Reflections of 2014.

So were back in the wilds of the beautiful North East, its been a long 6 months  waiting for Sammy to join me but eventually were reunited and the discussions of where we were this time last year have began, reflecting over the incredible adventure and opportunity life brought us to spend 9 months exploring part of this incredible world.

The highs, lows and learning's of 2014.

Many lessons were learnt last year, I fell in and out of love with every country we travelled, I learnt lessons about love not just from my relationship but others, I pushed myself to limits I didn't think I could and I let myself be freer then I ever have, letting my toes travel where the adventure chose.

Travelling.

Day trains, night trains, night buses, day buses, ferries, speed boats, rowing boats, taxis, hiking, flights, walking, up hills, down hills, across country, through continents we did it all and I smiled and cried through so many as I thought my poorly sick mind could take no more, but it always did and there was always another journey around the corner. We took a 32hr train through India, a night insect ridden train through Burma, we waited hours to get picked up in Borneo, we jumped out of a taxi with a drunken Thai driver, lost on the motorway in Chiang Mai, went back in time when heading to Mexico and lost our minds and our way on the way to Bali, however I wouldn't change any of it, as like people say 'its all part of the experience'.

Sleeping.

So part of my agreement was that we wouldn't stay in basic stays and would at least hit the mid way mark, however the excitement of travelling I realised was not always laying your head on a bed and sometimes finding sleep whenever and wherever it came, from bartering cheap prices to sleep in basic but beautiful seafront huts, sleeping on night trains, spooning up in locked bays on night buses, catching a few hours on the seats in a Japanese airport, sleeping in a brothel in Mexico, the middle of a desert in India, a tent in the forest of a Malaysian island, we got everywhere, some places I slept in a perfect dream, one night I woke up with a cockroach on my face, it tested me to my limits but the memories will always make me smile.

Eating.

Samosas from every bus stand in India, Thai curry on the streets of Bangkok, Fish upon fish in Malaysia, Khmer Curry in Cambodia, Kuching Laksa in Borneo, we ate every type of food going, my vegetarianism lacked and although I never chose to eat meat there were at times a definite hint of meat flavour, I suffered but enjoyed and my culinary tastes developed and my hatred of fish bones dissolved.

Friendships.

We met and adventured with so many great people on our trip, friends we feel we have made for life, friends who were just the right people to be there at that time, I learnt and developed from some of these people and changed my views on some of life's important lessons from understanding and searching deeper in my heart for a stronger meaning. Exploring the world you realise how many people are on similar journeys, sometimes even having a parallel life in some aspect, the many nights we spent talking and sharing times and adventures, it was great to have the chance in life to go out there be vulnerable but be open to learn from people I met as strangers but soon become friends.

Love.

Sam and I decided we wanted to spend this year together, we wanted to be away from the stresses and strains life brings and connect to each other somewhere different then England, my job can be very demanding and with training to be a Counsellor the last few years I have gone through a number of changes and unfolding in my own personal world, which Sam has held me through and supported me in every stage. This trip therefore was to move on from that and have a year where the world was just about us. Wow what a privilege, hey, we spent many days and nights talking about our relationship, other relationships, family relationships, how they work, how they don't, who inspires us, who doesn't. We talked with friends we met about the meaning of love and importance of past, the strength it gives us to be who we are in our relationship now and the changes we have made due to that. We argued, cried, smiled, loved, jumped, dived, walked, ran, hiked, made decisions, debated decisions, reassured, got lost, got totally lost, but mostly we found each other, we saw each others vulnerabilities and wants and found that deep love that connects us and inspires us.

Lessons.

I never have to do anything, I get to do it.. My yoga teacher Denise Payne taught me this when one day in teacher I asked 'do I have to do this' she reminded me that I never have to do anything, I get to do it and what a privilege that is.

I have a precious human life and I am not going to waste it.. Bex Tyrer read this poem out one day when in a yoga class, it stuck with me and made me think of the adventure we were on, it confirmed the right choices about going away, about quitting my work and doing something for us, life is precious and I certainly wasn't going to waste it.

