Angkor What?

A couple of days have gone by since I was able to work on this chronicle. One reason is that we have had no time for such frivolity, and the other reason is that although the hotel touts its WiFi connectability, we have yet to connect. Thus, I’m writing this in Word and hoping to post it at some future time.

Two short flights from Hong Kong and here we were in Siem Reap, Cambodia, home of the Angkor Wat. Do look it up on the internet if you are not familiar with it as it is truly one of the wonders of the world. Covering the size of TWO Manhattans (I believe I originally said one), it is a sprawling complex of early Hindu and Buddhist temples built from the ninth to the twelfth centuries by kings of the Khmer Empire who at the time controlled not only Cambodia, but most of Laos, Thailand and Vietnam as well.

Our guide to this spectacular site is Mr. Tek, a funny little man who is a bottomless well of knowledge about the temples including the history of Cambodia from the days of the Empire to the present. After we got settled into the hotel (with its lovely Zen minimalist décor), he picked us up and asked us if we wanted to see the site of one of the killing fields of Cambodia. Clearly Tek felt very passionate about what had happened between 1975 and 1979 when Pol Pot slaughtered two million of his own people, fully one third of the population of Cambodia. We found out later that he was twenty at the time and personally experienced the disappearance (read: murder) of some of his relatives. At the place where he took us there is a school which was turned into a prison at the time and people were summarily shot and thrown into a ditch. The ditch was later excavated and the skulls and bones of the people put into a monument which stands on the site as a visible reminder of the horrors that the Cambodian people went through during that terrible time.

Then we continued on to the first area of the temple complex which is called Ta Phrom. Over the centuries the roots of the trees have grown under the buildings and literally displaced the stones of the temples pushing them out of place. The roots look like giant snakes creeping under, around, and on top of the buildings and are so integrated they almost look like they belong that way. Evidently when Frenchman Henri Mouhot discovered the temples lost in the jungle in the 1860s, they were all like this, slowly being devoured by the surrounding vegetation. I’m not sure if this particular complex is being deliberately left this way or whether the reconstruction efforts have not reached it yet—I hope the former because it is so beautiful just as it is. We were stunned by the sheer enormity of it and all the while we received a running commentary by the historian Mr. Tek.

Yesterday morning we were met at the hotel by Tek and our driver and taken to Angkor Thom (it sounds like Uncle Tom when he says it), another major site of the temple complex. There is a huge corridor of bas reliefs that depict ordinary life as it was in the 12^th century, complete with scenes illustrating fairly continuous wars with the Chinese, market life, childbirth, hunting, the life of the kings vs. that of the peasants, dancing girls and fish being eaten by crocodiles. The reliefs are all original and in wonderful condition, but you have to have the actions pointed out before it is clear what you are viewing. At least I did. The scenes showing market life show people cooking in huge pots, selling vegetables and other wares and busy daily commerce. He told us how to distinguish between the Cambodian army (long earlobes and flat faces) and the Chinese army (no earlobes and topknots and beards) and once you know that you can more or less figure out who is winning and who is losing any particular battle. Of course marauding armies were a fact of life and the fact that the temples survived the centuries of attacks, as well as a series of civil wars, harsh weather and looters is a testament to their durability.

After lunch at an authentic Cambodian restaurant (authentic means no Americans) we went to the crown jewel of the temple complex, the Angkor Wat itself. Five beehived shaped towers dominate this part of the temple and Mr. Tek was able to recite the height and width of every one of them, none of which I can remember but suffice to say they are very large.

By the end of the second day, we had seen most of the temple complex, me screaming for mercy and Mr. Tek showing little. It was good though because although I balked at climbing yet another pile of rocks, the view when there was always worth it and I'm grateful that he didn't let us off so easily. Our final destination was to the Conservancy where hundreds of pieces are being stored for eventual transference back to the site or to the national museum in Phnom Penh. These pieces were recovered from looters who have brazenly stolen or spirited them away from wherever they were found over many years previously. Tek told us that there is a museum in Paris where many of the artifacts lie--the Cambodian government unable to get them back despite all manner of begging and pleading. This is much like the Elgin Marbles which are in London but should be in Greece where they belong.

