Another travel day

We said a sad farewell to Ni(sid) and Melinda this morning in Luang Prabang.  They headed back to Singapore, and we to Bangkok.

Here's Ruby stepping onto our 32d flight (in almost 8 months).  35,731 flying miles so far...and a few more flights to go!

Getting a taxi at the BKK airport is like speed dating, noted Oscar.

I can weave!

Along the lines of making dreams come true, Ruby, Melinda and I spent today at a silk dyeing and weaving workshop at the famed Ock Pok Tok Living Arts Centre in Luang Prabang, Laos.  Given that it's low season, it was just the three of us learning from a group of rockin' master artisans.  

After learning about the process for making natural dyes, we each picked three colors and prepared and dyed our own silk skeins.  

undyed silk

We chopped sappan wood, picked annatto tree seeds, tore teak leaves, and pounded indigo leaves.  

indigo leaves

teak leaf

The silk is either soaked in a boiling dye or a cold, fermented dye.  Ash (seen below next to indigo), lime and alum are used as fixitives.

fermented indigo and ash

The difference between the process of making the pink and red you see below was the simple addition of a rusty nail to the pot.

After the dyeing lesson, we moved into weaving.  We picked two colors to weave  into a scarf and learned how to spin the silk thread onto bobbins.  

The afternoon was devoted to weaving on traditional standing looms used in northern Laos.  Back strap weaving like that done in South America is more prevalent in southern Laos.

We worked through a rain storm in an open air pavilion on the Mekong River.  

Luckily, we each had a dedicated master weaver at our side.

It was meditative, exhausting, and humbling.  Each loom contains hundreds of silk threads comprising the warp (which can break easily!), foot peddles, combs, a wooden paddle, various levels for feeding the shuttle, and a beater for making each row even.  Adding a contrasting pattern (we learned the supplementary weft method) was even more complicated, involving the moving of individual silk strands for each pass of the shuttle.  I was able to do each step only with a great deal of assistance.  

Here's my final product, still on the loom, with shuttle holding bobbins on top.  A small scarf with a double naga pattern took me three solid hours at the loom.  I will prize this piece of silk forever!

Cambodia: Siem Reap and Angkor Wat

I’ve wanted to visit Cambodia ever since I spent a year working in the refugee and displaced persons camps on the Thai-Cambodian border when I was right out of college in 1989-90.  At that time, the whole area was still dangerous, and the border was closed.  The only people who passed through were Cambodian soldiers whose families lived in the border camps, as the soldiers fought a civil war against the Vietnamese-backed Hun Sen government.  And although I worked within a few hundred meters of Cambodia, I never had the chance to enter the country.  The dream at that time was to visit Angkor Wat, which had remained closed to all visitors for over a decade as Cambodia went through the tragedy and turmoil of multiple wars.

Since then, of course, things have changed dramatically, and Angkor Wat has become a major tourist attraction.  Direct flights, big package tours, thousands of daily visitors ranging from Euro backpackers to busloads of Chinese tourists.

It’s not exactly the remote and exotic place it once was, but on the other hand, the ruins are stunning, and it is heartening to see Cambodia look like a “normal” developing country.

Saturday afternoon, we set off from Singapore with Sid and Melinda.  We were met by our guide (or actually, his uncle, since our guide had been hurt the night before in a motorcycle accident), and went off to our first ruin in the vast National Park for sunset.  Pleasant experience, but little sunset in the haze.  Hundreds of other tourists there did not completely kill the atmosphere.  Tasty dinner at a very upscale Cambodia meets Miami place along the river, a short tuk-tuk ride from our hotel.  Loved being in a tuk-tuk again, despite the fact that the ones in Siem Reap are trailers that attach to motorcyles, rather than purpose-built vehicles.

Sunday, we got up at 5 to see dawn at Angkor Wat itself.  Great to be out early and beat the heat, but the sunrise wasn’t much to see, and there were already lots of people there.  Angkor is definitely impressive – huge (claims to be the largest religious building in the world), beautiful sandstone bas reliefs, impressive geometry.  Back to our hotel before 10 (already sweltering) to hit the breakfast buffet and rest for a couple of hours.  Then on to the other must-sees, starting with Bayon, a temple with dozens of huge faces carved out of sandstone on nearly every surface.  Loved it despite the heat.  And then on to the “Tomb Raider” temple, nicknamed for the movie that brought Angelina Jolie to Cambodia (where she is a real hero), and famed for the picturesque trees that literally grow right out of and on top of the largely unrestored ruins.  Wonderfully atmospheric, particularly outside of the most crowded parts.

These talented musicians playing traditional Khmer music are landmine victims.  The guy sitting in front is playing a leaf.  We bought the CD.

