Sitting down in Siem Reap, Cambodia

Greetings,

The final Saigon image galleries is, are, was, were live. Finale Saigon. 

I've been on the ground here in Siem Reap for 24 little clicks of life's wheel. It feels wonderful after the busy rush of Saigon. Vietnam's population is 85 million. Cambodia is 15 million.

It felt great to put on the solid walking boots at 0515 as the narrow alleys rustled alive, this slow stirring call to life. How the gentle support, pressure was a delight to the skeleton structure.

It's a walking meditation.

Tan San Nut airport was deserted at 0600, the sky a soft orange skied sunrise. How many cold airports have you seen in this marvelous little adventure? Chengdu and Casablanca, among others.

Outside the terminal (we are all terminal cases) I met a Vietnamese woman, around 60, widowed now for a year returning home to Perth after visiting her son and grandchildren. She shared pictures of her standing by the ocean, with friends when she was 38, her son, at a party. She talked about how she and her husband were farmers for 10 years in Australia. How she misses him. How she remembers her son. She looked a little wistful yet resigned to her fate. I saw her growing old gracefully, working, being with friends in Perth and her remembering. 

I flew in yesterday on a prop jet seating 100 well jaded travelers for the one hour flight. Delightful, low and slow. Whir...A woman behind said to husband, a bit causticly, "Where are we flying today? Siem Reap? Oh."

We skimmed west over the mighty Mekong, brown snake rivers, open rice fields then into the strong lush green land and water and islands with southern mountains looming through low grey cloud based formations...the pastels, beautiful shades blending into the natural world. 

In Saigon I asked a girl from Poland now studying in Singapore what her fondest memory of Cambodia was. "The pastel colors," she said. "One day I took a bike and pedaled out of Siem Reap. I saw a lovely green meadow and sat down for hours. It was lovely."

Our baby plane soared , floated, turning north, then over the Tonle Sap lake. It is the largest lake in Asia. It is fed by water flowing from Tibet through China and Laos. 

My first impression of the Kingdom of Cambodia was a clean cool freshness. Purple, white flowers and green. It reminded me of the Mataram airport and fresh environment in Lombok where I spent last Christmas on Gili Air Is-land. Swimming with turtles.

Immigration was a formality. Twelve uniformed officers sat behind a long curving desk. I offered my passport and forms to the first man requesting a 30-day business visa for $25. The standard tourist visa runs $20. One senior man acted as a conductor, shuffling passports to various individuals along the chain of approval, stamps and recognition. They chatted and joked in Khmer.

The airport is spacious with Angkor Wat posters and art, designed to handle thousands of visitors to one of the most magnificent Hindu-Buddhist architectural wonders of the world. 

I will sit down here now. The writing, photography work continues and I will be looking into various community volunteer programs where I may be of service.

May your holidays be filled with family, friends, light and love.

Metta.