Seaside and sunshine to yogis and gongs

Breakfasts in the pavilion at Seagarden

The birds are tweeting and the yogis are chanting; I'm on my third day of a detox retreat at 'Hariharilaya', located 12km North of Siem Reap. The days typically start at 5.30am, the resonating sound of the gong entering into our rooms as our soothing wake-up call (a nice change from your typical iphone or blackberry alarm!) Everyone makes their way to the yoga hut for the morning set, stretching into your body glove with eyes half open and finishing fully energized. The yoga varies in type every morning, some days it's rigorous Hatha while others it's slow and steady vinyasa/flow. A half an hour chanting session follows, to focus everyone's mind as we read the sanskrit words in front of us, before the 20 minute meditation, the last item on the agenda before breakfast is spread.  The rest of the day consists of various talks (on spirituality, Dharma, enneagrams etc), more meditation and optional workshops, acupuncture, blind massages, reiki, opportunities to cycle around the village, explore nearby temples, sun-tan naked in an enclosed bamboo hut, paint, draw, exercise,  read from the library of books and so much more. Everyone's typically off to bed by 10ish, worn out from the full-on day of activities. The man responsible for all this is 'J', a 33 year old yogi, who from the age of  6 joined the philharmonic orchestra in the US, touring the world until he decided to go to university and study linguistics for 6 years. Continuing on his spiritual path he has since created a yoga centre for people to share their passion and knowledge.

Woop woop!

It's amazing giving your body a break from any sort of toxins. The food is vegan here, and so creatively thought out. Incredible superfoods are available every day, one example is the amazing Kombucha tea: 'a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast' that's fermented using a fungus (manchurian mushroom) for months - it sounds odd, but tastes delicious after the natural flavourings are added to it  like lemon, mint, passion fruit etc. it's quality is to detoxify the body and energize the mind, basically, it's amazing, and is gulped down minutes after being released. Bee pollen's available in sachets to sprinkle over breakfast and if you need a bit of sweetness, 'bliss balls' with dates, coconut, palm sugar and oats are available for a dollar! ;)

I've been cycling around the village at 5.30am every morning since I've been here - A nice way for your eyes to slowly open into the day. It was funny coming out of my dream world and seeing the locals totally awake as they hacked away at pig heads and trotters in the local market and stopped the cat- fish from wriggling around in the big metal bowls. Further on down the dusty lane a little 6 year old boy rode a bicycle, carrying his friend behind him. Another little boy, who looked about 10, was leading a herd of cows along the road. He stopped, I wished him good morning in Khmer as he returned it with a shy smile, and continued walking the skinny cows through the lush paddy fields. A naked little girl held her arms out, balancing as she put one foot in front of the other on the high wall that surrounds 'Bakong Temple' - part of the ancient ruins known as Angkor Wat. My direction sense is hopeless, so of course I made the one wrong turn you could make and ended up lost and surrounded by empty food stalls, stressing out about what time it was, with no watch or phone to assist me. A sweet Khmer lady offered me a coconut and lead me to the right path and luckily, I arrived back in time for the gong to reverberate through the room, signalling the beginning of morning yoga.

I've come here for a bit of self-reflection, while J works for a few more days in Otress. I can't quite believe my stint there's already over. Every day merged into the next, probably due to a few too many flower fumes and the lackadaisical attitude of the place. Each day started with a morning swim while the sea was metallic and still, followed by a meditation and an Ice coffee (that we've now mastered, as well as the odd cocktail recipes that we want to remember). There were down days in paradise, when M's puppy died unexpectedly and the mood fell low as we all felt his sadness. But having to work at a bar and socialize always forces a smile that's eventually taken on as something real. The chefs (that hated what they did, and took it out on us constantly) had a nice streak one day, and prepared a group meal of fresh fish, lettuce, rice noodles and a delicious sauce to top it off - a great way to unify everyone for a few minutes before business took over again. I managed to finally cut my own king coconut, nearly chopping my leg off as I swung the machete in the wrong direction. But with time, lots of whining and too much sweat, I finally managed to do it without J's help, or A telling me that I needed 'more power!!' That night we had 9 of our mates sitting around the bar, dealing cards from our side, we managed a massive game of 'Yaneev', an Israeli card game that every traveller must know. It was a struggle playing, dealing the cards and making drinks at the same time, but it kept the night moving. That evening the liquor was flowing, so I decided to go craazy and have 2 shots! It was the end of the night, and my job was to wash the glasses. I gripped onto the bar stools trying to straighten my vision as I grabbed a chair, dragged it behind the bar, and proceeded to wash the blurry objects in front of me, sitting down with soap and water pouring everywhere - I was a mess. Soo since then alci's been off the wish list.

