Kim's See-the-World Adventure

Back on land

kim_simensen — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 01:29:00 GMT

I have just returned from 4 days of scuba diving off the coast of Thailand. Great group of diverse divers on a liveaboard ranging from 20 somethings to a 70 year old japanese guy completing his 1500 dive.Each day was basically, dive, eat, sleep, dive eat sleep, dive eat sleep, dive eat sleep - yep four dives a day at 60-100 foot depth. Pictures to follow. I am still feeling like the boat is rocking so I am off to grab food and bed before catching a flight back to the States tomorrow. i will be back on Sunday afternoon. Hope all is well in your world - Saw Wa Dee ( good bye)

Fishing Village; boat living

kim_simensen — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 13:54:00 GMT

This morning I took off on my own to explore the village down on the Tonle Sap river. The drive down there out of Siem Reap revealed much higher levels of poverty and suggested that the touristo dollars will benefit those that can be in a position to "capitalize" on it; thereby widening the gap between the those that "have" and those that do not. My driver tells me that the government does little to help the people and are not trusted to serve the people; it makes me wonder how this new wealth will be used and how does it seed future discontent for those that are left out. The trip on the river was fascinating. I was the only one on the boat and the driver did not speak english very well so I will ahve to read more about the lives of the people. I saw families going about their tasks, fisherman tending to the nets, children sittting in school, and patients looking out the window at the local hospital. This is clearly a major tourist destination and the stream of boats going up the channel and into the lake was constant. I am certain that many in their huts on the edge of the lake feel like a zoo animal being observed. My driver is 18 but looks closer to 14. One of the boys that came and sold me a banana was eight but I would have guessed four. Nancy tells me that the stunting of growth is very frequent in countries where the children are not getting enough food. What a contrast to the obesity in children that we are seeing in America. After the floating village tour, I stop at at the Angkor Artisan workshop to see where they are training many rural young people in the carving and painting techniques of the old ways. I buy several presents here to help support their programs. The place is filled with tourists that spend freely; hopefully can make a meaningful difference. Tonight we return to Phenom Penh and I will finish exploring there before we leave for Thailand this weekend.

"Wat are you doing today?"

kim_simensen — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:28:00 GMT

We spent three days in Siem Reap exploring the temples, floating fishing villages, markets, silk farms, and the streets. This area is a major tourist destination and is becomming "Disneyesque" with hotels going up as fast as you can say "Money". But the touristo dollar has turned a poverty area into a growing community that feeds more hungrey children and builds more schools and fixes roads. We decided to start our day at Ta Prohm which is the more overgrown temples. There are trees coming up the walls and it feels like the jungle is trying to reclaim it. We also went up to Kabal Spean where they carved little phalic symbols (lingas)in the river along with other figures to honor the Gods. We had to hike up a path for about 45 minutes to see the area of the carvings so there were fewer tourists. We came upon several Camodian families going up there to have a picnic and Nancy talked with one woman in french as we climbed. They inited us to join them in their meal but we had several more stops to make and wanted to get on our way. Banteay Srei was my favorite (also called the "Citadel of the Women") with almost a fairy like quality to the carvings in pink sandstone. We ended the day at Angkor Wat and was in awe of the enormity and complexity of the work. The fact that these were built in the 12th Century is incomprehesible to me; pictures cannot do it justice. Nancy was here 10 years ago when no one was around. The last ten years have brought dramatic change to the area and they now report that the water table is diminishing due to all of the hotels consuming water. If you want to see this, I encourage you to get here before it becomes less accessible or begins to be affected by the underlying geographical changes.

A world of contrasts

kim_simensen — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 21:08:00 GMT

Today I went to the markets. My mission is to get a digital camera but also to check out the scene. The first stop was the central market. it was like the biggest flea market that I have ever seen. The building is a huge yellow dome with only one floor of little partitions that serve as shops. It was very congested and, after passing through the meat area with hanging, unrefrigerated meats, I knew my time inside would need to be abbreviated. I found some beautiful silks and a few other gifts. We then went to the Sony and camera stores. The contrast in consumerism was striking. This is a country where 40% live on a dollar a day but here are the plasma TV's and camcorders for thousands of dollars. The other notable perspective is that many on the street are relatively young - under 25. The killing of citizens by the Khmer Rouge in the 70's decimated the population in the 40+ ages so you rarely see anyone over 60. It is interesting to think about how a society moves forward with very few elders remaining and so much death in its history. When I return from Angkor Wat, I will go to the museums with the information about the Killng Fields. My friend Nancy tells me about when she lived here ten years ago and many of the streets were unpaved, muddy during the rains and dusty in the high heat. Change in so many areas has been rapid in this world.

Travel blips

kim_simensen — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 09:01:00 GMT

The 24 hour flight was much easier than I thought - it felt like constant darkness unless food was being served so lots of naps and quiet. I did not make the connection in Bangkok due to late plane and not having checked all the way through to Phenom Penh. I had booked two separate legs of the trip because of the stay in Thailand at the end so they did not have me checked in for the Phenom Penh and had given away the seat. After an 11 hour wait at the Airport, I made it to Phenom Penh later the evening of the 25th. Lessons learned...