As I finish this entry, we are settled into our hotel in Hoi An where we will soon meet our latest guide Tin who picked us up at the airport last night. Thus begins our adventure in Viet Nam, the country that so captivated Mary and I and our traveling companions three years ago.

So Long Hong Kong

Tomorrow morning we leave for Siem Reap, Cambodia, where we will spend 3 ½ days visiting the amazing temple complex called Angkor Wat. But for now we are relaxing in our beautiful room at the Shangri La Kowloon hotel in Hong Kong. We arrived late the other night, but surprisingly we haven’t experienced much jet lag, probably because we are traveling west for the most part and we are always ahead of the sun. We crossed the International Date line on Thursday which means we arrived in Hong Kong on Friday, losing a day in the bargain.

Saturday morning we met our guide Andy Yeung in the lobby and after a joyous reunion with the Andersons who are staying at the Marriott on Hong Kong Island, we proceeded on a full day’s tour of the city. When Andy picked us up he ushered us out the door and onto a bus and for one sinking moment I thought we would be part of a larger tour, but the instructions had been understood—it was just the four of us, plus Andy and the driver—and an entire bus. A small bus, but a bus nonetheless.

HongKong is an enormous city with skyscrapers to rival New York and traffic comparable to Bangkok. Seven million people crowd the relatively small space and the high rise apartments are lined up one next to the other for miles. Of course, because Hong Kong is an island there is water everywhere and most of the tourist attractions have to do with the bay and the harbour. Repulse Bay is a beautiful beach which wasn’t crowded because the weather was cool, but one can only imagine what it is like in the heat of the summer. We took a sampan ride through the Aberdeen Fishing Village which isn’t a village at all, but a floating city of fishing boats, house boats, and water taxis. Andy told us that the fishing industry has been all but wiped out because of over-fishing and the fishermen struggle just to make a living nowadays. That was evident in the poor condition of most of the boats. For lunch, at our insistence, we skipped the touristy restaurant on top of Victoria Peak and instead Andy took us to a local dive where the specialties are fish ball soup, fried fish skin, broccoli in Chinese gravy and some other unrecognizable vegetable. It was truly a delicious taste of local color, though maybe not the most delicious meal we’ve ever had. Afterwards, we went to the famous Victoria Peak to see the magnificent Hong Kong skyline from across the harbor, but unfortunately it was a day of clouds and mist and the buildings were all but invisible. On the way up to the Peak we passed #99 (lucky numbers) where we got a glimpse of the home of kung fu legend, Jackie Chan. All of the houses on the Peak are in the $20-40 million range.

Maybe the most interesting part of the tour was a visit to a street where every shop sells dried “stuff,” used for everything imaginable from cooking materials to medicinal concoctions, to potions used in the many superstitions that rule much of Chinese life. There were dried fruits and vegetables of all types, dried shark’s fins, dried birds nests used for the expensive delicacy bird’s nest soup, and bin after bin of things you don’t even want to know about, most of which even Andy couldn’t identify and had to ask. My favorite oddity though was the deer antlers, which they boil for many hours and then when soft slice into paper thin slices and use to flavor soups and stews. The shop that sold the dried deer antlers also had dried deer’s tails—you know, that part of the deer anatomy that started out as a cute little wagging thing that follows the deer into the forest. If you don’t believe how weird some of this dried “stuff” was, note the picture above which was prominently displayed in one of the windows: We Buy Gallstones. Dr. Mark, are you listening? This could be a whole new market!

The tour ended with a visit to a Taoist temple right in the middle of the city. I had noticed earlier that I hadn’t seen that many temples—not like in Bangkok where it seems like every other building is a Buddhist temple. I asked Andy how many temples there were in Hong Kong. Six hundred! Oh well, they must be well camouflaged!