The Bizarre aeroplane club

 The next day before work J and I went to explore a few of the local beaches, coming across a bizarre Russian-owned club. The theme of the place was 'aeroplanes' and they took their theme seriously. They'd installed a massive aeroplane in the centre of the club, that you could climb into and mess around in. The DJ booth was the front of a truck and the sides of cars were hung up on the walls. It lead onto the beach, right next to a busy harbour. We jumped around, played pool and sped off to the next beach as the seconds ticked on before work was to begin. The other beaches were all beautiful and completely empty, similar to the expensive resorts, that were 5-star but lacked the main component - guests. One huge island that we could see from the beach, had recently had a huge, ugly, concrete bridge constructed from the mainland, allowing you to drive across. Only it wasn't for you to drive across, it was for the Rich Russian owner of the island, that built it because he wanted the pleasure of driving to and from his island in his expensive car. What some people do with their money just makes me laugh..

A fraction of the Sunshine Family

Topcat's been one of the best forms of entertainment, and although it's only $2 an hour, somehow every time a group of us went, each of us always ended up having to pay a bill of $20+.. We've since watched: 'Death at a funeral', 'One flew over the cuckoos nest', 'Senna', 'Lawless', 'The matrix', 'Exit through the Gift shop  and various others that don't spring to mind. After watching 'Exit through the Gift shop , a documentary made by a family friend that shows you the true grit that street artists experience, you really feel a sense of respect for them (the good ones). It's funny how a piece of art can be illegal one minute and then valued at $14,000 over night. Just another example of the impermanent nature of humans and our interests..

Otress sunsets

Our nights after Topcat or whatever excursion we'd been on, usually ended with a huge group of us sitting together on the big, comfy circle chairs on the beach, passing around doobs, playing shithead or yaneev and laughing about silly things. J's hungover mornings always made me laugh, especially when he had to dig out the drain for the dishwasher. Looking at his delirious, sweaty and unhappy face made me giggle - a glass of ice water was all I could offer. Every day went pretty well at work, we were usually on top form and had great chats and relationships with all the customers that came and went. However on one rare occasion, it didn't go so well. After only half a cookie that D&S had with us (if you're in Otress, $6 cookies at mushroom point ++!), things began slowing down and getting funnier. The orders were all confused, calculations for bills weren't happening and conversation started getting really difficult. We had 'a talking to' the next day, and it never happened again..


After a very slow night, I woke up with itchy feet again, so J and I rented a kayak for half the day, and journeyed off to a mystery island. We were the only ones there apart from the few fishing boats that were anchored in the surrounding sea. We climbed over big rocks, looked into stagnant rock-pools of mosquito larvae and dead crabs (that looked like 'the pit of death' in 'The Life of Pi'), caught crabs, meditated in the shade and skinny dipped in the clear blue water, with no one around to tell us not to. We'd taken a plastic bag with us for the few things that we'd decided to bring, and noticing the condensation in our bag of flowers, J spread them out on a rock in the sun, family Robinson style. 5 minutes later, it crumbled to dust in our hands - it was that hot; and no matter how much sun cream I lathered on, my skin still managed to turn a light shade of red. Despite the burn, it was probably one of the most exciting experiences, discovering a new island, that yes, had probably been seen by a quite a few others, but it was so nice being able to enjoy a place for it's beauty without being hassled or charged. After a few hours on the island that we'd claimed our own, we kayaked back, tension rising as we battled against the current, the frustration causing us to argue over meaningless things, with no way of escaping each other. We'd stop now and then to re-direct our kayak that seemed to have a mind of it's own and finally, we arrived back, everything resolved and nothing to complain about. It's funny how even if you're in paradise, you can catch yourself whining or complaining about nothing to just fill the time and find some imperfection. Try and see if you can have a day of not complaining about anything, just catch yourself before you do, and see how you feel afterwards - it's one of my goals.

