The Lines In Between

The introspection will last well past nine days. Most likely it will last into the rest of my life.
We leave in seven days to stay for two nights in one of the most upscale hotels in Bangkok...a crazy cheap deal we jumped on post Bangkok airport crisis and the decline in tourism.

It took seven weeks for me to make a conscious decision to take my camera out of my bag. Life here had hit normalcy. The five people crammed on a moto, including two sleeping kids with no helmets is normal. The sea of colorful plastic bags on every inch of earth is normal. The chaotic traffic and inconsistent laws, and rainbow of fruit, and live turtles for sale with eggs, and squirming fish being scaled in the stinky, sticky market, and the sound of the high pitched Khmer language...it is all normal. And I realise that in a week, it will no longer be normal.

And that I don't have images to share with friends and family of my normalcy, only words that form a half-assed attempt at describing life over here. So, the lists of to do's gets reformed: what restaurants and food stalls to visit before we leave, what needs to be documented in photos, what places needs to be visited because we no longer have the flexibility to say, "oh, let's just do it later."

And I have my friends and family to thank for pulling me out of my pathetic, privileged, depression and over-introspection of the meaning of MY life. Which I soon realized was such a selfish question, and that asking "what is the meaning of life" meant that I could share laughs, and smiles, and love and tenderness with strangers. You all are the backbone to bringing back the light and helping me to chase my shadows behind me, rather than in front of me. Needless to say, it's important to look your shadows in the face once in a while, and I'm thankful that this trip has let me do that more than I could handle.

So, since last writing, I've been living. Eating, sleep, dreaming, creating, writing, drawing, and accepting. One of the girls in the bar came to me with a "female problem." In which I guided her, listened to her, laughed with her, taught her new words, and hopefully cured a yeast infection for her. I became her big sister, her mother, her nurse and her doctor...and in one fell swoop. And in a matter of hours, all the girls at the bar where talking about it, holding pill boxes up, asking questions. And, through it, I wrote a short story that I'll post once it's had some polishing. It's an ironic situation for me...

I became the "sister" to the wife of a couple that owns a shop in the market...an endearing remark that was accompanied with a gentle shoulder massage, a gift of a silk scarf and a hand holding until we see her again in a day or two.

Don't fret, we have adventures to come, such as a hot air balloon ride above Angkor Wat, a visit to a waterfall that has lingas and yoni's engraved below the water (penis's and vagina's), a "fashion" shoot at the Sofitel in Bangkok...and then all the lines in between that make up more of life than we can remember while actually living it. Until next time, keep living those lines in between and remember how sweet they are!

Holiday Fever

New Years on the rooftop of The Warehouse, Christmas at "home."

I have been Fila-ized. Fila's Boston Red Sox hat made me a dancing fool!...and I looked cool.

The super cool Christmas Eve earings from Dave. He's got some good taste!

Ridiculous. I'm not sure why these outfits exhist, but they do, so we were fortunate enough to have Santa Clause and his helper visit Jed's place.

Dancing fever! No drinking necessary! It was great to groove-on-down...a perfect New Year's activity.

We scavenged around town trying to find party hats...Dave and I were the party committee for New Years. We finally asked at a catch all store that had sparkly garland of turquoise and pink out front. The owner brought out six hats and promptly sat out front with her mother to make 20 more...that's how it works. And it worked. 50 cents each and the most festive hats I've ever had the privilege of wearing.

Happy New Year's!!!!

Sparklers to bring in the New Year. Hurray for 2009. Hurray for tanktops and light rain. Hurray for fireworks and dancing. Hurray for love and peace.

And lastly, the Christmas tree with little gifties underneath, outrageous costumes, and fun for all(by the way it was about 100 degrees!).

Temple Tantrum!!!

Dave went to get a haircut, so I'm having some major computer uploading time...Here are some photos from temple trampling about a month ago. We spent three days exploring a handful of the 200+ temples around Siem Reap.

Shiva or Vishnu in Angkor Wat. A cleansing ceremony with a female my age was taking place...not sure the details.

The infamous Angkor Wat. Am I a tourist or "Wat?" Funny, eh? This is the first time that the top portion of the temple has been closed to the public with massive reconstruction going on...bummer. I guess we couldn't pretend to be gods and look over the empire. Maybe next time!

This was actually a Buddha in a temple/pagoda/caves outside of Battambang. It was literally larger than an 18 wheeler on the top of a hill. They were collecting money to build a bigger one...I guess all practicing religion is the same. The huge church, temple, Buddha, shrine isn't big enough. We need more money to build a bigger one. Just doesn't quite make sense in my opinion!


Honestly, I can't remember the name of this temple. I should know it, as this is a famous shot which has appeared in all the huge magazines, including National Geographic. The temple is known for the massive, invasive roots, which are reclaiming the stone as it's own and digesting it back into the jungle. All I remember is that I had a fever that day and Dave guided me/dragged me around.

Bayon. My favorite temple to date. Lots of heads. More heads. Most peacefully smiling as they protect their surrounding lands.

Attempting to look as peaceful. I didn't pull it off. I'm still practicing.

Cambodian Life

Here are some shots from the last couple of months of life in and around Siem Reap:

The first mall in Siem Reap caught on fire last week...it is a block away from Jed's bar, The Warehouse. Something with faulty wires. It was a wake up call in consumerism outpacing safety systems...and the bottom line is that it is cheaper without safety protocol in place. Picture a couple hundreds Khmers squashed together alongside the firetruck with police shooting at the third story windows to create holes for the water to go in to the flaming, smoking building. Meanwhile the trucks run out of water, so they have to leave the scene to go across town to refill with water, as fire hydrants don't exist. There are police, military, security present, all telling the crowds to do slightly different things...an no one listens. Thy pull out cell phones to take photos and call friends. It is THE PLACE to be tonight.