But back to the Taoist temple: The driver parked our bus in a lot with lots of other buses and Mary and I immediately assumed we were being taken to a major tourist attraction. Well, by now we should have trusted old Andy. This temple is an attraction, all right, but what it attracts is thousands of Chinese both locally and from all over China who come with incense and gifts of food and clothing which they proceed to offer to the gods in exchange for long life, prosperity, wealth, many children, etc. etc. The incense was so thick you could hardly see or breathe and hundreds of worshippers were on their knees or prostrate outside the temple doors holding bouquets of the stuff all burning at once, blankets spread out with fruit and raw chickens on them, and at least one of every family shaking fortune sticks. Fortune sticks are kind of like pickup sticks—you shake a box full of them until one shakes itself loose and falls out onto the ground. Each stick has a number on it, and you then record the number of the fallen stick and do the whole thing over and over again. The combination of numbers then tells you your future. Now if what is prophesied in the sticks doesn’t happen, you need to come back and try again, but if it does happen, you need to come back and thank the gods for smiling upon you. Thus, you have a bit of a vicious circle of burning and shaking and kneeling and prostrating.

In re-reading this, I think I sound a bit disrespectful and I don’t mean to be. These people were every bit as pious and into their beliefs as we are into ours. They are just different and it was most interesting to be able to watch. Speaking of superstitions, a few of them that Andy related are: never wear a green hat, never give a bell as a gift, #4 means death, #9 means long life. Don’t ever pat the shoulder of a gambler or he is sure to lose. If you happen to see a monk on your way to the horse races or the gambling hall, turn around and go home because you will lose. Feng shui, which means wind and water, is very important to where you live: a house should face the water and have its back to the mountain, and you should never be able to open the front door and see through to the back.

Kudos to Andy for a great day!

Today was a “day at leisure,” so the four of us met in the lobby of the Peninsula (a lovely place to see and be seen), and then walked through the beautiful Kowloon Park where you can see locals practicing every form of martial art and lots of small groups playing guitars and singing, and many people like us just hanging out. Since most Hong Kong locals live in very small and tight quarters—4 people in a 500 square foot apartment—it is no wonder they use and love the outdoors.

Then on to the “Ladies Market” for another dose of local color. We ate Dim Sum for a late lunch, a two hour affair where once again we were the only non-Chinese. After lunch, the weather had turned surprisingly cold so we scrapped the plans for the rest of the day and returned to the hotel where we now sit, relaxed and ready for the next adventure.

Good Bye Kauai

Note: I've tried and tried but can't find an easy way to caption the pictures. I hope the text will be self-explanatory. Post written earlier today follows:

Well, I’m a little annoyed because I just wrote about a page of this journal and when I tried to save it, I lost the whole thing. No point reconstructing—I’ll just start over. The purpose of this entry is to relate our amazing day yesterday, but first here is how we got to where we are now.

We are about three hours into a 9 ½ hour Japanese Airlines flight enroute to Osaka, Japan where we will transfer to the 4 ½ hour flight to Hong Kong. A killer day, but the anticipation of what lies ahead makes it worth it. Our first flight this morning, from Kauai to Honolulu, was a mere 20-25 minutes, but then we had a 3 hour layover--made bearable, however, by the excellent people watching. Everyone in the terminal was Japanese! There were some elaborate bowing ceremonies among the various strata of traditional older folks, in counterpoint to the hipster young ones in every form of designer clothing who made us feel dowdy and square by comparison. Now we are on the flight, having just finished a lovely (by airlines standards) lunch of Japanese food most of which was unidentifiable—and we have a menu in front of us! Our food rule for the trip—no dogs, frogs, or insects—was not breached however, and we both ate every bite. Now, about our second and final day in Kauai.

Yesterday we left early for the Waimei Canyon, called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, and while I’ve seen one or two other better canyons (not including the Grand—haven’t been there yet), it truly is an incredible sight considering it is on a small island in the middle of the ocean. The canyon itself is 3,500 feet deep and the colors are other-worldly. The day was a bit cloudy so the pictures do not do justice to the truly beautiful range of color, the shadows cast by the craggy rocks and the truly majestic display of God’s beautiful earth.