Our adventure day on our mystery island

A new group of mates washed in and out with the tide, lovely E returned home to the Isle of White after a few blissful days. One of my favourite moments was on that perfectly moonlit night, a group of us all went swimming in the still shallows of that perfect Otress ocean, mouths hanging and eyes glistening as we watched the lightening storm miles away, flashes of light filling the sky every 5 - 10 seconds as I rocked with J's arms wrapped tightly around me. The girls were supposed to leave a day after E, but like everyone caught in the Otress spell (and a few financial mishaps), they thankfully prolonged their trip. W'W, a friend we'd made a few weeks before, surprisingly returned also, and now has a job on one of the nearby beautiful islands 'Koh Ta Kiev'; his excitement manifested itself in trying to convince all of us to move there and enjoy the benefits of his job with him 'free kayaking, return trips to the island, snorkelling, fishing, food and weed' we could recite the list a hundred times over, a few more days of hearing about it, and his ability to speak would've been severely impaired by one of us.

DC's BBQ

We visited Koh Ta Kiev on 'DC Tours', run by a mate in Otress who takes you island hopping to laze around on beaches, munch down on a BBQ of fresh seafood and giant clams, followed by spear fishing, cliff jumping (off a natural rock that looks unbelievably identical to an elephant - hence the name elephant rock) and lots of snorkelling. The Seagarden crew was on-board and we shared many laughs, fumes and games of frisbee before jumping off the boat and beginning our evening shift. The next day the weather changed and the clouds blew over, whenever a storm blows in, it's always an interesting time. The animals react, the attitude changes and the restaurant gets emptier. We were sitting on the big comfy chairs talking about going into town before the thunder began to rumble; we jumped up, got onto our bike and zoomed off down the road to get there before the storm could catch us. We were running from the rain, along with the other bikes on the road, I looked up to see swallows struggling against the wind, 50 shades of grey were visible in the clouds above it. We made it inside just as it began to pour and pour and pour - cleansing the town of its stagnant humidity.

My tummy's rumbling and my brain's rewinding back to the few days that the tummy bugs took over. At our restaurant we had guests running to and from the bathroom, people in the guest house opposite us, to our left and down the road, were all suffering similar illnesses. One man was rushed off to the hospital with severe gastritis and another bused back to Phnom Pen with a similar illness. As everyone was in such close proximity, eating the same foods and sharing the same J's, we all got each others lurgies. The thing about being sick in the tropics, is half the time you don't know what it is or how you got it. It could've been the water, the puppies, the food, the air - you've just gotta let it ride and hope it's nothing serious.. being sick all the time gets tiring though and the Otress chapter was coming to a close.

