April 17: More pictures

It was an amazing trip.  I was able to see places I didn't know existed, place I never thought I would get to see, and places I've had on my list for years and the added bonus was I was able to spend some great time with my brother, Dr_EAM.  What a great man he has grown to be (she said, resisting the urge to lean over and pinch her little brother on the cheek).

I'm very thankful to my SIL who let me go on the trip when she wasn't able to, to LK for letting me be away from home for two weeks, to my mom for watching the boys while I was gone, to my dad for helping this all happen, to the boys who were good for everyone while I was away and didn't break any bones this time (a la Italy trip 2008), to my fellow agents who helped with my clients while I was out of pocket, and to you for following my journey.

If you're interested in seeing more pictures of the trip, I have them posted here:

April 5: Bangkok 
April 6: Thimpu, Bhutan
April 7 & 8: Thimpu and Paro, Bhutan
April 9 & 10: From Paro to Bangkok
April 11: Chiang Mai
April 12: Songkran in Chiang Mai
April 13: Siem Reap
April 14: Angkor
April 15: Lake Villages and the Jungle Temple

Tomorrow- back to the real world and laundry.

April 16: Resources

By the time this posts (thank you post options)  we'll be somewhere between Narita and Chicago.

By posting these resources, please don't think I read this much for every trip.  For instance, I did not study the culture and history of the early Mayan people when I went to lay on the beach in Mexico back in October.  But some trips require some research- mainly to prevent us from sounding like the people we heard at the temple asking their guide "So this Buddha guy, did he really live?"  Or the guy we heard at Angkor Wat "these pre-historic people must have been geniuses to build something like this."

Plus, by reading all this, we were able to more greatly appreciate the amazing experiences we've been able to have.

So here they are, the resources we used to prepare for this trip:

Buddhist Art and Architecture by Robert E Fisher

A Short History of the World by John M Roberts 

Eyewitness Top 10 Bangkok published by DK Publishing 

Eyewitness Vietnam and Angkor Wat published by DK Publishing 

The Buddha and His Teachings by Samuel Bercholz 

A Short History of South-East Asia by Peter Church 

The Treasures of Angkor: Cultural Travel Guide by Marilia Albanese 

Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan by Jamie Zeppa

* Dr_EAM read this one but didn't bring it with him so it's on my list for when I get back.

Web resources:

Lonely Planet Bhutan 

Wikipedia Cambodia 

Wikipedia Chiang Mai 

Wikipedia Hinduism 

Wikipedia Bodhisattva

Wikipedia Angkor Wat 

Wikipedia Angkor Thom 

An Introduction to Bhutan 

A Survey of Bhutan 

Explore Bhutan (various links)

Why yes, we are nerds.

April 15: Floating Villages and the Jungle Temple

I've wanted to go to Ta Prohm ever since I saw pictures of it in a National Geographic article around the time Cambodia became a place somewhat safe enough for tourism.  Today I was able to place a mental check mark by it.

But first, we got up early to drive out and see the floating villages outside of Siem Reap.  These people live here year round.

In the rainy season, they move in towards the canal since the lake becomes too deep (over the now visible tree line) for them to dock.  They have a school, a Catholic church, a town hall, a hardware store, a gas station, basketball courts, the works!

After viewing these communities, we went to an artisan school where people are who normally don't graduate the 9th grade are taught skills to help them earn a living.  They even have an online site where goods can be purchase (let's hear it for fair trade shopping!).  Some of the students who excel at soapstone carvings are then employed with the Angkor conservation efforts.

Then, following lunch, the check mark!  Ta Prohm

This shot is me testing out LK's IR filter.  Still not completely sure how to best use it, but this worked alright.

While some conservation projects are going on, the society has tried to keep parts of it as it would have been when the French explorers found it.

This one looks like a snake, see the head?  "Nature art" our guide Roath (pronounced Rod) said.