Everything doesn't happen for a reason, we live in a cruel world.

What's meant for me wont pass me, a friend text me this one day when I was worrying about something, its a mantra that lives with me always.

The Lonely planet does the tell the truth.

When Sam told me we would have the chance to meet the Dalai Lama, I obviously laughed at him, of course the LP states that in its highlighted blue box, why wouldn't it.... well it only turned out to be true and we did get to meet him, miracles do happen.

Changes.

Babies were born, friends were married, people moved away, people moved home, life carried on whilst we travelled and although people always say everything is the same when you come home for us it wasn't, we were different and we were changed, we came home 6wks early as the bank of Sam and Claire ran out, however it felt the right time and we were ready for the next adventure.

 

 



 



 

Courgeous Cambodia

Cambodia to me has been the one place I have left feeling impacted the most, it was like a history lesson from the minute we entered to the minute we left, being able to see the devastation of war everywhere, from the population to the experiences of the Khmer people, Cambodia for me is a perfect example of the courageous survival of human kind.

From Angkor Wat we headed to Ko Tah Kiev island for 3 days at Crusoe Island, Crusoe island is a rustic island stay we found quite a few months back, maybe even last year and we both had been so excited for this experience of island life, Crusoe just looked a dream, it looked what island life should be like, rustic, laid back, hammocks and the sea on our door step, we had booked one of the bungalows, the vie.  When we arrived the sun was shining and the view stood up to its name, It was an open bungalow that looked straight onto a nook of beach and the ocean, ah heaven! We made our nest and got straight into the water, happy, smiling, and content. Ash and Mike were in the explorer cabin next to us and we all agreed things were going to be great, what more could you want then sun and ocean for three days?

Well without going into it too much, the rain come and Crusoe Island went drastically downhill, we did however manage to string some hammocks up in the only communal area and read and drink tea/coffee, so relaxing did happen, just in a very different form to how we had imagined.

We did however find some space when the rain stopped to go and clean some of the beach (in exchange for beer), sadly the beach is cluttered with rubbish and we managed to gather around 8-12 bags of plastic bottles before the drizzle started again, at this we jumped into the ocean and attempted to body surf the waves. For around 2hrs we played like children in the sea, laughing, joking, being swept under, riding on top of the waves and making the most of the storm brewing above us, making the sea a delightful playground.

That evening we were informed the kitchen had run out of food, at that point we knew we couldn’t wait to get off the island and head to our next destination, Kampot. We took a stroll along the beach that evening and went back to the restaurant we had enjoyed lunch at, having a feast of pizza and wine, it was nice to feel humbly fed with food and drink, retiring that night with the joyful thought of no rain tomorrow and a room that didn’t have sneaky mice stealing from you as you snoozed.

We took a taxi to Kampot the next day, Sam had booked us a floating bungalow on the river kampot which just looked so beautiful and M&A had a treetop bungalow out in the gardens of Bodi Villa. Kampot was such a lovely stay, really relaxing and just what we needed after our time on the island. For the three days we were there we just relaxed by the river, swam, ate and drank delicious wine. It was a great place for reading, writing and just enjoying the blissful calm of life in Kampot. Mike turned 29 when were there also so we chose to take a day trip to Kep, sadly the weather turned but we didn’t let it stop our plan, we took our scooters and travelled the hour’s drive to Kep market. Kep is known for its tasty crab and we found a perfect shack to enjoy a tasty feast. It was like a northern day at the beach, the rain was coming down, blustery winds and cool in the air, for us though it made it feel like home, both being from cold countries we embraced the chill and enjoyed the gusty day at the seaside.That evening we headed home in time for our firefly tour, we had no idea what to expect for our evening boat trip but we certainly were not dissapointed. The four of us heading out on a priavte boat, docking up at the side of a mud drawn road, we all looked at each other as if to say 'what the hell' but our lovely tour guide got us walking and took us through a muddy puddle into a bushy area, at this he pointed out one firefly and the moon, great we thought one firefly, oh and the moon! but then suddenly a tree in front of us just flashed, like a christmas tree, the lights of the fireflies intermittently going on and off, we all gasped with happiness and our tour man started singing happy birthday (in Cambodion). With a huge roar of laughter we all broke down, totally unaware of how he knew it was Mikes birthday, we sang away though and enjoyed such a magical moment. Another 30mins passed and we enjoyed the array of activity these little insects brought us, smiling with wonderous joy at each flicker of light, another one of the worlds wonderful creatures. Our tour came to an end and we headed back to Bodi for an evening on the pontoon, drinking wine and talking about Mikes 30th plans ahead.