W'W rescuing the J from between the floorboards

We'd made a date to leave and J was going to head to Siem Reap for a week, but plans changed and Otress seemed a better option, the heat's always easier to deal with on the beach. We'd left our jobs at Seagarden and the deal had changed from 'free food & accom' to just 'free food' - not really worth it for a 7 hour shift. So sunshine became both our home and J's work - causing tension between both places as they were situated right next to each other. A sad way to end such a great streak, but hugs were shared all round on the last day, so at least the last note was somewhat sweet. The puppies ran to me as I said goodbye, they were so hard to leave, in just a few weeks they'd grown so big and developed such personalities - but every good thing comes to an end. Our last time at Topcat was lavish, chocolate, happy herb pizzas and lots of movies. We all sweat buckets sitting at 'We One Cafe', drinking ice coffees and zoning out as we attempted to put our attention into a card game. The girls had an amazing fresh pizza at Papa Pippos, our neighbouring restaurant, followed by a refreshing passion fruit sorbet. I Inhaled my last dinner -- a stodgy burger and chips, and W'W lifted the mood by performing the heroic act of the night, rescuing the J from between the floorboards with chopsticks - making the Chinese prouder than ever. I'd ticked everything off my bucket list, I could now drive the bike alone! My last drive back from town was a bit scary, helmetless and a bit lost I somehow made it home, J. breathing in a sigh of relief when I returned intact. We'd had our last 'Toga' party and I'd done my last walk down to Otress 2 to shell hunt with lovely L from mushroom point. On my last day the clouds were grey and I prayed that a storm would come, and so it did. It was so exciting sitting in the unusually rough ocean, feeling the force of the wind knocking you back while the waves pushed you forward, the big bang that needed to happen.  I'd bought a $7 phone to call J when I got off the sleeper bus, of course an hour in, it ran out of battery. I lay there looking down at my beautiful crystal necklace, designed by a mate who replaced us at S.G, she was constantly weaving and sewing her beautiful pieces of shell, bone, wood and crystal depending on what the customers ordered. But my eyes began to droop as the val kicked in and luckily no one sat next to be so the double bed was used to its fullest as i stretched out and fell asleep for the entire 12 hour bus ride.

Coconut man

Before I started travelling I envisioned myself getting through libraries of book (ok that's a slight exaggeration, but a fair few), yet unless you make your time available for it, it just gets eaten up by a million other things. I have managed to finish 'Freakonomics', a fantastic read that I never thought I'd enjoy, given that I don't find economics a particularly fascinating subject; yet the way Steven D. Levitt writes, is so applicable to what's going on today (the chapter on 'why most drug dealers still live with their mums' is definitely the most interesting!) I've just started the 933pg autobiography 'Shantaram' by Gregory Roberts. A man who was a criminal and a junkie, yet he escaped from one of the top security prisons in Aus by 'jumping over the wall', flew to Mumbai, joined the mafia, and took part in lots of other mind boggling escapades - it's a long but fascinating read.

The end of a beautiful day

So I've said goodbye to the crystal waters of Otress; the same waters that's current pulled the 3 girls out to sea when they attempted to swim to the island a few nights ago, arriving back hours later on a fishing boat, to a worried crowd. But more beautiful and mysterious seas are to come in Thailand. And for now, I'm embracing this break in the middle of the madness. The next post will be full of the teachings that will take place over the next few days, with our resident magician/ hypnotist, a chiropractor, a psychologist, a yogi, an actor, a director and so many others that are here to share what they know. The flower girl's tuning into her flower girl self and is soo excited!


Recipe of the day: Vegan pumpkin soup 
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/soupsstewsandchili/r/pumpcoconutsoup.htm

Stuck in Snooky

Mm

Typing feels strange after not having sat at a computer for two weeks or so.. it’s funny how things like writing or typing start to feel strange when the habit’s taken away. Since my last post a lot has happened. We’ve found a place to live for a while, managed to land ourselves jobs at a beach-side bar/ guesthouse, discovered a lovely new community of people, aand have had our motorbike stolen, after 3 days. But before Snookyville takes off, we began Cambodia in Pnom Penh, the capital city.

Witnessing the dramatic fire in Pnom Penh..

We’d left Laos in a rush, a groggy head from a funny night out (the poem describes it sufficiently), a long bus ride and a valium later we arrived, 4 hours late, in Pnom Penh. It was funny going through immigration and walked across ‘no mans land’, a huge strip of land between Cambodia and Laos, that no one owns, walking across it was liberating. On the last couple of hours of our bus journey the people on our bus were split in half, those going to Siem Reap were told they’d have to wait another few hours before their bus was due to arrive – getting anywhere in the dark isn’t fun, the hassle of tuk tuk drivers, finding a hostel, settling down. We sighed in relief that we were leaving first.

