Leica the day

Greetings,

What a pleasant day. I visited four temples - there are perhaps 1,000 - at, around and away from Angkor Wat. An evolving diversion from previous impressions.

Phimeanakas, 10th c., in a large forested enclosure means "flying palace" in Sanscrit. It was topped by a golden spire. I sat near Phimeanakas and then wandered toward ancient walls. In between were painters offering their art. Green and yellow leaves fluttered through broken light. Earth's new blanket. 

The Preah Pithu Group are five Hindu and Buddhist temples from the 15th c. The forest path is crackling. I walk slow, breathing in the fragrance of leaves, trees, fresh air, leaving only footprints.

Over a simple meal of rice and vegetables a group of young Czech men talk. One said, "We have to DO everything in a short time." That sums it ALL up.

Thommanon, 12th c. is in great condition with fine Buddhist art and complements Chau Say Thevoda. Chau is undergoing renovation using Chinese government funds. Dedicated to Shiva and Vishnu.

A cleansing ceremony at Preah Palilay.

Metta.

Phimeamakas, Preah Pithu Group, Thommanon, Chau Say Thevoda galleries...

Yellow Butterfly Guide

Greetings,

Evidence of intelligent life on Earth is greatly exaggerated. It's a rumor. A myth.

I recently wandered Banteay Kdei and Ta Phrom.

Kdei is great for walking through the dust. A sun yellow butterfly was my guide. It led me around the perimeter for a feeling of perspective. Being outside gives you the feeling of space acknowledging deep green forest. I do this at every temple. It's rare to see others explore the outside. Intelligence on Earth is rare.

Tourist ants are in a highly disciplined hurry. They march in, follow others, follow the stone path. They wander around, make a lot of noise, pose for pictures and march out. Their time is limited. Many look serious and sad, especially the Europeans. They are clearly controlled by forces unknown to them. It may be a silent ticking mechanism on their wrist near a pulse. They are little robots.

I remember a Tibetan saying, "I would rather be a tiger for one day than a sheep for a thousand years."

I explored outside slowly inside gentle winds from the forest. It's a very slow walking meditation. I engaged all my senses. Thick dust underfoot is a welcome relief after stones. I am surrounded by light and shadows dancing through leaves. All nature all the time.

Butterfly leads me to interior passages and shadowed experiences. Butterfly shows me mysterious art. Deep interior space. It takes ages to reach the center. 

Prohm is where "possibly the most famous photographed tree on planet Earth exists." It entwines itself around and through soft stones. It's a zoo. Human hoards line up to take a photo. They push and shove and jostle so they can have their picture taken with this tree.

Italian, French and German tongues wag like mongrels in heat. Life is a bitch. The Japanese, as I mentioned in an earlier post from The Silk Worm Farm are total photo freaks, obsessed with posing in doorways, passages, with carvings, plants, ferns and leaves. They feel the experience with their cameras. They behave like the temples are one gigantic amusement park. 

Here's the tree. No humans. Actually there is a tiny tourist sleeping inside the third root from the center.

Banteay Kdei and Ta Phrom galleries.

Metta.

Moon, silk, kids and water

Greetings,

I've been in Cambodia one month. The year is flying by, away, intent on new and completely unknown possibilities. 

New imagination galleries on the sidebar include:  Siem Reap, Artists and Pagodas, A silk farm (included in Bamboo Monkeys Photo Blog) My Grandfather's House rural school project and a floating village Kampong Pluck, presently high and dry.

Here's a sample. Feel free to explore at your leisure.

Metta.

Boiling silkworm cocoons to extract raw yellow silk. It will be separated into soft and fine threads and dyed using natural materials: banana (yellow), Bougainvillea (yellow), almond leaves (black), lac insect nests (red and purple), prohut wood (yellow and green), lychee wood (black and gray), indigo (blue), and coconut (brown and pink). Cambodian weavers also weave Ikat, a technique creating patterns on the silk threads prior to weaving. It is called "HOL" and there are more than 200 motifs. 

Raw silk on loom. 

Kampong Pluck floating village outside Siem Reap in the dry season. The wet season is July-November and the water level will rise 9 meters, (30 feet).

 Children at My Grandfather's House, a rural elementary school supported by volunteers. It will supplement their local Khmer education. Children will begin with basic English classes. Plans include math and basic computer skills.

Inside the floating world of nature, water, and light. Be light. About it.

This Waking Dream

Greetings,

I've been sitting down and exploring Saigon now for three weeks. Some travelers shared their story.

...The couple from Poland. They recently visited Borneo and camped for four days with an eco-friendly outfit in the jungle. Their operation has been going for 20 years. The couple said they saw orangutans, amazing plumaged birds, scorpions, snakes, and butterflies. Their future travel dreams include Madagascar to see the lemurs, Komodo Island dragons, and the Panda Conservatory in China.

It's refreshing to meet people traveling to experience the natural world, rather than those focusing on museums and cities. Some prefer their comfort zones, others take the road less travelled. 

• The Korean man and his family returning on a vacation. In the 60's he worked in remote areas of Laos constructing roads and airfields for Air America, the secret CIA funded airline from 1950-1976. He also worked in Da Nang.
• The family with two young kids from Darwin, Australia. The mother said, "This is a good experience for my girl and boy. It teaches them tolerance."
• The two girls from Chile and Argentina. They met by chance in Sydney and teamed up. They left their respective homes, much to the dismay and concern of family and friends to travel for a year. It's their first time away from home and they've settled into the routine and joy. They've headed north to explore Ha Noi, the coast and mountains before eventually turning south to Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. They have no time limitations. As one said, "I took the first step."

Metta.

Sculpture at Fine Arts Museum.

  Shirts made of tree bark.

Petrol and tires, Saigon curbside business.

Mekong - River of Nine Dragons

Greetings,

I've just returned from three days in the Mekong Delta. It was marvelous to be on the water, this swirling powerful natural endless flow of time - past, present and future. To realize it's source in Tibet. It runs 4500 kilometers through China, between Myanmar and Laos, through Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. 

Travelers shared their short sweet stories. Icelandic, German, English, and French. The majority were on quick 2-3 week vacations through Southeast Asia. I felt their anxiety and time schedule pressure, some had adjusted in some small measure to the rhythm of the Asian way. Others were suffering from sensory overload and in a hurry to get somewhere else. So it goes.

The Icelandic team of two brothers and their sister left Reykjavik in August and landed in Mumbai where it was 40+. I'm melting!

They stayed with boats and buses, reached Kathmandu, flew to Beijing and overland to Saigon. They left by boat to Cambodia and eventually Thailand. Two will continue to Sydney for New Year's. 

I took an Open Tour to My Tho, Ben Tre and Can Tho. It included a home-stay with a family deep in the jungle along a tributary. The tourist sites on small islands in villages included: a coconut candy production operation, honey bee processing, a python wrapped around your neck, fish farms, an alligator farm, a floating market, a rice paper making village, a Cham weaving village and a climb up Sam Mountain offering 360 degree visions of the huge delta and Cambodia to the west. Stunning and sublime.

At the home stay I awoke at 4 to sit by the river with the crescent moon and stars reflected in water. 

An extensive Saigon color gallery is up for your visual enjoyment. 

Metta.

Release birds to gain merit.