Speaking of Roath.  We've been able to determine he was born somewhere between 1968-1974 (trying to factor in when he said he went to college and the fact that education was banned during the war thus possibly delaying his primary school education).  His father was killed by the Rouge and he spoke of the hard times of not knowing where the meals would come from in a way that was rather haunting to me.  To read the history of Cambodia, and see where they stand now- after this visit I find myself throughly rooting for their success.  Not in the adopt-everyone-of-them way that Angelina went about it, but in a way that I want to see this country, which use to be very prosperous so long ago, see their potential again.

Tomorrow- the long flight home.

April 14: Angkor

Today was New Year's in Cambodia and so we were able to witness the televised changing of the goddesses.

Alright- so hang on to your hats, we've got lots of Angkor pictures to fly through here.  It was no less than 104 in Siem Reap today which made touring the compound extremely hot!  But really the whole place is so amazing and massive, we didn't really have time to focus on the heat.

Pictures from Angkor Thom (pronounced Tom)

Looking up at the sandstone corbels

The protective faces at Bayon

STEEP stairs- we climbed up and down stairs like this all day.

Pictures from Angkor Wat (originally a temple to Vishnu, a strong hold for the anti-Rouge fighters in the 1970s, and now on the World Heritage site list)

The 5 lotus flower towers

The cloister 

The upper level, just opened to the public in January 2010

What the original ceiling would have looked like (only it would have been made of wood not stone)

Sun setting at the complex

Pictures from Phonm Baekumg the first temple in Angkor- former land mine central when the Rouge was fighting Vietnam

Sunset from the highest point 

Which we witnessed with a large sea of humanity

It's hard to believe by this time tomorrow we'll be back in Bangkok.  And on that, we've been able to move our hotel to the one right by the airport, seeing as how the red shirts have set up their main camp right by where we were staying.  So all should be good.

April 13: Siem Reap

So you might be wondering why Dr_EAM looks so pleasantly terrified.

Is it because he's been going to bed at 8:00 pm and so he's extremely well rested.  True, but no.  Is it because he's uber excited to be going to Cambodia to tour the Angkor Wat compound? True, but no.

This look comes from the, um, joy he's feelings when he realized this was the plane we'd be taking to Siem Reap

UGH! Prop plane!

But never the less, we arrived and had a little down time before the big touring starts tomorrow to explore some of the town.  My job thus far on the trip has been to keep Dr_EAM from doing things that would lead to an "I told you so."  Things such as eating sushi from street vendors in any of the countries we've been to.  But today, I was able to encourage him to go and do!

While we were pounding some pavement, we came across a large (9 courts) dirt volleyball area where a large group of local guys were playing (think "Playing with those Boys" Khmer style).  One of the guys caught us taking pictures and invited Dr_EAM to join in.  And I'm so proud of my little brother because (after a little prodding from his outgoing counter part- aka me) he went on in!

Then some sit down street-food (a step up from what we've done the past few nights) before heading in for an early night so we can be ready for a full day of Angkor tomorrow.

And here's a pic of Dr_EAM at dinner one of my favorite from today, he's concentrating on eating with chopsticks after a, um, slight bruising of his thumb playing volleyball.  I guess cultural experiences come at a price (good thing he's not going into surgery, right)

Enjoying yet another culture, language, climate, and stamp in my passport

April 12: Elephants and Songkran

Today was incredible!  We started out with a tour of one of Chian Mai's orchid garden and butterfly farm

Then, we took a glance at the dung paper process which was sort of like the paper process in Bhutan, but this time made of something a more, um, recycled.

And then .... elephants

Elephants.

ELEPHANTS!

Yes, today we rode on elephants!

And following lunch, we rafted down the Chao Phraya river.

*** I'm going ahead to post this video of things we saw at the elephant camp so I can head to bed (late here in Thailand).  However, youtube says it might not be ready yet so if it doesn't work, please check back.  Your patience is appreciated. ***

Then, this afternoon we not only witnessed Songkran,

but we took part in it as well.