To get to the canyon, you drive inland from the coast about ten miles up a winding road that is reminiscent of so many Colorado roads we know and love. First, though, we stopped at Poiku Beach and the nearby Spouting Horn, a blow hole which spurts high or low according to the height of the waves. We saw similar blow holes in the Caymans years ago. We had a 2:30 appointment for our Holoholo Charter Whale Watching Sunset Cruise (highly recommended by Eric and Jenn and reserved well in advance), so by the time we drove the length of the canyon and back and had a shrimp taco at a shrimp shack along the road, we were a little pressed for time.

Made it though and went to check in with printed reservation and proof of payment in hand. Puzzled look, clerk leaves desk, much conferring with superiors, and the upshot was that there on the printed reservation plain as could be was Tuesday, March 6, the previous day. We shan’t go into whose fault it was, suffice to say I’d love to blame it on them but in all honesty… Anyway, I begged and pleaded (remember that old psychology axiom that something becomes even more desirable when you think you can’t have it) but while sympathetic they said they were at capacity and the only thing we could do is hang out until the time came and maybe there would be a couple of no-shows. I was desolate, knowing tomorrow would be too late, but Tom said who knows, we were no-shows yesterday and someone may have reaped the benefits then, so why not today? We wait, anticipation mounting, me the glass half empty type, Tom the glass half full, when at the last minue in comes the final couple to check in. The woman was, well, having trouble walking having just had hip surgery, and after much discussion they were rejected on the grounds that they had checked in too late and told to come back on Friday when they could be escorted to the boat and pre-boarded! So we got on, me now feeling guilty for having taken the space of that poor woman, although I’m telling you a person had to be pretty able-bodied to negotiate the bumps and bounces of the pontoon boat we were on.

So God works his magic in mysterious ways, and there we were on Cap’n Ted’s pontoon boat with about 40 other lovely people going hell bent for election toward the Na pali Coast, wine and beer included and flowing freely and what they called heavy snacks turning out to be a full meal with Caesar Salad, wraps, quiche, fruit and veggies, and more. But the best part was the whales, the dolphins and the coast, and the running commentary by Cap’n Ted himself—a veritable encyclopedia of information he was. We saw many whales, none too close, but close enough to see them jump in the air, and do their little dance and undulate above and below the surface and spout their sprays into the clouds. For those of you who read Kelly’s brother’s essay about his moment with the whale at sea in Hawaii, it was a similar feeling although clearly not as personal as his must have been. The sheer size of the creatures— an average adult hump-backed whale is about 95,000 pounds and the length of about 15-18 cars—is enough to inspire awe. And early in the cruise our boat was literally surrounded by a school of dolphins swimming in formation, doing quadruple back flips, and smiling at us with their friendly faces—this lasted at least twenty minutes until they tired of being amused by us and swam away.

But truly the most awe-inspiring, or at least every bit as much so as the whales, was the northeast coast of Kauai as seen from the sea. The water is blue as blue can be and so clear you can see the bottom, and the coast is a series of jagged cliffs made of volcanic rock and deep caves and swirling inlets that rival any scenery we’ve seen. The layers upon layers of craggy tors each one paler and mistier than the one in front, looks like I imagine the karsts in China will look when we get there. Above are a few pictures of the coast but again, due to cloudiness and the amateur taking them, they don’t do justice to the reality. Ted pointed out one cliff and said that if we put the Empire State Building on the beach in front of it, it would only come up half way. And don’t forget, Kauai is only 35 miles wide. With all of the volcanic eruptions over thousands of years you’d think it would have been blown to kingdom come by now instead of transformed into paradise.

We loved Hawaii and now we know why so many of our family and friends go so often. And so until our next trip, Aloha, blue Hawaii. Next stop ASIA!!!!!

Aloha

I'm sitting at the desk in our room at the Hilton Kauai Beach Resort where the WiFi works like a charm (we should be so lucky on the rest of the trip), the torch lighting ceremony is going on outside our window around the pool, and some very romantic Don Ho type music is being played and sung. A cast of thousands (well only about ten actually, but it seems a lot more) has just performed what I understand to be a nightly ceremony--lots of drum beating, hula dancing, racing around the pool lighting the torches--and all the while eliciting squeals of delight from the children and provoking grown-ups to make fools of themselves when "volunteered" for hula lessons. One of the little girls, part of the show and a fledgling hula performer, was introduced as Maile (one of our granddaughters as you know). The name Maile is derived from the vine of the same name indigenous to the highest elevations of Hawaii and used to make very expensive wedding leis which evidently are highly coveted at Hawaiian weddings.