By Sunday at 4, we were back at the Borei Angkor hotel, thankful for the pool.  I was really impressed by how O&R held up through a full day of temple viewing in extreme heat, on top of a 5am wakeup.  We let them get room service for dinner and the adults headed to the Grand Hotel d’Angkor for “Linen Hour” (Sid’s recommended way of enjoying the tropics), followed by a dinner in the midst of Pub Street, where the foreign backpackers gather to shop for elephant pants and eat muesli (we did both while in Siem Reap, just not there, in order to preserve the illusion that we aren’t ordinary backpackers). 

Monday found us at more temples (the Ladies’ Temple and the Indiana Jones Temple).  All interesting in their own right, but I found myself particularly gravitating toward the spots that were a) not overrun by huge Chinese tour groups and b) in the shade.

I initially pushed back against Tuesday’s long trip to Preah Vihear along the Thai border in north-central Cambodia.  It was supposed to be 2 ½ hours away (it was actually more like 3 ½), and I just felt that it might be a bit much.  But in the end, going there was an extraordinary personal experience.  The ruins were amazing and we were the only foreigners there, but the real highlight for me was the long drive through the Cambodian countryside.  It was like dropping back in time 24 years to when I was living in Khon Kean, Thailand (only a few km away, though the border there is now closed due to an ongoing dispute about which country owns the ruins).  I spent hours in trucks and jeeps watching that countryside go by, and it brought me right there again.  Continuously settled and soothingly monotonous.  Small rice farms, village temples, big water storage urns, hammocks underneath every stilt-built house.  The dust smelled the same.  Perhaps the most memorable moment of the day was stopping for gas and a bathroom break on the way back and being shown the bathroom in a family’s traditional wooden house.  Squat toilet, huge vat of water for showering and flushing, plastic scooper, and very clean.  I had been there before.

It wasn’t so much that the scene brought me back to Thailand, as much as it brought me back to being inside my 23 year old self.  The whole thing got me thinking about the value of going back to places you’ve already been and the powerful emotional trigger that travel can be.  Funny how it took a bathroom to bring that point home among all of the splendor of Angkor Wat.

One Day in Singapore

Visiting (Ni)sid and Melinda in Singapore felt like a real milestone.  When we left home last winter, it was with promises of eventually making our way here.  Also, this is the first time in 7 months that we have stayed with friends, or with anyone for that matter, free of charge.  Should we have been couch surfing all along?

Morning coffee chez Melinda and (Ni)sid

Granted, these guys have a super sweet place.  They live in a renovated shop house in a residential neighborhood with delicious street food nearby.  (Ni)sid showed us his favorite local roti paratha breakfast joint, served with spicy fish curry.  After a relaxing day touring Singapore, we napped, cooled off in their pool, then went out for high end Paranakan food.  The kids stayed in to eat pizza and watch movies.  Our night ended with fancy cocktails on a rooftop bar.

Marina Bay laser show

I know that Singapore has a lot of problems, and life here is complex just like it is everywhere.  But at first blush, this autocratically run city-state is paradise.  Clean, safe, verdant, and culturally mixed. The overriding sensation is, "wow, this is the future."  A future without poverty, gay people, free speech, etc.  Marina Bay, the heart of Singapore, is filled with space age looking structures.  Unlike other Asian cities, Singapore feels relatively empty.  Where are the Chinese group tours?  Where are the pale looking foreigners?  Who can afford all of this high end retail?  Where do real Singaporeans live?  So many questions not answered by the official line.  As Ruby astutely noted during our hop on/hop off city bus ride, as the announcer waxed rhapsodic about Singaporean public housing, "this just sounds like an ad for Singapore."

The huge fake trees of Gardens By the Bay were okay, but the Flower Dome blew us away.  It's an indoor botanical garden full of plants from 5 plant zones -- the Mediterranean (Italy), California (southern coast), Australia (southwestern, I think), Chile (mid-region coast), and South Africa (the southern Cape).  Entering the Flower Dome from the heavy, humid Singapore air, we immediately felt the extreme drop in humidity, the cool a/c, and then breathed in CO2 rich, flower-scented air.  I wish I could transport my Hunan relatives to the Flower Dome.  If I lived in Singapore, I would explore job/volunteer opportunities at the Flower Dome.  Spending time in the Flower Dome would probably add years to your life.

The lovely Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay

Our over-the-top Flower Dome experience was enhanced by our sheer joy at seeing famed Chilean Monkey Puzzle Trees again, as well as many other familiar plants from our trip.  It was like a review of our trip, in botanical form.

I can surf!