The following day we packed and headed for our next stop in Cambodia, Phonm Phen, we had decided to take two days to explore the capital, taking in the museums and history of this wonderful country we had been travelling and taking so much richness from. I had started reading a book recommended to me about the Cambodian civil war which for me was a great way to prepare me for the horrific sad information to be given at the museums. My knowledge of history is dire and so I am aware of the Khmer Rouge regime but wasn’t as fully aware as I should have been, by the end of day 2 though my brain felt like it could have exploded with the sadness, terror and stories heard of this devastating period and the impact it still has today.

We started the day by heading to S21, this used to be an old high school before the Pol Pot regime took it over and used it as a prison, we chose to get a guide for the few hours we would be spending there, our guide was a women who had lived through the regime and told us her story of how she had lost her brothers and sisters due to the child labour camps and starvation they suffered as children,  her parents had also been killed for no other reason than being from the city. Her story was like so many others and my heart broke at the information surrounding us. The high school – prison – museum held such strong messages and a proportion of it was still in the same structure as it had been in the 1970’s. In one part the walls are lined with images of child soldier’s, innocent faces turned evil for power, brain washed by a man clearly unstable in his own mental health all for a notion of sheer madness, I read somewhere that even if you wore glasses you would be killed. We learnt that over half the population were killed, that’s 1 in 2 people were murdered for no reason, I don’t even know If I can still digest the information now but I know I feel utter admiration for Cambodian people, their courage to carry on is inspiring after such a brutal attack on their society. We entered one part of the museum which was dedicated to foreigners caught up in the attack, one guy was from Newcastle, my home town (as most of you know), it didn’t have much information so I chose to read some more on the internet, it again was another tale of horror, he was seized whilst yachting and was taken to S21, captured and tortured and made to admit he was part of the CIA,  this was a method the Khmer Rouge used when killing, by people admitting they were part of the CIA they then felt they had allowances to kill the said victim, none of it makes sense, the Pol Pot genocide was one of sick  intention and in S21 alone 14,000 people were tortured and killed.

From here we headed to The Killing Fields, I had no idea what to expect from this museum and was surprised at how well it was organised for such a horrific but important memorial site. The Killing Fields was another area people were taken to before being killed, there is a number of these all over Cambodia but the one in Phonm Phen is the biggest. The memorial is carried out as a audio tour,  each stop informing you what this area was and what was carried out here, the detail is to harrowing to write up and I think it’s more important to experience or read more about it yourself if interested. The emotion it stirred in all of us was indomitable and we all had to take some time out to regain ourselves and feel the sadness and devastation that was being stirred.  For me at first I didn’t really understand the true importance of people going to visit these museums and have these experiences but as I walked around I realised I was mourning the loss of thousands of lives, mothers, babies, fathers, children, families taken away for no reason, butchered for no reason, the killing fields was a memorial to these people to be remembered and never forgotten, it’s so important to remember these periods of history and stop civil wars and genocides like this happening again and if places like this do that then the message is being put out there and a nation is not being forgotten.