Today we took our rented car and drove up the east coast of Kauaii to the end of the line, where Bali Hai stands as a rugged outcropping of stone cliffs. Lots of movies have been made here because of the gorgeous scenery--Raiders of the Lost Ark, Elvis' Blue Hawaii, and Jurassic Park among others.

On the way back we stopped at the Hanalei lighthouse, which overlooks a magnificent vista of sea and rock. The twenty or so visitors were treated to a performance by a pod of whales who seemed to be performing for our benefit right in front of us. Only one jumped clear out of the water, but there were many many others teasing us with dorsal fins and rounded backs and those familiar whale's tails. They are mating and spawning and "making nurseries" according to one of the informational posters and February and March are the months when you are most likely to see them. During all of this time, the males don't eat. Make of that what you will.

I confess to being a bit of a bird nut and I'm quite delighted with the most mundane of birds, but am literally thrilled with unusual birds. Above you will see two feathered friends that we met today--one is obviously an egret. I know, I know, we have them in Dallas and everywhere else, but this one was up close and personal and didn't fly away. We had a moment. The other is the endangered Hawaiian nene (pronounced nay-nay), which all you crossword puzzle addicts will recognize.

A bird that you can't see is the red-footed booby (whoever named that bird had a mean streak), who are covering the outcropping pictured above. You can't see them in the picture but thousands of them were roosting there and looked so beautiful in all their multitudes. Driving back to the hotel, we passed a bird about the size of a cardinal with a red head, a white band around its neck and the rest of it was blue! No one at the hotel knew what it was but if anyone out there has a bird book look it up for me please. More tomorrow after our whale watching boat trip.

The Waiting Game...

It's Thursday and we're about 80% packed. Clothes and personal items are actually only part of the preparations. In addition, we've registered the trip with the State Department (recommended for American citizens going to faraway lands); started our malaria pills; picked up the cash and the traveler's checks; stopped the paper and put a hold on the mail; left our instructions and itineraries with the kids; made the cheat sheets for all the various currencies we have to deal with; practiced hello, goodbye and thank you in five different languages; checked and re-checked the itinerary against the tickets (no errors!); learned how to use the international phone (not to mention that wonder of wonders, Skype! Do check it out if you haven't already); collected all the cords that go with all the electronic equipment we're taking; cleaned out the refrigerator; pre-paid the bills; and...well, you get the picture.

I want to thank the world's best travel agent, Barbara Wilks of Travel Directions, for working with me for months to get all these arrangements made. She is highly recommended if you need a travel agent extraordinaire. She has the patience of Job and the knowledge of Solomon, and besides that she is as nice as she can be. Barbara also found AsiaTransPacific Journeys, who handled all the specialized arrangements in Asia including 18 intra-Asia flights over and above the long around-the-world flights, two overnight train rides, one overnight boat ride, at least fifteen hotels, as many guides and drivers, and the logistics of putting it all together. Thanks to Pat O'Connell of ATPJ for getting everything worked out. We are prepared for glitches which are inevitable in any journey as complex as this, but we have total confidence that Barbara and Pat have done the best possible job of planning ahead for all possibilities.

Now all we have to do is wait....

One week and counting...

Mary and Neil leave a week from today and we leave two days later. We are in full packing mode now and it is unbelievable how Parkinson's Law (the job expands to meet the time allotted) has reared its ugly head. Practically every waking hour is spent either thinking about, moving about, or buying, some item deemed necessary but probably isn't. The trick is to take as little as possible and still have everything you need. Shoes are my biggest quandary (no way to get by with the recommended three pairs) and Tom is stuck on shirts. You wouldn't believe how much room pills take (at our age) and you can fill a whole suitcase with all the other non-wearable necessaries like bug spray, sun screen, hand sanitizer, bandaids, skin stuff and cosmetics. I won't overwhelm you with the rest of the ugly details--suffice to say when the weighing in ceremony takes place, pray that we are not overweight. And I don't mean our bodies!