Truth be told this shot is in Kampot at an overpriced restaurant along the river with a happy hour...which made it price worthy. Super cool chair...as you can see! Onions!!! Onions are considered another veggies. I ordered a salad that had just as many onions as lettuce or cucumbers. They are sweet and strong and leave you smelling of onions for days afterwards...it's a way of life. I have succumbed to the onions!

Again, truth be told, not in Siem Reap, but in Phnom Penh at the Central Market with crazy architecture. Pricier than other markets, so we just went to check out the place.


Ok, I'm not really sure where this is. I haven't done a great job including photos of me on the blog, so I'm trying to play catch up. I think it's along the river in Phnom Penh...maybe it's Battambang...neither here nor there. I'm smiling and that's what matters!

I am one with the "tree." - a huge Christmas tree made out of zip ties at Hotel de la Paix-the premier boutique hotel in town. We were at an art opening/fashion show...an experience to say the least.

Fruit, fruit and more fruit. Stalls and stalls of them. Fresh, cheap, delicious, beautiful,...

A shot from a traditional puppet show. They puppets are made from water buffalo hide, with a screen in front of a huge fire from burning coconut shells.

Another shot of the fashion/art show. I was dressed to impress with a black dress and fake suede flip flops with four fake diamonds on each. The bar in the background changes colors. Very hip! Cheers!

A very Merry Malaria Christmas

Happy Holidays!
After the best meal in months at the re-opening of a French restaurant on Christmas Eve I awoke in the middle of the night with itchy legs and feet. Although we had a mosquito coil burning beneath our table and lingering in our toes, I counted 42 mosquito bites the next day. Tiger balm quickly became my closest friend, providing a cool, burning, soothing sensation. The 100% Deet has also re-entered my life in a new kind of way. Dave had no bites. This is my life.
So my friends, thankfully malaria is almost nonexistent in Siem Reap province...and if I get it, it will be while I indulged in Lamb chop with olive sauce, pumpkin and potato mash, green beans and a white wine.
Wishing everyone a healthy, peaceful, relaxing holiday season.

Kampot and Kep

Our awesomely-amazing junglrific-hillside bungalow

View from bungalow

French Colonial town of Kampot

Cruising...or maybe we were lost and almost at the Vietnam border?!

4. Kampot-Inland to a smaller colonial town that still had French Colonial Vibe ... I like to call this FCV-charred French colonial building from the Khmer Rouge, an abundant amount of French tourists and lots of baguettes. Dave loves the bookstore. I was ready to go when we arrived.

5. Kep-I love. Mountains and ocean and small and deserted feeling. But, really I liked it for two reasons: 1.-We stayed at a gorgeous bungalow with stone and delicious food and a fresh bakery and fruit trees and an ocean breeze that never ended and ocean views that were everywhere.

2. We were finally out of a city and got to get back to the country. Fresh crab. Fresh fruit. Friendly farmers. The world famous Kampot Pepper. Rice whiskey. Enough lychees to feed an army.

Coast Bound-sparkling waters in ocean and toilet

Sunset with fighing boats and locals playing in the water.

Lobster? Six for two dollars??

Rows and rows of bars, restaurants, chairs, umbrellas, ...

Steamed squid with noodles and me hanging in the background with a tourquoise bikini.

3. After a three hour bus ride on a limousine bus (which is a standard grayhouse style bus), we arrived in Sihounikville. Shit hit the fan with our first night. Our overpriced "boutique hotel" was actually just an overpriced guesthouse run by Americans who were expanding their business by adding a second level. We were told construction would start at mid-day...7am is not mid-day.
Our first meal out to the trendy, touristy, college-feeling town was to The Mexican, which was filled only with foreigners. Three hours after eating fried rice I began a 36 hour throw-up fest with a toilet at the supposed-boutique hotel that stopped flushing. Putrid. Gross. Wretched.
We would have left the next day, but I was in no shape to travel, so we quickly checked out of our hotel and headed to a large, Khmer run hotel ... think Days-Inn, but not. Same same, but different.
After a day and night in bed, in and out of sleep, watching old American movied from the 80's on cable and withering into a hollow, shell of a person, we finally made it to the white sand beaches and clear aqua water of the Thai Bay.
Now, my friends, the beach was a totally different creature...kind of like an ageless frat party ... in a beautiful old house that gets trashed by night. You can buy EVERYTHING on the be beach...sex, a massage, pot, cigarettes, squid, bracelets, alcohal, water, pedicure, manicure, wax, shells, wind-up toy mice, food, bathing suits, shorts, hats, towels, noodles, sun-glasses, fruit, lobster...all from women and girls carrying around their market items in flat baskets on their heads or buckets hanging from a bamboo pole on their shoulders.
It was a creature. I got a pedicure which was worth it because all the women know each other so they all sit around you and chat with each other. It is the closest way of being a part of their world...occasionally intergecting with questions that are discussed at length in Khmer and answered in short, broken English.
The water is somehow sacred and wholesome compared to the fullmoon parties. I swam in the warm water and black and white striped fish nibbled on my white flesh. I swam and swam and loved every minute of it!