We took the evening and following day to be with ourselves and enjoy the feeling of being in PP after the devastation it suffered, looking at the pictures of how the city was prior to it being captured to how it was during and how it had been built back up now, booming with industry and travelers. I was proud to wander the streets and experience the culture, feeling blessed to be in this life and with the people I was with. Our last day in Cambodia was one of reflection and my time in this beautiful country had been more then I could have expected a highlight on the travel train, how it has opened my mind and eyes, making me feel a different appreciation for life and the experiences I am having.

We said our goodbyes to Mike and Ash, arranging to see one another again in Vietnam, they headed up to Kratie for dolphin spotting and we had to get ourselves to Vietnam for our time in Sapa before the parentals arrived. We took the mighty Mekong out of Cambodia, crossing the border to Vietnam on the river, entering back into familiar territory and excited for the next month of travel. 

From Sunset to Sunrise, the Temples of Angkor Wat

We entered Cambodia through the notorious land border Poi Pet, known for its shady scams and dodgy sales staff, Sam had prepped me to let him sort the visas and not freak out if his pointing finger ‘you’re lying’ face came on. All the guidebooks and internet reading tells you of the fake buildings and fake security staff in place, supposedly helping you with your visas and quick route into Cambodia, however what will happen is you will be over charged, money taken and still be waiting in the long line with all the other weary travelers and locals passing through. We managed to make it off the bus, our bus driver being so lovely and in his broken English pointing at the actual border control offices, as the scam men started to surround us demanding our time and notes, we pushed through no finger pointing but lots of no no no, NO THANKYOU.  We got to the border control and even there the guards tried their luck, stating they needed an extra few $’s to put our visas through, at this Sam informed them, no sorry, we don’t have it and with a few exchanged words our visas were processed and we were in the queue crossing to Thailand, phew. 

We caught the bus to Siem Reap to meet lovely Ash and Mike, the journey wasn’t too bad apart from the fact we found out just before getting on the bus our friends had gone into labour, meaning the whole bus journey was a panic of if they were okay and how the labour was going. We somehow managed to get 10 seconds of internet at a random service stop and a beautiful picture of baby Heidi came through, we were over whelmed with emotion and both were teary eyed at the happiness we felt our besties had a brood but sadness at feeling so far away when such a special moment was occurring. 

We arrived into Siem Reap in standard SE Asia fashion with the bus turning into a dark dodgy bus terminal and a 100 tuk tuks awaiting our arrival, we bartered a price and then got on our way to our hotel. When we arrived we were greeted by the lovely smiles of our Canadian friends and instantly felt at home in their embrace.  The evening was spent settling into Siem Reap and making plans for the next few days, M&A had already been in Siem Reap for a few days and had bought the 3 day tickets to Angkor Wat, we knew we only wanted to do the one day, as with the one day you also get the previous evening, meaning we would buy our tickets the following day at 5pm, have that evening and the whole of the next day. M&A informed us they had done the two outer routes of Angkor but had saved the big temples for us for our full day together.  So with plans made we enjoyed the rest of the evening on ‘pub street’ drinking lots of wine, local 30p beer and a lot of good chats with two very good friends, we missed the fact a river of rain had flooded the streets and when we emerged from the bar at 3am we fell into a puddle and stumbled into a tuk tuk. We awoke the next morning with fuzzy heads and happy thoughts, I woke up earlier than the rest so went for a nice swim and enjoyed the morning sunshine on my back, after my swim I went and enjoyed breakfast catching up on my diary and filling in my last few days of Thailand. Soon the others joined me and we arranged a lazy day in Siem Reap before Sam and I hired some bikes and went for our evening cycle to Angkor. 

We arrived at Angkor spot on 5pm, we got our faces snapped and our tickets purchased and set out without any real plan, not planning to go in any temples, more just enjoy the cycle of what was to come and find a spot to watch sunset. I had no idea what I expected of Angkor and after being at Bagan (Burma) I had a similar image in my mind of the temples being smaller and quite similar and had no understanding of the distance between them all, some are miles away in a taxi (the outer route).  It was great to get a feel of the place before our main day and we nestled on a bridge at the end of the day to enjoy sunset. We headed back that night, prepared for our voyage into the mystic temples the following day, we chose to have a quieter night then the previous, meeting with a friend from home who was in Siem Reap also, we enjoyed a feast of Khmer curry’s and a few beers, oh and some tasty tea, heading to bed with full tummy’s ready for a 5am sunrise jaunt. 