Less than two weeks to go....

Our first destination is the beautiful island of Kauai and less than two weeks from today we will either be lying by the pool at the Hilton sipping a mai tai (is that Hawaiian?) or driving the back roads of Kauai enjoying its legendary beauty. From time to time in the blog, I will insert a link, so that if you are interested, you can learn more about where we are at the time. Here is a link for Kauai.

Our Itinerary

Perhaps a word about the itinerary would be appropriate here. Tom and I are going to Hawaii first (we've never been!) and will spend 3-4 days on Kauai. Mary and Neil are going to Shanghai first (they've been to Hawaii) and then we are all meeting in Hong Kong on March 9. After several days in Hong Kong, we go to Siem Riep, Cambodia, to see the Angkor Wat (a Buddhist temple complex larger than Manhattan and a man-made wonder of the world). Then we go to Central Vietnam including Hue, Hoi An and Danang. We will take a two day cruise on a Chinese Junk to experience the World Heritage Site called Halong Bay, and then on to Hanoi, the Paris of the East--a nickname Hanoi shares with at least two other Asian cities. North of Hanoi is Sapa, a lovely mountain town on the Chinese/Vietnamese border which is home to several hill tribes who sell their wares in colorful markets. We will travel to and from Sapa on a "Orient Express" type overnight train which should be quite an experience.

After Sapa, we leave beautiful Vietnam for Northern Thailand, specifically Chiang Mai and its environs, also home to a number of indigenous hill tribes. We are scheduled to vistit an elephant farm during which we will be invited to take a ride on the 12 -foot high beasts and I hope I have the courage to do it when the time comes.

Then on to Bangkok where we are staying at the world famous Oriental Hotel. Mary and I had dinner there with our friends on our previous trip to Bangkok and vowed to return as guests one day. As previously noted, Bangkok has about four hundred temples and I can't wait to visit as many of them as possible again, this time with Tom in dutiful tow.

After four days in Bangkok we go to the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan which only allows about 9,000 visitors a year all of whom must be under "custodial care", i.e., with a guide while in the kingdom. Considered the last ShangriLa, it should be a highlight of the trip.

Then mainland China! We begin in Beijing, where modern skyscrapers contrast with a warren of "hutongs" (ancient traditional neighborhoods), and of course the home of the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. And did I mention shopping? After Beijing, on to Guilin (home of the limetone karst mountains), and then Xi'an with its terra cotta army (8,000 life-sized soldiers have been excavated so far and no two are alike), and then finally back to Beijing for our long flight to London and ultimately landing in Cork, Ireland. We will spend about ten days in Ireland exploring the south, lovingly called the Irish Riviera, and then continuing on up north to County Monaghan where the McQuaid family has lived and died for a couple of centuries. If we are lucky we will "stand at the foot of the graves of the sainted ancestors" of my dear husband and perhaps maybe make the acquaintance of a bona fide live relative or two. At one point, Tom was in touch with one Plunkett McKenna, a local guide and self-proclaimed historian of the area, who promised to squire us about and help us find the aforementioned graves if and when we ever made the trip, but he has been incommunicado lately. Alas, we fear the drink may have got to him, a common malady in the chilly north of Ireland. We will keep you posted as to Plunkett's whereabouts.

Home to Dallas on April 28, with a trunkload of memories, stories, new friends, trinkets and souvenirs, and hopefully in more or less the same condition in which we left.

Mary and Neil

We are thrilled that our traveling mates, Mary and Neil, are joining us on this adventure. Here is a picture of Mary and Neil with Tom on a recent trip to New York.

Sara and Tom

This is about as cleaned up as you are likely to see us from this point forward.

Just a simple little Buddhist Temple...

Today we have one month to go before we leave on our trip of a lifetime. We've been planning and packing for months. How to take as little as possible is one big challenge, but learning how to do this blog may be the biggest challenge of all. The picture you see here is one of the four hundred temples in Bangkok taken on my previous trip to Southeast Asia several years ago. Note the big guy on the right . Be sure and click on the pictures for a better view.