usual way I spend time in a boat- but I really loved seeing these villages by boat.

More Than This

Angkor Archeological Site 4

I visited over a dozen sites and I won't bore you with each one individually (at some point when I get a better connection I'll upload all the pics to Picasa and you can see them there if you're interested). While there were a lot of similarities amongst them in style and details, each one did have something unique about it-

From the beautiful, intricate sandstone carvings of Banteay Srey-

To the river of lingas at Kbal Spean-

To the first examples of Khmer art and architecture in the Roluos group dated from the 9th century-

There was something special about each site so that I never felt like I was seeing the same thing over and over. The ruins at Angkor are an enormous source of national pride for Cambodians and deservedly so. I was asked by a number of Cambodians if we had anything like this where I lived, I explained to them that we have some beautiful sites of immense natural beauty but nothing so exquisite that was made by man- which is why I traveled so far to see it- and they were quite happy to hear that.