We woke super early and were greeted by Mr Thom (who soon become Uncle Thom) for our days adventure, we chose to take a tuk tuk for the day at Angkor as our plan was to do sunrise to sunset and knew on bikes we wouldn’t make it, plus the sun gets so blazing hot at midday we wanted the shade of the tuk tuk and not the blistering heat on our faces. Uncle Thom was a total sweetie, he told us our route for the day, thankfully what we had planned and how he would drop us at each temple and wait for us as we explored. We joined the procession of tuk tuks and tourists and were dropped at Angkor Wat, the main temple in Angkor, everyone heads here for sunrise so as we entered it was slight chaos, everyone heads to the lake to watch sunrise, as the reflection of Angkor in the lake is spectacular, however it becomes a ipad, iphone photograph hell and for this reason we headed right as everyone to the grassy garden. We had our lovely trusty Indian blanket so put that down and settled ourselves for the morning, at that point Ash said ‘wouldn’t it be great to have a coffee’ with that James Bond (yep that was his name) came over with a list of coffee and promised he would bring it to us for our morning view. With coffee and comfort we were ready for a beautiful morning, or so we thought, sunrise was spectacular but sadly we had a child learning there ABC and was playing a very strange song out of his parents iphone, it did stop after a while but did leave us all laughing at such a random situation at such a beautiful spot. The joy of iphones and music, my definite travelling pet hate! We didn’t let it spoil our time though and managed to smile through it and embrace the beauty of what we were experiencing in front of us. 

Angkor Wat temple completely blew my mind and I was completely in awe of the beauty before me, Mike and I both had our guides/temple books which I would recommend to anyone visiting the temples, the books tell of all the bas reliefs (carvings/stories) engraved into the walls, stories of life times ago, wars, dietys and religious beliefs, they tell the tales of suffering and change and you can see the new carvings from the old, you can see where there has been change when the Khmer people left the Angkor complex and the temples were changed from Hindu to Buddhist carvings. For me the most beautiful carvings were the Apsara depictions, beautiful images of women nymphs/pixies saturated the walls, there were a number of similar images but everywhere the images embraced and flowed in groups and singular elements of these incredible women. I hadn’t ever heard the term Apsara but Mike soon explained they were seen to men as goddess and were worshipped for their beauty, I chose to do some further reading when home and loved the description of female spirits of the clouds and water, and they are youthful, elegant and superb in the art of dancing. How could these women not be respected and worshipped these mythical goddess sounded heavenly. Some of my other favourite carvings were the Rishis, Hindu sages, the representations was of old wise men, crossed legged like Buddha, with a long beard, looking wise and calm in his posture and positioning. My favourite statues led to a lot of laughs (and slight sex education lessons), these statues were the lungi and yoni, now some back history on yonis. I recently completed a course around feminist studies and working with vulnerable women, in this course we talked about what we called our lady parts and everyone had their hilarious name we all learnt as children. We were asked how we felt saying the word out loud and every one of us felt uncomfortable with the word, mine being ‘fairy’ which has always left me feeling awkward as I become obsessed with flower fairy’s and the magical world of fairy’s throughout my younger years and early twenty’s, therefore using the word fairy to describe my vagina and my best friend just felt wrong. After this course I chose a new word and one I would teach my child, that being yoni, so to see this word used to describe the fertility statues in Angkor Wat led me to informing M&A and Sam about my story of a change up in words. I went off on a wander around one of the temples to find one of these statues and joined a Chinese tour group as it was explained to them what they were, now this was amusing, as the tour guide poured the water and said some proactive words that made the ladies giggle and the men groan. The belief with the statues is that at one time the Khmer people poured water over the top of the lungi, the water then flowed into the yoni and out through a drainage system that led outside the temple, the people living outside the temple could then collect the water, drink it and wish for good fertility. It just made my mind spin how everything has such meaning and beauty wherever you step and wander. 

