angkor what?

so i really needed some time to myself and away from work. i decided to take a two day holiday and spend the weekend in siem reap, where all the famous ancient temples are. it's pronounced SEE-UM REE-UP. flew in early early yesterday morning and flying out early this eve. stayed in this small and simple but cute and charming little guesthouse style hotel. nice little bungalows. geckos crawling up and down the walls of my room but thankfully no mice. memories of indo remind me that geckos don't hurt you and never touch you, just crawl around...

my tour guide dude took me to the most famous temple - angkor wat - first, then to the second biggest park, angkor thom, full of more archealogical ruins and more temples, and after a break from the exhausting heat, more sightseeing in the afternoon and to a mountain temple where the view is breathtaking. they have elephants for those who didn't wanna hike up the steep side or take the long, panoramic path. i decided to take the long path, which they call, "safety path," and when it started raining when we reached the top, i came to find out why. tour guide dude misjudged the weather and we got caught in a serious downpour. clothes and hair soaking wet. took the "elephant path" down the mountain to avoid mudslides and ruined a good pair of shoes cos they were full of elephant shit. yes. an elephant dropping is about the size of your head. combine that with the mudslide, clothes and hair completely soaked, and i was ready to call it quits. and not because it wasn't an exhilerating experience, but more due to my lack of bringing a backback with extra clean clothes. aduh!

this morning, i visited ta prohm, the temple park made famous recently by 'tomb raider.' and was really floored by the majesty of the jungle. especially how it has taken over these ancient temples. the trees are hundreds of years old and snake around the temples and ruins, reminding you that nature is indeed stronger than what humans built there. chinese, korean and japanese tourists abound, but it still didn't really take away from the experience. and pictures really don't do it justice. it was AMAZING and made all the annoying inconviences of the trip distant memories. i'll say the same of angkor wat and the other temples. even if you're not the least bit spiritual, you will still be humbled by these places. i was reminded that i have a selective fear of heights when i climbed the *steep* steps of angkor wat to the third level. i don't remember having this same anxiety as a kid, but it was all too real when i was climbing, then ascending, the steps of the temple. i forget how many meters it is exactly, but here's a good pic to give you an idea. it was so bad that my hands were shaking and heart was pounding. maybe this is just a manifestation of my general anxiety issues...*sigh*

i almost cancelled this weekend trip just to have some lazy time by the pool back in phnom penh, and now i can't imagine how much i would have regretted it.

today have much less energy and am feeling a little sick, actually. ate some fish steamed with coconut milk inside a banana leaf (a khmer delicacy called "amok") and suffered some MAJOR stomach issues this morning. yeah. hence, why i am not sightseeing this afternoon and writing this from internet cafe instead ;)

anyway, i got more exercise yesterday and this morning than i have in two weeks and otherwise feel great. there's a french quarter of town here and because this is the most visited part of cambodia, a real tourism industry is here to cater. maybe i'll go to a french-khmer cafe for a late lunch, then read a book while i wait for my taxi back to the airport to phnom penh.

my travel agent now says it'll cost around $600 to change my ticket home, but has waitlisted me for a flight from bangkok back to sf (via tokyo again) on the 8th, which, in that case, would mean i'll actually be home on the 8th. otherwise, i'll be home on the 6th or 7th. i'd love to be able to spend two more days in bkk on the way back, simply because there are still things there i haven't seen, and poonsook has so graciously offered to give me a "home stay" orientation to see how middle class thai families actually live. i'd get to hang out and play with her 6 year old son, prin, who is really fun and cute and says hysterical things. pure entertainment for me, as you can imagine... i brought him some gummy bears from the states when i arrived in bkk the first time...

i had a social night with jen and her friends last week, but it's only the 2nd one i've had in two weeks cos we work so much that i am really missing informal human connections... it's taken being away from my daily routine to realize i guess how social i am. i don't think of myself that way, and solitude and time to myself are so so so precious to me, but i'm learning to appreciate what i have back home. so greatful for my life right now.

so with that, i'm realizing i have some emails to check for work and one to answer from my mom, herself on vacation visiting that side of the family in minnesota, probably having beer 'n brats at the german festival, heh.

back into the heat!

Back in "The Penh"

someone from home called it that and i just loved it. that moniker really suits this city. hilarious.

i've emailed some folks and realized it's easier to just update this thing instead. sorry these updates have been moving at the glacial speed they have, i just haven't been all that inspired to write, as it's either been too busy, i've been too tired, or it's just been too inconvenient to get to a pc with internet.

back in phnom penh after five sometimes excrutiating days in bangkok prepping for, then conducting this workshop. meeting was not only successful (interesting presentations and the delegates present were all too engaged) but socially productive for me, as i made some good work connections there and developed some really good economic project ideas. fun.

let me just take a moment to say how much i love bangkok. it's not a beautiful city; it's actually kind of a mess. with all the construction that began when times were good (economic boom) and then the screeching halt of all that excess when the financial crash of the late 1990's happened, you find it's a city not necessarily easy to navigate or get to know quickly.

but in a short amount of time and in only two visits, it has engraciated itself to me almost by default. i don't compare phnom penh to bangkok, because phnom penh isn't really a city by cosmopolitan standards. still, when i fell onto my featherbed and luxuriated with a facial and manicure and was at least able to contemplate the possibility of seeing a movie in an actual theater, i felt like i was in heaven.

i will dedicate another post to the joy of thai cuisine later. it deserves the pause of appreciation all by itself.

instead, i will say just that it was a rough trip to bangkok and i spent the weekend working, but a luxury resort has no better substitute when it comes to doing these things.

must sleep soon. will post about work back here later.

Seven Days and Not (Really) Counting...

so, i'll just get this over with and mention that i'm really bad with the autobiographical writing stuff. so bad that i just realized this expensive business center i'm writing from in my hotel is about to close and i don't have a laptop to take back to my room. and by the way: yay for the corporate Am Ex.

yáll will be happy to know this is the first night i am getting some serious rest and am not going out :) today was up and down. way too emotional. mixed feelings about everything right now. jet lag finally caught up with me. phnom penh is surreal. like nothing i have ever really known. simultaneously amazing and supremely Fucked Up. will find real time to write about asia tomorrow.

message of the day: count your blessings.

I'm In the Sky!

And will be for a very long time. Hopefully they'll serve peanuts!