Hey from Singapore.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
some work and some play makes betsy a dull blogger
Okay, so I can't say I've been off toiling away these last few weeks. The work has picked up a bit, but I've also been spending time making oddly-shaped things with the sewing machine, and at yoga class (I am an official yoga convert -- it's fantastic!), and throwing parties where people drink Mike's disgusting "special shots" and subsequently agree to do the Thriller dance. (And you do NOT want to see those pictures. Or, actually, I do NOT want you to see those pictures!)
There hasn't been much to photograph -- don't you love how I'm taking a photography class and have stopped taking pictures? I think I finally have the aperture lingo down, however -- but I am off to Bangkok (very briefly) and then Bombay next week. Should be photo-tastic, as always. Hurrah!
Wednesday, July 5, 2006
So, Cambodia is a very... interesting country. I've traveled around a lot of Asia by now, and yet I was still a little unprepared for how poor and difficult Cambodia would be. I spent two days in Siem Reap, the town closest to the Angkor Wat temples and Cambodia's biggest tourist destination. A few years ago, tourists started showing up by the busload and the town seems to be struggling under the rapid change. The beggars and the touts and the dirt and the poverty were absolutely overwhelming.
And yet, some things were just amazing. The temples -- even the parts inundated by tourists in a wide variety of fake logo-ed apparel and ridiculous hats -- were stunning. Many are around a thousand years old, and have beautiful moss-covered carvings and little, wrinkly old women who carefully tend to the Buddha statues inside. I also spent some time at the wonderful Shinta Mani and Hotel de la Paix, two sister hotels in Siem Reap that are committed to helping the local community. (I won't go into too much detail since I'm working on an article, but they provide opportunities for tourists to donate, for example, $90 which goes directly toward building a water well for a local family. This is an area where $10 per month is a pretty live-able salary. Any small amount of help can make all the difference in the world.)
I know I'd mentioned before that my cousin Nate was coming to join me on this trip, but he had to be all smart and get into a great med school and cancel his visit. So, I went on my own. I do prefer to travel with others -- it's just always fun to have someone else to share these things with -- but I also sort of enjoy just puttering around a new town by myself and traipsing through the local villages and loitering in the market and taking a much-needed afternoon nap whenever I feel like it, without having to worry about anyone else. Taking a little break seems to have worked -- my cold is almost gone and I'm (finally!) able to be awake for more than four hours at a time. Yay.
I was back just in time to learn how to actually use a sewing machine yesterday. Hooray! And this weekend, we're off to a tiny island in Malaysia, so more photos should be coming very soon.
heading into the temples of the angkor wat complex
you'd peek around a corner and see an elderly caretaker reading in the corner
but then you'd peek around another corner and see about nine thousand tourists, snapping photos.
still, it was so beautiful, it was completely worth it.
clearly, someone advised the other tourists that hats were a necessity.
unfortunately, no one advised them on their other wardrobe choices.
it still is cambodia, after all: no one seems to see any harm in having tourists scale perilous stretches of the temples
you risk life and limb to get to the top and a great view of... chairs.
So I'm playing around with the layout a bit. (Um, obviously.) It may change a bit over the next few weeks as I figure out what I like and what I don't. If you have strong preferences or suggestions, now would be the time to speak. Thanks!
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