We were glad to not be in Bangkok on this festive day.  But, as I told Dr_EAM, Bangkok may have the rowdy protesting but Chiang Mai had the unruly chaos.

Happy Thai New Year!


* as a side note, Songkran shots would not be possible without this.

April 11: Chiang Mai

Today we left Bangkok and headed north to Chiang Mai which used to be the capital city of the old Lanna kingdom but is now part of Thailand and like Bhutan it is use to be rather cut off from the outside world until the early 1900s. But now this city is a regular vacation spot for many Thai people.

We had a special greeting when we came down to baggage claim because this the weekend of Songkran and in Chiang Mai the water festival is a big deal.

Our local guide took us to see three of the major temples.  And even though it follows the same school of Theradavan Buddhism, since it was not part of Siam until 1774, the architecture of the three oldest temples is different from what we saw in Bangkok.  Here, the pagoda is in the center or most holy place in the temple while in Bangkok it's usually the earth witnessing Buddha.

Following some down time during the heat of the day, we walked down to one of the large markets in Chiang Mai - leaving our big cameras at home since some of the children have started the festival early.

While in the market, we decided to play our own version of No Reservations (without the excessive drinking and foul language)

So our dinner consisted of a white meat sausage with glass noodles (on a stick), crunchy small crabs, spicy sausage with lime sold from the popular stall pictured above, rice flower paste desserts, and, of course, cooked swaps, worms, crickets, ants, grasshoppers and who knows what other bugs (the vendor was kind enough to give us the sampler pack).

 I skyped with the boys after coming back and they couldn't believe their mom would eat bugs.  But, when it Rome right?!

Tomorrow is elephant riding day!

April 10: Bangkok

Today we were scheduled to visit many temples around Bangkok.  I knew coming here I would have to have my shoulders covered when in the temple but with the 109- yes that's one hundred and nine degree real feel temperature, I didn't want to wear more than my tank top if at all possible.  

So last night I went on a hunt to find a cheap button up shirt that I could throw on when in the temple and take off and throw in my bag when I wasn't.  I didn't want to buy it at the stalls and pay more than I had to for some knock off shirt made of faux whatever.  So while Dr_EAM was in the grocery store searching desperately to replace his misplaced Fabreeze, I looked around for a possible shirt.  And I found it- cheap, lightweight and button up.  And the added bonus it wasn't white so me and my "recess-kid" self wouldn't get it dirty the first second I had it on.

Now I know this shirts is Aloha-fabulous and rather bright, but I was still surprised with the attention I was getting today.  Thai people looking at me, staring, talking.  And then there was the news station that wanted to shoot video of me at one of the temples.  I was beginning to feel self conscious and asked Dr_EAM if he noticed it too.  Typical guy, said he didn't.

It wasn't until we were on our way back to the hotel that our guide said "I see you're ready for the water festival."

"I am?"

"Yes, your shirt.  This is the traditional water festival shirt.  It says you're ready to be wet."

Doh!  I guess I'm not as attention-grabbing as I was beginning to think.  At least I didn't purchase a red shirt.

Speaking of red shirts ...

The red shirts and police had another standoff today.  Here was the view from the skytrain bridge as we tried to board to go outside the main center (where the group has been protesting for the last month) to see some sights in Bangkok.

However, their protest shut down the skytrain- so instead we started walking.  And walking. and walking.  When we got to the canal we jumped on one of the local water boats- a trip that is not for the faint of heart.

After getting out of, as best as we could tell, the protest zone we walked to the Buddha market, where locals go to buy their status of all sizes.  And then to Chinatown where we tried all sorts of food

In the end, after more walking and walking and walking, we were very thankful that at least the subway was still running so we could get somewhat close to the hotel.  And we rewarded ourselves with some Sushi do!

At least this morning we were able to see some of the temples of Bangkok which were busy and largely decorated because of the upcoming water festival.

Tomorrow- out of this protesting mess and on to Chiang Mai