Ari's Planet

I uploaded all of my Laos photographs and pretty much all of my Cambodia pictures. There are a bunch new pictures that didn't make it up the first time from Angkor, so even if you looked through them it might be worth a second glance.

I came to Siem Reap on Tuesday. This is the base of pilgrimage for those tourists who wish to see one of the wonders of the man-made world--the temples of Angkor. I spent 3 days riding a bicycle through the past glories of a faded empire. Cicadas and narrow trees and termite mounds filled my senses as I clambered around the rubble of giant strange stones carved with visages of people long since dead. One day it was hot and long, and I remember my dirty hands troubling to focus my camera. I learned to say goodbye, which is to wish good luck.

My short stay in Cambodia, just 10 days (plus a bit at the end) are coming to an end. I saw typical tourist stops: the horrors of the Khmer Rouge and the temples of Angkor Wat. Tomorrow I fly in the morning to Singapore, where I'll be for a couple of nights, before going on to Darwin, Melbourne, and Tasmania. Both Darwin and Melbourne are just way-stations I picked based on airline routes, I'll stay one night in Darwin and two in Melbourne, then about 2 weeks in Tasmania before heading for New Zealand. It is a long way to Tasmania!

Yes, well, you knew that all along, didn't you?

I went out for a morning stroll along the river in Kampot in southern Cambodia. A tree covered with vines caught my attention. Scrawled on the vines were various messages, some love notes, others undecipherable to me. The lens on my camera started acting up, failing to focus, so I sat down to take a look and see what was up. After cleaning my lens, to no avail, a man hopped off his moto (motorcycle) and started up the standard moto-driver troll: where are you going, where are you from, do you want a ride to such and such and so and so. I said I was just out for a walk.

Trees bloom in the orchard, they bear fruit in the warm sun, people touch the trees, gathering their harvest...

http://www.vannnath.com/media-coverage/
http://fcccambodia.com/newsletter/0707/vann-nath.php
http://www.providence.edu/art/cambodian/v-nhat.html
http://www.btinternet.com/~andy.brouwer/vannnath.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterboarding