Battambang, Cambodia

Tourist Times

The culture shock of being in Siem Reap, the contrast of experiencing one of the true wonders of the world and the commercial trappings of all the material goods and services available here, after travelling for many weeks mostly on quiet rural roads where people live off the land, took us six days to overcome, but we did not only managed, but triumphed with great enjoyment.

With apologies to those who have been here and seen it all, its truly a challenging task to encapsulate what Angkor is about. It is much more than Angkor Wat one of the most famous landmarks that is applied to this area. Angkor in fact is the Capital City or the Holy City of the Khmer Empire that existed between the 9th and 12th centuries and it encompasses not only three or four centuries of massive buildings but an area that spreads over hundreds of kilometers, with ruins that are in various stages of preservation: some well done and others intentionally left unrestored with giant building block size stones scattered like mammoth lego pieces, with equally massive tree roots, like elephant trunks hugging them.

The Khmers also constructed massive water works, for many kilometers, and constructed temples dedicated to the gods, places of worship, as well as cities worthy of their military, economic and cultural dominance of a region that spread over an area that covers modern day Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.

Early in our travels, even though we were moving at a relatively slow pace, covering modest distances and had the benefit of two digital cameras and lots of memory cards, Alison and I agreed that we can't visit all sites and capture every photo opportunity, a promise we had to remind ourselves when we toured Angkor. We had a three day pass, which included an evening tour and we soon discovered that it’s nearly impossible to beat the crowds. The guide books all comment on the monuments and which is the best light to photograph them and then go on to suggest the contrarian strategy of doing them at reverse times, but its all to little or no avail. We would rise around five in the morning and were on the go by sixish, and this gave us a couple of hours of relative quiet but by eight or so, at least at the nearby ruins the buses would disgorge their passengers who eagerly followed their tour leaders' flag.

As our own counter, counter maneuver, we would start at some of the most distant sites which allowed us some of the best undisturbed viewing opportunities, but these would also be relatively short lived. Not that its a complaint, but having others around did take getting used to but it was still a most awe inspiring experience, and one that is not only worth doing but perhaps even repeating, not withstanding the fact that Angkor's popularity will not only increase but will grow rapidly as the roads, as we have discovered to Thailand and Vietnam and Laos have all been paved. One indication of this is that there is a near solid line of hotels built or under construction, west of the city of about four kilometers towards the airport which we only discovered as we were leaving town.

Beyond the hotels, there is a huge tourist infrastructure of eating, drinking, massages and of course shopping which we also got used to, especially the ability buy foods for an early in-room breakfast our favourite being whole wheat baguettes, and European style pastries which very conveniently were half price after eight p.m.

It took us six days of adjustment but we not only coped but thrived under these demanding conditions, building our touristic abilities. During the three days we ended not only bicycling about 175 kms between sites but enduring walking and climbing steep temples that were designed to humble the supplicants and sure provided an ideal training ground for rock climbing, often in the heat of the day, such that by early afternoon we would return nearly exhausted to do battle the following day.

Of course the mental stimulation is one that is most difficult to describe as one contemplates how without the benefit of modern tools and even local stones, over a 1000 years ago the Khmers built an empire that must have required untold amounts of money, labour, planning and execution, all the while fighting internal and external wars.

This wonderment was shared by most of the people who we saw and spoke to but there were some annoyances. The loud speaking foreigners, the groupies who would take ages to pose solemnly in front of a particularly impressive monument, followed by the remaining busloadful of their compatriots and the occasional young eastern oriental women in their slinky, silky, fluorescent outfits, with splayed arms and fingers, struggling to strike sexy posses for that trophy photo to preserve their experiences.

The variety and complexity of the structures and the details of the history are nearly impossible to absorb in such a short visit but left an enduring impression on us. Its also not possible to ignore the question of the decline and fall of major empires, such as the Egyptian, Roman, Greek, Mayan and ultimately our own as we see how in a relatively short period of time, a civilization can thrive and then decline to ruins.

While the comparisons may not be entirely appropriate, I am always stuck by, especially in South East Asia, the contrast between the monuments governments and near government agencies build for themselves and the way people around them live. In Vientiane one of the most imposing, pyramid like structures is the home of the Mekong Commission, with a parking lot full of fancy cars, while the people nearby live most modestly. In Siem Reap I donated blood to a wonderful children’s hospital, established and run by a cello playing Swiss Dr. Beat Richner and is supported by mostly private donations and yet the Ministry of Health is housed in a five storey, palace like structure.

Of course the contrasts within this society are even more striking. In a land like Cambodia where most travel by motorcycle or by bicycle, not counting the few eccentric tourists on two wheels, where if there is a private car, it is a soon to be recalled, beaten up Toyota Corolla from the 1980's and naturally, the typically black high end Lexus SUV, with blaring horns, is bound to stand out.

