Jeff Gritchen: February 2008 Archives
A lot of posts we've made have been about food - and here we go again.Skun, Cambodia, is known for their fried tarantulas!
Only seven for a dollar - and yes, that is a live one crawling on the boy's shirt.
We drove six hours from Phnom Penh to Battambang - then another 7 Km to dirt roads that lead us to Davik's village.After a few hours there I realized we had better cell coverage than I get standing at Ocean and Pine.
We took part of a day to tour the magnificent Angkor Wat temple complex. Because of a crowded schedule, it was the kind of speed tour that leaves you wishing you had days instead of hours to take it all in.
As Jeff and I walked along of the majestic ruins of the Bayon temple, a young man limped forward. Without preamble, he started explaining the stories portrayed by several bas reliefs.
They are majestic tales of Jayavarman VII's battles against the Cham on land and the Ton Le Sap lake. The bas-reliefs are amazingly intricate carvings that depict the glorious king on elephant, his army ahead and concubines behind.
As interesting as the tales and history, was the 26-year-old man who took us through the temple complex. A victim of a land mine explosion 13 years ago, he said he was working his way his way through school by conducting informal tours.
During my only other trip to Angkor Wat, I had another young man tell me almost the same story. However, the first one hadn't lost a leg and a father to an explosion.
So, Jeff and I walked with the young man, whose name I failed to jot down. He told us about the number of faces and towers on the Bayon, what the levels of the structure represented and about how the temple had been built.
He also took us to the best vantage points for photos.
"I no have camera, but I can picture with my eye," he said.
Later while checking out the temple faces along the top level of the Bayon, Jeff and I met some guards and pretty soon they were teaching us phrases we could use for flirting with girls, not to mention some dirty words that made our companions blush.
Although I have now had two chances to scramble on the rocks of temples at Bayon, it occurred to me that it's the human touch that makes many of these structures come alive.
For all the majesty of the buildings and their history, I am invariably drawn to the stories of the people.
--- Greg
Davik leans against the door post of her home in the village of Svay Chrom in Battambang Province.
Still groggy after waking up, Davik holds onto her mother at her home in the village of Svay Chrom in the Battambang Province in Cambodia.
You probably won't see any blog posts for the next three days. We are headed out of Phonm Penh to the Battambang Province. DaVik's village is in a remote area with no power or running water and probably no internet... just a guess. Then we will head to Siem Reap on Tuesday and will try to post then.
Thanks for reading.
--- Jeff
Adding to what Jeff said, speaking for myself, I will miss sending the blogs from our perch overlooking the Tonle Sap here at the Foreign Correspondents Club, or the Press-Telegram Phnom Penh Bureau, as we like to call it.
-- Greg
Um... I broke another cameraIt was a scene right out of central casting - burned out shells of buildings, nearly comatose addicts shooting up heroin and smoking yama - and I stepped off of the back of a tuk-tuk and dropped my camera.
. Good thing I have two!
--- Jeff
Turn left onto a large street in a tuk-tuk usually involves an act of salmon-like driving making your way against traffic until you can merge to the right side.-- Jeff
I'm not the biggest fan of fish so I've eaten a lot of chicken and rice on this trip. I wonder if I've eaten a chicken delivered by a motorcycle? Probably.
-- Jeff
Look familiar?-- Jeff
Sometimes the tuk-tuks need fuel - can you find the litres of gas in this picture?This isn't the only supply - there are also Shell and Caltex (Chevron) stations - but this looks more fun.
The price for a litre of gas is about 4000 riel - about $3.50 a gallon.
-- Jeff
We climbed to the top of the hill where Wat Phnom is located and found ourselves $1 poorer because, well,... you can read the sign.-- Jeff
After hearing Greg tell me how he was traumatized by a gibbon in Thailand when he was 8 years old, I decided to keep my distance from this monkey and her baby at Wat Phnom.-- Jeff
Davik Teng snuggles with a stuffed cow during lunch in Phnom Penh. The toy was given to her by Chantha Bob when we arrived in Cambodia. Bob, a waiter a Sophy's Resturant in Long Beach, discovered the ill Teng when he was delivering food to remote villages last year. --- Jeff
Peter Chhun, our guide for this trip, pulls up the sidewalk looking like an Asian Peter Fonda. A red 'do-rag atop his head and a scarf tied around his neck. In typical Cambodian style, he parks his motorcycle at the corner near a restaurant where we're eating. Not near the corner, on it. Any open space is a parking space in Phnom Penh.
While most Cambodians get around on scooters and small bikes, Chhun rolls up on his Harley Davidson Sportster 1200.
“It's the only one in the country,” Chhun says with a laugh, or at least it was when he brought it over from the U.S.
--- Greg
The first time I came to Cambodia, I stayed at the Raffles hotel in Phnom Penh, a lavish high-end hotel. Along with gilded fixtures and marble flooring, it featured a balcony that looked over a hushed garden setting and a swimming pool.
Our hotel this time, Her Royal Highness, or Royal Hiness depending on which sign you read, has a decidedly different vibe. Our room has no windows that look outside, although the lone window does look out to the second-floor landing.
The view from the window on the landing is like something out of Rear Windows, with a view of a four-story apartment across the narrow street. From the hotel vantage point, we can look into the homes of several dozen people and get a pretty good idea of what they're wearing from the laundry draped on the balconies.
While I appreciate luxury as much as the next guy, there's a certain truth the Her Royal Highness that really let's you know your far from home. Which is how it should be.
--- Greg
Our hotel might sound expensive, but don't worry boss - the Royal Hiness is only $20 a night ($15 on Sunday).--- Jeff
At home I drink about 8 Diet Cokes a day - so when we arrived in Taipei between flights at 5 AM I was jonesing for some caffine = luckily I found Coke Light.
---Jeff
Greg and Jeff arrive at Los Angeles International Airport for their 16-hour flight to Phnom Penh.
--- Jeff
Getting geared up to go on a 15 day trip, four days of which will be in a remote village, is not easy. Here is what I'm bringing - as you can see the clothing only make up a small portion of my baggage.2 cameras, 3 lens, a flash, 4 camera batteries, laptop, 3 laptop batteries, video camera, 3 video camera batteries, iPod Touch, international power adaptors, batteries, video tapes, CF cards, chargers for the still, camera, laptop and video camera and assorted cables.
My goal is to fit all this stuff, plus a rain jacket (Phnom Penh Weather) in just two bags.
Now let's see what Greg is bringing.
--- Jeff
