Journal 8 June - 15 June 2008

15 June 2008 - Day 115 (7 days), Siem Reap

Bayon in the rain, Angkor

Notes: Adriane didn't fall asleep until 1:30am last night, she is much better now, I left her to sleep in

Today cost = hotel (12.50) + Rasmey (6) + pizza at FCC (10) + tuk-tuks (1) + dinner at Temple (5)

$34.50 - moderate

14 June 2008 - Day 114 (8 days), Siem Reap

Lunch at Blue Pumpkin, Siem Reap

Today cost = hotel (12.50) + 3 day Angkor pass (40) + lunch & coffee (6) + Rasmey (6) + dinner (4.50) + tuk-tuk (1) + drinks (2)

$72 - expensive

13 June 2008 - Day 113 (9 days), Siem Reap

Adriane waiting for diagnosis at the Siem Reap Royal International Hospital

Ominous rain clouds have finally announced to Angkor the wet season has arrived. Three days ago from room 202 we watched pockets of clouds unceasingly strobe lightning bolts. Two days ago, after flattening the rear tyre of a motorbike by overloading it with three passengers on a gravel mountain road 50 km out of town, the rain drenched us as we reeled out of a jungle village that fixed our tyre. The dirt road that carried us up the mountain melted into soft clay on the way down. We clumsily slipped and slid back to town only once having to bury our feet in the mud. Yesterday we lay in bed all day as the roads turned into streams. Adriane was feverish after our trip up the mountain so we stayed put for healing. Today the sky occasionaly drips an exhausted sigh and Adriane is sick.

Worried Adriane caught Malaria or Dengue fever we made an excursion to a flashy new international hospital on national route number 6. Sexy young Cambodian nurses in uniforms inspired by either mod-sci-fi films or kitsch porn took Adriane's temperature and ran blood tests. A suave young doctor eager to get back to Phnom Penh suggested she check into the hospital for a day or two. Adriane's face dropped in fear and I felt her tear ducts swell. The hasty doctor then went on diagnosing her illness as a urinary tract infection, some bacteria, and low sodium count. Thankfully cleared of Malaria and Dengue. Adriane and I dismissed the idea of camping the night and walked away with a boutique shopping bag full of drugs and rehydration salts. Her fever has since subsided and i'm sure the anti-biotics will clear up the infection.

Besides the recent unfortunate illness our time in Siem Reap has been rewarding. Prior to the rain we had been shooting specific areas and features of Angkor. Even within the most popular sites its possible to turn a few corners off the guided paths and find yourself alone with the thousand year old mystical stone structures. The temples are wondrous to say the least and the immensity of their scale is paralleled by their subtle details and creativity. Exposing images here is a dream for anyone with an eye but not without its challenges. I am glad to have a somewhat scientific function to my photographs because as an archeology professor advised me Angkor was not built for cameras. One of the most amazing three dimensional realities of humanity has an adverse reaction to being squashed into two.

A few days ago while we were taking a break on the moat of Angkor Wat I met Chany Ny. A couple from a tour group of young Americans was taking photos of the old Khmer man sitting by our side. He tried to reach them in french before they turned to the next site in apology. Chan turned to me with "bonjour" and I returned the call. My french didn't make it passed tenth grade when an enraged teacher spat me out of class for sleeping at my desk. Nevertheless I was able to decipher this kind man's name was Chany Ny, he was 75 years old, lived nearby and had no family. Chan took off his glasses and showed me his opaque eyes. Pol Pot was responsible for his damaged sight and the destruction of his family. Chan had never worked a job apart from fighting for the Khmer Rouge. He asked me to take his photo so I offered to return him a print the following day - "a dix heurs du martin, ici". I gave him four copies of the photo the following day in hope that he would have someone to share them with, he was very thankful - "merci beaucoup".

Another Khmer man we've been getting to know is Yok Rasmey. Rasmey is our tuk-tuk driver. Like most Camdodians we've met he comes from a large family, five children, he is the youngest at 18. Rasmey left school when he was 9 and has since purchased a $1800 motorbike and $600 tuk-tuk attachment. I don't know why he doesn't go to school. It may be too difficult or too expensive. I get the impression many Cambodians either quit or simply can't afford it. Not to mention the deficiency of schools and teachers. In Cambodia the average school day is broken into two shifts. The first group from 7 - 11 am and the second from 12 - 4pm. We even heard of crowded schools in Phnom Penh with three shifts of students in one day. Education doesn't seem to be linear as students are of all ages. Rasmey stutters fragments of english through a warm but anxious smile.

A couple of days ago we had Rasmey drive us 30 km out of town to Banteay Srey or 'Citadel of the Woman'. Banteay Srey is an exceptionally beautiful temple because of its detailed carvings and astoundingly preserved state. It is also one of the older temples having being constructed in 967AD. As we started to melt under the 8 o'clock sun I got a call from Roland suggesting we head East another 20 km to Phnom Kulen and take some pics up there. Rasmey agreed to unscrew the tuk-tuk attachment and double us both on the back of his bike up the steep mountain road. We should have arranged a second moto.

