Siem Reap

We spent nine days in Siem Reap, phenomenally long considering the town itself is nothing but a tourist hub for people visiting the temples, but we had a grand time!

We checked into a cheap little guest house on the edge of all the action. £3.60 a night got us a large double room, cheap polyester sheets and a bathroom smaller than most wardrobes. The owner was great fun though. (Boomerang Guest House)

When we weren't visiting the temples we spent our time around the pool of a nearby (classier) hotel, got $3 massages that included a free beer, walked up and down the river, shopped, and over indulged in some amazing food and drink. There are so many bars and restaurants in Siem Reap that we were completely spoiled for choice; from super cheap roadside restaurants to five star steak houses, there's everything you could ever wish to eat here. One evening we went to Temple Bar, slap bang in the middle of 'Pub Street', and sat down for a fancy meal and traditional Apsara dance show. The meal turned out to be quite shambolic; upon sitting at a table overlooking the busy street, we were lectured by one of the waiters on the political corruption in the Government, how Vietnam is taking over Cambodian businesses, and on his opinions of the neighboring countries. Finally, 20 minutes later, we were able to pick up the menu and order a bottle of wine - much anticipated after a whole month of drinking only beer! The wine (French Chardonnay) took another 30 minutes to arrive, and the food came on a banana leaf platter with no plates. Fortunately is was delicious and the Apsara dancing was very pleasant. Another one of our regular haunts was on the edge of the market, one of the cheapest and perhaps best places to eat in town. However, after eating there a few times we came to recognise the exhausted face of the one waiter, who served there from open to close (breakfast til late evening), and that of his young son who worked there instead or perhaps as well as going to school. 

The massage doubled as a Khmer lesson; we impressed and amused the masseurs with our rudimentary language skills.

Swimming pool at neighbouring Riverside Hotel.

Fancy, but where are the plates?

Apsara dancing at Temple Bar

When we weren't eating we did manage a few cultural museum and temple visits: The Angkor National Museum, for an extortionate $12 each, was rubbish. The artifacts that were spread across eight galleries could easily have fit into one. The written information was repeated over and over and the displays were much of the same in each gallery. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless you're seriously into archaeology and/or ancient history. The one thing I did take away from the museum visit was a better understanding of the religions in the region; how Cambodia was once an Hindu country and how that transformed into Buddhism, and in fact, Angkor Wat is a Hindu Temple. We took bikes out to the Land Mine Museum, which again was not worth the $5 entrance fee. In fact to call it a museum is to use a lot of poetic license. It comprised two sheds containing a handful of artillery: land mines, grenades, missiles, etc. The bonus was that $2 from the entrance fee is donated to the local childrens hospital, which we had to pass in order to get to the museum, and to the temples on the other days. The pavement on each side of the road outside the hospital are lined, day in day out, from dawn til dusk, with mothers shading small children from the heat of the sun. A sign above the entrance informs tourists of an outbreak of severe hemorrhagic dengue fever. It was sad and distressing to see, and although we were too wimpy to donate blood, at least some of our tourist money was going to the hospital.

Preah Prom temple in the city centre.

On one of our less energetic days I did a 'restorative' yoga class above a vegan cafe (Peace Cafe); it was in a traditional raised wooden building and the rain drumming on the tin roof above the dimly lit room was very atmospheric. I was so relaxed afterwards that I had to go for a massage! Peace cafe also advertises free Khmer classes on weekends, we showed up both days at the specified time but found no Khmer lesson. 

Tuk-tuk driver having a snooze in the afternoon heat.

Rainbow after a heavy rain shower.

Tales of Rishikesh

We spent 10 days in Rishikesh, longer than we've spent anywhere else on this trip so far. It's a beautiful, inexpensive place and we were privy to great company, namely Anna, who we'd already met up with in Varanasi and Lucknow, and her motley crew of pensioners, playboy holy men and yoga snobs. 

Laxman Jhulla, Rishikesh, at the start of the foothills of the Himalayas.