About ten years ago, on Yo's birthday, we went out for dinner and each made a list of ten things we wanted to do in life and then compared them. I still have the papers we wrote on. 

Some of ours were the same (we both wanted to live in the country), some were different (Yo wanted to get back into music, I wanted to come to terms with Judaism).  Some have been fulfilled (we both wanted to spend a lot of time abroad with the kids), others not (I wanted to own a big dog).

After four torturous days of paddling the Lembongan reef (and another few similar days in Ecuador), I think I can cross another one off my list.  I finally learned how to surf!  It has been anything but easy for me, but I can now paddle out, catch waves, and stand up most of the time.

We leave tomorrow. Next stop: The Rockaways?

Lembongan Life

The cooing of mourning doves has been our constant soundtrack for 10 days at the beach in Indonesia.  It was the perfect change of pace after a hectic month in HK-China-Taipei.  We are so happy that our friend Melinda could join us!

Neil at the Suka Nusa Hotel on Lembongan

Landing last week in Denpasar, Bali, after a day-long journey from Taiwan was a bit jarring.  We were back in a country where we didn't speak the language.  There were prayer rooms everywhere (often confused by us for bathrooms).  We were surrounded by Aussies and, a bit surprisingly, quite a few tourists from mainland China.  

Chinese and Australian tourists juxtaposed

We took a short taxi ride to Sanur, passing small restaurants, car dealerships, and a huge Cartier showroom.  It's always a bit disorienting to arrive in a new country after dark.  The kids were so tired, they could barely stay awake to eat.  I watched a medium sized rat cavort along the kitchen wall as we waited for our food at a restaurant near our small hotel.  "We have too many rats here on Bali," said the owner, with a wry smile.  

Due to a minor misunderstanding at the hotel, the kids slept across the street in the owner's house, while Neil and I had a room in the hotel proper.  Not a problem, but I prefer not to sleep two locked gates away from O&R.

The next morning, after pedicures and pancakes, we happily boarded a speedboat to Lembongan, an island off the coast of Bali.  In terms of development, Lembongan supposedly resembles what Bali was a few decades ago.  Gone are the large villas, resorts, fancy retail and traffic.  Lembongan's main village has one paved road, many small hotels and restaurants, a number of Hindu temples, dive/surf shops and massage places, and a thriving local community.  Aside from tourism, seaweed farming is the main industry.  From the sounds of it, chicken farming seems popular too.  Coming back from the beach one day, we passed a French creperie, and then, some people hosing off a dead pig.  A wrong turn from the yoga shack took us through the village itself, full of thatched huts, kids, and drying seaweed.  

The main road on Lembongan

Not knowing where exactly to stay, we booked online and lucked out.  The beach is 3 minutes across the road.  Within a 10 minute walk along the road itself, are yoga, surf lessons, massage, a large screen dinner/movie place, and restaurants galore.  Bike rental is available right across the street, although everything except beaches at the other end of the island is walkable.  (Lembongan is only 4 km long and not very wide.)

Oscar hiching a ride to a beach on the other side of the island

For better or worse, our hotel, the Suka Nusa, is brand new.  The restaurant has already been voted (deservedly so) on Tripadvisor as best on the island.  The owner is very eager to please.  Have a scary lizard living in your bathroom?  It will be killed!  (We begged for its life but stopped seeing it around.)

Outdoor showers are the norm

When the wifi router wasn't working, the owner had a technician here within 30 minutes.  Even more shocking, the problem got resolved!  The day after I asked for a fan, they bought fans for every room.  Ditto, clothes hangers.  A hairdryer mysteriously showed up one day too.  Neil and I found a can of insect spray on our porch.  The kids and Melinda got cans of Glade.  Granted, some of these things should have been provided in the first place.  But I'm a sucker for apologetic service with a smile.

Working

The surfers

What did we do during our time on Lembongan?  I got my yoga fix.  The others got really good at surfing!  We ate, drank, rode bikes, slept, read, and played poker.  We did some world class snorkeling and even saw a pod of dolphins go by.  We watched some movies (Jurassic Park, Wayne's World Two).  Oscar officially "finished" 8th grade (he took math and Spanish placement tests for fall).  Neil got the best massage of his life.  Melinda got a little work done. 

Going home from the reef

Tomorrow, we're off to Singapore to pick up (Ni)sid (Melinda's other half and our good friend from college).  Then, we're off to Cambodia and Laos.  Ready!

Finally....

The bathroom notice from my previous post was an anomaly.  But Lembongan's yoga shack is making me one happy camper.  

Neil, the kids, and Melinda, are enjoying the surfing, even with a reef break that requires a lot of paddling.

And best of all, there's a dinner/movie place down the road!