An hour later my crotch was aching from being wrenched apart and rutted across the dirt road. We'd made it to the popular waterfall weekend picnic site. We hired a bamboo shelter with mats and hammock for $2.50 and proceeded to order some food from an english menu. The woman repeatedly returned the menu despite not being able to understand any of the meals we were ordering from it. Apparently they were out of everything written in english. I asked Rasmey to order us something chicken and rice, a coke, and he got a can of soursop. The whole chicken, which was obviously a special treat for our driver, was one of the worst morsels i've ever attempted to devour. Adriane managed a breast, I had the two legs, while Rasmey hesitated to peel off anything I would have even considered meat. He laughed when I told him in Australia when we buy chickens they have no head nor feet. The neck popped away from the chicken as Adriane and I tried not to gape while our friend enjoyed what I occasionaly bought a kilo of for my dogs for $2 at Bi-Lo. Rasmey also politely consumed the frail feet - not to be mistaken for the fat juicy marinated ones steaming on a Chinese Yum-Cha trolley. The meat from the scrawny bird was as chewy as the nose of a Bubbalo Bill and was riddled with veins the size of organs. Adriane and I were happy to state how full were were and insist Rasmey eat the rest of the breast meat. The great thing about asian food is that even when you don't have enough meat you can always fill up on rice.

We had a pleasant rest before marching round to nearby attractions such as an underwater carving, huge buddha, rock formations, and a small cave claimed to have housed Pol Pot himself. Keen to get some snaps from the road we came in on I suggested we start heading back before it gets too late.

The clouds rolled over cooling my sweat drenched $1 shirt. Remote little banana store in sight we tailed a little on the bike and Rasmey pulled over to reveal a flat rear tyre. We'd been driving for 15 minutes or so and I guessed apart from the humble roadside banana shop civilisation was at least 20 km away. Rasmey bounced a lively conversation with the banana women that were claiming we could fix his tyre if we followed a small path running into the jungle 50m down the road. I trusted them as Adriane was swept away on the back of a topless young man's moto while Rasmey and I followed by foot. Sure enough a village of a dozen or so bamboo houses lay behind the jungle leaves and yes one young man could fix the tyre. Adriane blew the minds of giggling young children with her digital camera. The guy fixing the tyre continued as the sky fell and Rasmey and I retreated to the bamboo shelter. Half an hour later and we were precariously on our way home again down steap mud streamed roads. Later that evening back in room 202 we were delighted to have gotten a flat tyre. The discomfort was rewarding and I wondered how many adventures were simply the result of poor decision making. Even later that evening Adriane started to cook and illness took hold.

Today cost = hotel (12.50) + tuk-tuk to hospital (3) + lunch and coffee (6) + dinner at FCC (15)

$36.50 - expensive

12 June 2008 - Day 112 (10 days), Siem Reap

Notes: Adriane with fever after big day, rest in hotel with some DVDS

Today cost = hotel (12.50) + chaopraya special (3) + sandwich & coffee (6) + chicken with cashews, morning glory, & beer (5)

$26.50 - moderate

11 June 2008 - Day 111 (11 days), Siem Reap

Banteay Srey

Phnom Kulen, 50km from Siem Reap

Phnom Kulem waterfall

Underwater Apsara carving, Phnom Kulen

Village dog in Phnom Kulen

Yok Rasmey and local boy

Adriane and Aaron in Cambodian disguise

Flat tyre in what appeared to be the 'middle of nowhere', Phnom Kulen

Local village rescue

Fixing the flat tyre in a village behind the trees

Back on the road in the rain, Phnom Kulen

Today cost = hotel (12.50) + snack (1.50) + driver (25) + chicken lunch (4) + national park entry (20) + drinks (1) + dinner & beer (5) + laundry (2) + tuk-tuk (1)

$72 - expensive

10 June 2008 - Day 110 (12 days), Siem Reap

Bayon, Angkor

Fallen stone, Bayon

Smoking monk, Angkor Wat

Sras Srang, Angkor

Angkor Wat

Notes: Bayon in the rain, gave print to old man, internet often doesn't work,

Today cost = hotel (12.50) + tuk-tuk (6) + coffee & chocolate bioche (2.5) + lunch at Chaopraya (2.5) + Khmer kitchen dinner (4)

$27.50 - moderate

9 June 2008 - Day 109 (13 days), Siem Reap

Chan Ny, 75, Angkor Wat

Meet here at 10 am tomorrow morning

Notes: Assignment to photograph the five gates of Angkor Thom, each gate very different and interesting, three day pass, three hour lunch break at Angkor Wat Café, french conversation with old Khmer man, took his portrait and offered to give him a print tomorrow at 10am, damaged eyes from Pol Pot, same place, 1.5km walk to shrine in south east corner of Angkor Thom - Adriane scared on the way there - bandits, landmines, creepy crawlies, panther's, Predator, nice shrine, walk back to take photos of South Gate, evening storm, cup of noodles for dinner, worked through images for hours and went to sleep with sore eyes

Today cost = hotel (12.50) + three-day pass to Angkor (40) + tuk-tuk (6) + lunch & coffee (6) + drinks (1) + photo printing (1.50)

$67 - expensive

8 June 2008 - Day 108, Siem Reap

Notes: Singing Tree Café, rain, booked early flights home via KL, Arun restaraunt dinner

Today cost = hotel (12.50) + lunch with fruit shake & coffee (6) + dinner (4) + drinks (1)

$23.50 - moderate

14 February - 6 March 2008 (Phuket)

7 March - 16 March 2008 (Phuket/Phi Phi Island)

17 March - 28 March 2008 (Phuket)

29 March - 7 April 2008 (Phuket/Bangkok/Chiang Mai/Pai)

8 April - 18 April 2008 (Chiang Mai/Bangkok)

19 April - 28 April 2008 (Siem Reap/Phnom Penh)

29 April - 5 May 2008 (Phnom Penh/Saigon)

6 May - 15 May 2008 (Hanoi/Ninh Binh/Sapa)

16 May - 27 May 2008 (Sapa/Hanoi/Ha Long Bay/Hué/Hoi An/Doc Let/Mui Ne)

28 May - 7 June 2008 (Saigon/Phnom Penh/Siem Reap)

8 June - 15 June 2008 (Siem Reap)

16 June - 24 June (Siem Reap/KL/Austinmer)