The Silent Playboy Baba Goes Rafting
Through Anna, we were privileged to meet Moni Baba. Baba is the name for the numerous "holy men" dotted around India, who've dedicated their lives to some religious quest. This Baba had taken a vow of silence, earning him the name Silent Bob(a). Unlike the majority of Babas, who have no possessions and live a life akin to a beggar, Silent Boba lives the high life, hanging out in cool bars with foreign tourists and texting on his two mobile phones. 

Mad man in a loin cloth

One day, at the beginning of our time in Rishikesh, along with an Irish girl and an Israeli man, Ric and I decided to take Silent Boba on a rafting trip down the Ganga. Wearing only a red loin cloth and a black cloth skirt rolled up far too high, Baba joined us on the raft and provided most of our entertainment for the day. After trapping Ric's finger in one of the raft's ropes, Silent Boba proceeded to enthusiastically suck the injured finger for far longer than necessary. Unable to verbally apologise, Baba fussed over Ric for the remainder of the trip, and at one point pulled Ric out of the river, face first onto the red loin cloth, leaving Ric's swim shorts in the river, and providing the rest of us with an awkward yet hilarious sight. 

Ric jumping into the river off a rock.

The rapids were far from exhilarating, it was more of a leisurely boat ride than white water rafting, but it was really enjoyable, with great company, beautiful scenery and my long avoided first dip into the holy river of waste! 

Brijing the Gap
Another one of Anna's friends we were introduced to was a 78 year old man named Brij. Having traveled around the world and earned a fine living working for Air India, Brij is now retired and dedicates his time to helping others in his community. He's got kids off the streets and into schools, he's helped finance business ventures for his friends and neighbours, he welcomes tourists into his house as if they were old friends and he is constantly looking for the next project where he can spread his kindness and help others.

Over dinner we heard how he and Anna had organised a hike up a mountain to a nearby village that few tourists have ever visited. A few days later, Ric, myself, and Connie, a Canadian friend we first met in Nepal and bumped into again in Rishikesh, made the same journey up the mountain and I committed myself to helping Brij set up a website promoting tourism in the mountain villages surrounding Rishikesh. The website will be called "Brijing the Gap".

Sweaty and disgusting after our hike up to the village.

Another facade to Brij's benevolence was helping out a local family that live in the neighbouring ashram. The parents and their three children live in this tiny room which doubles as the mother's studio where she makes clothes. Anna, Connie and I all had kameez made, an Indian dress that's seen as a modern alternative to the saree. And it's beautiful! 

Dress maker Kamni and my new kameez.

Brij was somewhat of an inspiration and it was wonderful meeting him.

Yoga
Rishikesh is pretty much the Mecca of yoga. The Beetles were there in the 60's studying transcendental meditation and today it attracts tourists from all over the world in search of yoga teaching certifications, enlightenment and bendy limbs. 

Some of these yoga pilgrims were really sound, lovely people. Others were total snobs that laughed in our faces when we told them we were doing beginners yoga. There was also a lot of talk about chakras, spirituality and other worldly stuff that went rather over our heads, but each to their own, eh?

For years I've been trying to get Ric to do a yoga class with me, and finally, in Rishikesh, he agreed! I think Ric liked yoga, although I couldn't look at him during the class because his silly faces had me in stitches. 

We tired 'laughter yoga' which was like being insane for an hour - roaring like a lion, laughing constantly for no reason, jumping and shouting "ha ha ha", all the while surrounded by 20 others doing the same thing... it was all a bit bizarre, but really fun! It was also a good work out for the abs.

105 years old!!

One yoga class was taught by a 105 year old man. He was like a living corpse; skeletally thin (yet freakishly strong), long white beard, slow zombie-like movements. Ric was mortified that this relic of a man could do more knee crunches than him! According to this ancient guru, yoga, meditation and breathing exercises are the key to a long healthy life. Apparently he gets up at 2am every day and does 5 hours of yoga to start the day!



Chilling
We otherwise spent a lot of time relaxing in Rishikesh. Sitting in cafes drinking lemon and mint slushies, getting massages, reading, writing and sketching. Ric went off to break into the ashram where the Beetles studied; it's now abandoned and overgrown with jungle. 

Rishiskesh was really a nice place to spend a while, and I could have stayed there longer.

This cow, with its dyed orange fringe, was always found standing on a bench!