Tuesday, 8 September 2020

Time of my Life in Temple Town

Good morning everyone!

As Summer draws top a close in Europe, the wet season is creeping closer to a close. It's not to say that we're not still getting downpours (Universally timed for when I'm out on a bike ride). However, our booming thunder and strobe lightning are gradually fading away. My time in Temple Town is taking on leaps and bounds.

It's been a while (well, since I cracked that bone in my leg last year) since I've been in an environment that has allowed me to unleash my best self. I've been confident but overran with laziness, or lack of motivation, or deprivation for the urge to social. Being the social human you all know me to be, that's a real change.

I usually thrive in high-intensity environments (see my eight-month stint on that cruise ship or my contract in Tenerife as a hotel animator and scooter-riding-pirate) and for the most part, the past eighteen months or so have been....well...not high intensity, slow, and quite...boring. Arriving at Siem Reap and having a new city to call home is the strike of inspiration I've needed to take myself to the next level of whatever it is that I need next.

Right now it's a great time to find the balance between my health, socialising, keeping fit, finding an output for some backed up creative energy. I've been going to art classes, made a bunch of new mates, cycle 50km every day, teaching myself to draw, I'm starting to play Ultimate Frizbee, writing a shit-tonne...and been drinking 4L of water a day. Adulting, achieved.

So that's my latest little update. Might write about some funny stories coming up soon. Currently phoneless, alas, no photos at all. But you can just imagine me in full freckled glory, beaming at the camera!

Monday, 3 August 2020

THE LAST 26 DAYS IN PHOTOGRAPHS

And, sorry, not sorry, there's a lot.

Leaving Phnom Penh to Kampong Cham and The Mekong Delta

One of my nights staying at a temple, in maybe a less desirable town.

getting covered in dust every time someone passes

More lightening. About 30 minutes before it hit us.

Mondulkiri and Hills
The beginning of the National Parks.

Cycling about 20 minutes before complete darkness, 20km before the next noted building on a map, a thunderstorm rapidly approaching and a flat backtire...oh and a 600m incline up a mountain. Never been so happy to see a power station to sleep for the night.

foggy mountain mornings

Worth it for the sunrises and sunsets

that is not a nipple

Ting Mongs

Like we have scarecrows to well...scare crows. In Cambodia they have Ting Mongs to scare away bad spirits and protect their houses. That's why some are wearing surgical masks, carrying replica guns or machetes...and well, who knows why that one has got a spliff in his mouth. The Khmer have got a sense of humor for sure. Here's a small selection of my favourites.

Tribal Cemetery in Ratanakiri Province

A traditional cemetery for the Tumpoun people.

"Cemeteries have been set up near Tumpoun villages because people do not want their deceased to be far away and the villagers must carry the body to the cemetery. Tumpoun cemeteries are separated into areas for those who died a "normal death" and accidental death. Families visit their deceased relatives after they have been buried for five days to check whether they need food.
The structures above the grave symbolizes a house for the deceased. Graves are decorated with various items. Relatives of the deceased provide the deceased with the materials they used in their life. For example, if they were a farmer, they would be left farming equipment because they will use their tools in their next life. If the family forgets some tools the ghost of the deceased will come back to ask for them."