We could easily have stayed longer but the road called and what a ride it was to Sisophon, on a recently paved near flat, smooth surfaced highway with a paved shoulder, such that with the benefit of a tail wind, it felt like we flew the distance of 110 kms in 4.5 hours. From Sisophon to Battambang was another 70 km and enroute, I recorded 69,000 kms on my odometer marking also that we have since leaving Toronto, travelled more than 4,000 kms on our trusty two wheeled vehicles.

Battambang is the second largest city in Cambodia, on the Stung Sanke River, and we elected to stay in an international class high rise hotel, not because of the wonderful room with all the conveniences, the second floor pool which two days running we have had to ourselves, but to avail ourselves of the buffet breakfast with both western and eastern food options and to take a well deserved rest day after all the tourist challenges of Siem Reap.

Tomorrow we leave for Pailin, not the home of the political wonder woman, but a town near the border of Thailand which is the shortest route to the Gulf of Thailand, where we will be able to squeeze in about a week of sea, sand and sun while we contemplate and try to integrate the wonders of Angkor Wat and prepare ourselves to ride to and to fly home from Bangkok.

Decisions, Decisions or Zen and the Art of Plastic Bag Maintenance

                        

We are now about 24 hours from leaving Perth and having been away for more than two months, a month of which was packing up and unpacking almost on a daily basis, getting ready and packing would to the uninitiated appear to be an easy task; in reality, getting ready is taking much longer than anticipated, including dealing with a few larger questions of where exactly or approximately will we be riding and should I ditch my favourite plastic bag, repair it or use it as is?

Those of you who remember my early advocacy to ban the use of plastic bags,  http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/banthebag2007/index.html might be horrified to know that I have an ongoing, acute and passionate love affair with plastic bags, especially in the context of bicycle touring. I have a huge collection of favourite plastic bags, which I keep reusing and mending and should I live to the day when they truly become a rarity, or collectible on E-bay, I will set up a foundation for their preservation and exhibition.

First and foremost, notwithstanding a few mishaps, I am a firm believer in packing our bikes in clear, industrial strength plastic bags when we travel buy airplanes, versus a cardboard box, which most cyclists do. Boxes are awkward to carry and require the bikes to be disassembled to a considerable extent, and at the end of a trip, necessitates their disposal and on the return leg, a search for a box to repackage the bike. The plastic bags fit neatly into my front pannier and can travel with us, ready to be used at any time. As well, my hypothesis is that the fragility of the bike is more apparent in a bag, and handlers will be more likely to handle them appropriately, rather than just toss a box around. So far my average is pretty good.

But what prompted me to reflect on this topic is my heavy duty LCBO bag, and those not familiar with it, they were until about two years ago provided by one of Canada’s largest monopolies, with selection and prices to reflect, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, but one good thing about them was that they provided “free” very sturdy plastic bags to carry several bottles. One such bag I have now used for several years to pack my shoes (the cycling shoes when we are walking and the sandals when riding) but they were to my great anxiety gone temporarily AWOL. As well, they were a bit worse for wear and needed considerable TLC.

Then there are four large clear plastic bags, one extremely durable one from a well known shop that sells upmarket china, that hold the twenty or so items of clothing that I carry, as they can easily be scanned for content. Small sandwich sized bags are great for stuff that’s likely to leak, which they inevitably do as they bounce around on our travels. And larger, freezer sized bags carry precious maps, travel info and guide books etc. I also have a couple of larger blue bags given out by a vastly overpriced, yuppie enterprise in Toronto, whose value in my mind stops at the very practical plastic bags with a draw string that I carry to hold larger items, including food we pick up on the road. In all fairness, the store was sporting enough to give three of those bags, free of charge the last time we asked so I should be kinder to them. I also travel with a similar bag in yellow, from a well know retailer, specializing in cycling paraphernalia, perfect to hold extra water bottles on less populated stretches of our travels.

Given that the movement to ban bags has gotten considerable traction, I am acutely aware that some of these bags are irreplaceable and they will have to last a long time’ hence my desire to keep them in good shape and mend them with a variety of tapes, a subject I am sure is well beyond the interest of most people but I am prepared to divulge my secrets if asked nicely.

More importantly, given that the main activity in Perth was visiting family and friends and despite my limited understanding of the local Ozzy lingo, I managed to survive the main local activity: eating and drinking. Although a time consuming pass time, fortunately there was plenty of time (between celebrating our arrival, Friday nights, Saturday nights, Sunday nights, Chrisy, Boxing Day, day after Boxing Day, New Years Eve, Alison’s birthday day and several sorry to see you leave commemorations), for me to reflect on the upcoming journey.

Given that I had the benefit of an extremely slow computer to work with, and some time between the main events described above, I could take full advantage of Parkinson’s Law, which roughly states that a task will expand to fill the amount of time allotted to it. As such, I decided to systematically go through my minimal possessions and also to do more research on our intended destinations in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.

