Myra and Gerry Southeast Asia 2019

What a day we had today!   We started our day visiting a community-based, living rice farm where we learned the process to grow rice and were experienced each stage of the growing process.   We found this fascinating and fun. To do this day in and day out would be back breaking! 1 -  O ur guide began with a demonstration to show how they selected the best rice to plant for the next year. They place multiple handfulls of salt in a container of water, mix it up and place an uncracked chicken egg in the water.  When the egg floats the water is readiy for the next step.  They remove the egg and place rice in the bowl.  The rice that sinks to the bottom is the heaviest and best rice and is now ready for planting. 2 - The best rice is planted by mounding the mud in the cleaned and flooded field and throwing the rice on top of the mud. Two to three times a day the rice is sprinkled with water to keep it wet. 3- When the rice has sprouted and abou...

We arrived in Laos after dark last night and prepared for an early morning start at 4:00 am for the giving and receiving of alms for the local monks.   Every single morning over 100 monks walk approximately five blocks with tourists and locals lined along the sidewalk, each of whom place a small portion of food into the bowls they carry.  We sat on small chairs and provided a small handful of  cooked rice (what is known as “sticky rice”) to each of the Monks.   The process starts around 6:00 am. Laos is approximately 80% Buddist.  Families who are Buddists are expected to send their boys, anytime after they are 10 years old, to study Buddhism for at least three months.  Senior monks (20 years old and older) cover both shoulders.  Junior monks only cover one shoulder. The monks do not cook food as they are not allowed to touch “raw” meat.   (They also cannot touch women – including their mothers.)   Their food is cooked...

This morning we drove to Banreay Srei - a small, elegant Hindu Temple about 45 minutes from the hotel. Considered by many to be the jewel in the crown of Angkorian art, Banteay Srei is cut from stone of a pinkish hue. Construction of the Temple started on 967 A D.    The art gallery of Angkor, Banteay Srei  is wonderfully well preserved and many of its carvings are very detailed and ornate. After lunch, we left for a flight to Luang Prabang, Laos.

This morning we boarded our coach and traveled to see more ancient ruins nearby.  By far the most impressive was Ta Prohm. Ta Prohm is famous for the Temples that are overgrown and covered with tree roots.  It has been left as it was found and shows what the jungle can do when it takes over.  The roots of the trees are attached to the porous sandstone and extracts water from the stones. They are both destroying the Temple and holding  it up at the same time.  It is eerily beautiful. thanks One of the most famous spots in Ta Prohm is the so-called ‘Tomb Raider tree’, where parts of the movie "Tomb Raider" starring Angelina Jolie was filmed. Our next stop was the Elephant Terrace which was  named for the sculptures in high relief of elephants. At several sections large elephant heads protrude out from the wall, their very long trunks forming pillars extending to the ground. Our last stop to visit ruins was Anghor Thom which means ...

Today was a travel day, a five-hour bus ride from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap.   Tauck used to fly people between the two cities but found out that due to the airline unreliability, they were able to get people here quicker by busing them. The highlight of the day was a stop at “Spider City” where you can purchase fried tarantulas, scorpions, spiders, cockroaches, etc.   It was not something that any of us were used to.   We were greeted by children selling local fruits and holding live tarantulas that they would gladly let crawl on you.   One of our tour guides allowed them to put two on his shirt.   There were no takers in our group. Over a million tourists a year pass through Siem Reap, making it the fastest growing place in Cambodia outside of Phnom Penh, the capital city. One of the main  attractions is the ruins of Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat was built in the first half of the 12th century as a Hindu Temple and took 37 years to build....

After a short, early flight, we arrived in Phnom Penh, the Capital and largest city of Cambodia.  We toured a local museum and checked into our hotel. On Tuesday, we took a cyclo ride to the the Royal Palace, the home if the King of Cambodia.  The king is a figure head with no real power.  The current king is a single, ballet dancer with no children, no girlfriend and no heir.  The country is controlled by a central, mainly China - influenced, communist party and the leader of the party is a  former follower of Pol Pot (short for POLitical POTential) inwho defected and was protected by Vietnam - a traditional enemy of Cambodia.  Pol Pot was the former leader of the Khmer Rouge (from 1975 - 1979 ) who was responsible for one of the worst genocide operations in our lifetime. We visited one of the 160 "Killing Fields" where Pol Pot and his followers murdered approximately three million citizens (25% of the population) in his perverte...