After 4hrs we exited Angkor Wat, hungry for breakfast and amazed at the humble amble we had just experienced. Our next stop was Bayon, we were welcomed by the most beautiful elephant trudging along, sadly carrying tourists on its back but the beauty of an elephant  a few steps in front of us was stupefying and I couldn’t help but let out a small gasp of excitement seeing its beautiful face and outstanding stature.  Bayon is a world of difference from Angkor Wat but just as magnificent and jaw dropping. I believe Bayon was built 80yrs after Angkor Wat by a new Khmer King, from far away the temple looks a pile of rubble but as you come closer it becomes a mass of smiling faces that at first glance could represent the familiarity of Buddha but when reading I learnt the images were to represent the Kings face, spread across 47 towers the faces envelope the towers, supposedly representing the 47 provinces in Cambodia at that time, the king watching down on all, creepy right? For me Bayon was a beauty but did hold a gothic eeriness and when learning about the kings faces I soon felt I understood why. Like Angkor, Bayon did have bas reliefs also which we attempted to understand but parts of the temple walls had fell into disrepair which was part of the beauty of this ruined attraction. 

Bayon is situated in the Angkor Thom complex; therefore we wondered the rest of the complex, enjoying various smaller temples and the terrace of elephants. We took a rest with a group of local boys who were playing in one of the pools and I enjoyed being splashed as they ran and jumped in front of me, giggling with excitement and happiness. 

Angkor Thom means big city and it was where the Khmer people once lived when residing in the Angkor complex, for me what astounded me was that is no evidence of settlement due to the residents using wood as there means to nest and live, stone was only for the gods and that’s why the temples were stone and still stand. When reading up about the movement of the Khmer residents there is no actual understanding as to why everyone left and therefore no records of how many people lived there.  Exploring these temples and  once distressed lands felt enjoyable but uncomforting knowing people were maybe run out of the home, their city and moved on to places nobody knows. 

We headed back to meet Uncle Thom for lunch then headed to our next stop Ta Phrom, known to all as Tomb Raider temple. Ta Phrom was what I was most excited to see, I had seen so many pictures and knew when planning this trip it was one of my top things I wanted to explore and experience and it sure didn’t disappoint. Ta Phrom is very different from the other temples as it has been left in a similar state to how it was found, piles of rubble, trees dominating the temple walls, nature taking back what belongs to it, land. The tetrameles nudiflora trees is what makes this temple so spectacular, it has literally been brought to ruins because of some of the trees, the roots engulf the insides of the temple and are beautiful to look at and photograph. We found so many nooks to climb into and climbed high as sun was coming down embracing the vast maze of ruins in front of us. 

After a few hours we exited Ta Phrom, with Uncle Thom telling us we didn’t have long for sunset and he would show us one more temple, Banteay Kdei, before our chosen sunset spot, he gave us 15minutes to explore our next one, which was a quick walk through, more beautiful apsaras, doorways upon doorways to walk through, another beautiful maze in the temples of Angkor. 

Like our morning jaunt we decided we didn’t want crowds of people so chose to ignore the guidance of the sunset temple and head to the kings royal bathing pool, Sra Srang to watch sunset on us. We didn’t pick wrong either as we enjoyed our time with a group of local kids, watching them play a game Sam played at cubs (therefore we learnt the rules from him), smiling and laughing like children should. As sun come down we reflected on what was an amazing day and how blessed we were to spend it together but also be on this incredible journey in this incredible place, one of the incredible wonders of our astonishing world.
 

Angkor Wat

Rishi

Apsara and Sammy

Bayon

Fertility Statue

Ta Phrom

Ta Phrom exploring.

Sunset at the Royal Pool.