On the packing side, I decided to leave my own slow laptop in OZ. Having downloaded our photos I have substantially used up its memory bank and thus its even slower than before. As well, doing research on our route convinced me that internet access will be even more limited than in India, and therefore I will have to post more spontaneous and have a valid explanation for even less crafted thoughts on this blog, and at the same time stop worrying about charging one extra gadget and most importantly, reduce the load carried by about four or so pounds..

Once I reached the topic of weight, I decided to be more systematic, albeit not to the extent of cutting the long handle of a toothbrush, which some ultra-light bicycle tourists do.

In this spirit, I decided to leave behind a pair of dress-pants, a couple of pairs of matching socks, since even I feel some disdain for wearing socks with sandals, and as long as I was dressing down, I felt at ease about leaving a number of other items of clothing in OZ.

I was also cognizant of the need to create space in the panniers to carry some extra food, as the number and variety of eating opportunities in Laos and Cambodia will be few and far between, as such, some roasted nuts and nutritious crackers will be a welcome change or supplement to a diet of sticky rice and noodle soup, if and when available, for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Lastly, with all the extra time in between digesting the many meals, I had time to search the internet and discover that, as in India, there are lots of off the beaten path places to explore, even if the paths are not that well beaten down, and are variously described as mud tracks in the rainy season that turn into dust bowls in the summer. As well, I have become more comfortable with the idea of deviating from the planned itinerary given the many places to explore on route. All the extra information, sheets of paper can really add up in bulk and weight, required space in the panniers, and I was once again forced to reconsider all the stuff I am carrying. The anticipation of less traveled roads caused me to also consider buying dust masks and how to carry additional water and food where even local staples may be unavailable.

With all the time to socialize and to ponder the future, the only weight that I can’t shed readily and leave in Oz is the belt around my mid-section; this will have to wait for the roads ahead.

Namaste, peace and love and soon, Sabaidi

andrew

Getting ready to go

A journey of 1000 miles is said to begin with a single step; in my case this used to be so, but no more. This anticipated bicycle trip of several thousand kilometers began with the concept to ride for a month in India after my wife Alison finishes a brief gig leading a trade mission in India, then on to Australia to visit family and then to Laos, Cambodia and Thailand to see ancient civilizations and to experience how people still live off the land, and to return early March to Toronto, by which time spring should have at least started to sprung.

The usual challenges of picking a route, where to go, what to see and the like fell into place quite quickly. Having travelled extensively in South East Asia before, what to take in terms of clothes, necessary gear to support the bikes and our bodies was also pretty routine. But then somehow the list of electronic gadgets, which I have never taken before, exploded.

How I became an electronic gadget warrior is through a chain of complex causation or was it a not so sudden lost of good judgment? First was the idea to buy a new digital camera, which of course being the latest DSLR(the Lumix GH1 with the 14-140mm lens), although light by DSLR standards, still weighs as much as a months' equivalent of clothing, the unit of measurement that I use when traveling by bicycle. Worse, it comes with a manual, the size of a small book, which not only is as obscure as discerning the true meaning of the Bible, transliterated from Chinese, but adds not inconsiderable weight to the load; ditto for Alison’s new pocket size camera with the "heart" of a small packetbook and the "brains" of the mini computer (the Fuji F70EXR with 10 times zoom and the ability to take two contrasting photos and superimpose one on the other to get high contrast, to name but one of its features). Both of course also chew up gigabites of memory hence the need for more memory cards.

Second, contemplating the absence of four months also led to the consideration of a new gizmo called the MagicJack, a VOIP gadget that is the size of a large matchbox, which when plugged into the UBS port of a computer and into which one plugs in an ordinary telephone, allows unlimited, free calls to any telephone in North America.

As well, since Alison is leading a group of businesspeople married to their Blackberries it became imperative that she also have a cell phone of sufficient sophistication to keep in touch. The Nokia E61 is a Blackberry lookalike with a full querty keyboard.

As illustrated on the attached photo, this is how, in addition to the mandatory guidebooks on traveling on a shoe string, we will now also be carrying the single indispensable piece of technology known as the netbook. Weighing but 2.7 lbs with a full sized keyboard, hopefully will not only live up to its title as “Toughbook” but will also allow us to make telephone calls using the MagicJack and the tiny blue telephone, weighing but an ounze, which amazingly is fully functioning, as well as to download some of the photos we will take enroute and to share them with you and various bits of research stored in its memory.

Then again, since our travels often take us off the beaten path, where internet services may be rare, and even the availability of electricity intermittent or non-existent, the computer and attachments will still serve as useful dead weights, not quite as ergonomic as the ones I am used to in my gym, but still adding measurably to the effort and hence the exercise value of our journey. No doubt I will become as tough as the name of the netbook implies, and should the battery power outlast my late night desires to read camera manuals which I conveniently download on the computer, then I will no doubt produce photos worthy of National Geographic. Then again, there is on both sophisticated, state-of-the-art cameras, a setting call iA, which for the uninformed means Intelligent Automatic: a modern day oxymoron, that allows any ordinary moron, to take photos not unlike any previous century pinhole camera.