Bodhi Villa, Kampot

Having a good shower in a cement-room with a big bed was such a luxury. Not having to worry about cockroaches scuttling over your toes or popping up under the sheets. We had dinner with our new mates, newly wed psytrance DJ’s from Burmingham A and T. We all inhaled the slowness of P.P and crashed out after a long day of travelling. The next day the others went off to the Killing Fields and S21 but I’d felt once was enough, so went to run a few errands, getting lost in the gridded map of the city to hunt down the Cambodian Red Cross, effort. That night we all needed a bit of lightening up, so we checked out the night life; from a yummy dinner, to a good drink to a fancy club (Pontoon, recommended by lonely planet ;) ) we came out of it giggling but slightly disturbed. The amount of prostitutes everywhere is shocking, most of them are so young and pretty you wouldn’t think it, until she crawls slowly up an old white man’s knee and proceeds to chat him up. After a conversation that neither understand he pays the bill, takes her hand and drives away casually, with her on the back of his motorbike. The ‘madame’ of them all walked around, giving sunflower seeds to the girls that then gave them to the child beggars running around. It was twisted how she looked after the scene yet it was the wrong one to be in. She strolled over, massaged J’s head for $1, offered him a prostitute and after a polite refusal, walked away with a smile. We wondered over to Pontoon, bodyguards lined the corridor, checking for drugs, weapons and ‘pregnant women’, hm. The drinks were expensive, old men and young girls swarmed, and the visuals on the wall kept swirling. The vibe was strange and yawns contagious so we headed home.
The next morning an odd series of events took place, on arrival at a nearby temple, J and I’s heads floated and our eyes gazed at the carvings in the rock. We were lead by an old Cambodian man into a little shrine room containing various Buddha’s and paintings on the wall. Some still had their plastic wrappers on which confused me a little. He began passing us incense, spraying water on our hands and muttering silent prayers, as though a ritual had begun. The heat rose in the little shrine and the smell of the incense made us light headed. It all ended and then the twist came, he motioned over to the Buddha’s hands for money. I smirked and put a note into the charity box. Hoping it wasn’t a lie to live up to the rare nickname ‘Scambodia’, we wandered away, dazed by what had just happened. We walked along the river, ate noodles and corn, drank ice coffee in plastic bags and watched the most bizarre ‘live aerobics’ right next to the road. We managed to find a riverside bar and play a game on the fancy pool table with the shiny balls, our Canadian couple met us for a Mexican dinner and it all ended sprawled on a sofa, after attempting to explain (with diagrams), what 1 scoop of chocolate and 1 scoop of vanilla ice cream meant. It was finally ‘understood’ and of course dessert was served, 2 scoops vanilla, haha we tried.

Sihanoukville

The next day we journeyed through busy, hot markets and attempted to find the yoga centre that was closed. Tarantula’s and crickets were being sold by the bag, with a pinch of salt and a dash of lime. Fruits were abundant and women lounged next to their stalls in hammocks strung around wooden beams. We had to get back to the guesthouse to move rooms, it felt like constantly moving house. We laughed at the prospect of being together for a few months, yet already moving houses in different countries within that time. We walked passed the big ‘$2 English Breakfast! Free Coffee/ Tea’ sign, what a good find. We decided we didn’t want to get stuck in one place for too long, it’s so easy to do when travelling, the need for stability. So we bought a bus ticket to Kampot to hit up ‘Bokor National Park’ and stay at an old time favorite ‘Bodhi Villa’, we were splitting a gorgeous double room adorned with fairy lights, for $2.50 each p/n. We spent the day lounging in the pool before catching our bus. Within that time we witnessed a distressing scene between a drunk Frenchman and the manager of the guesthouse. All you could really see was him shouting and swearing as they calmly told him what he’d done wrong. It was embarrassing to see that as another foreigner, it only takes a few cases to affect the image of the masses. The bus ride was cramped and long, the hot air blowing in through the windows was cooler and more efficient than the AC’s. Luckily Angry Birds was the one thing that worked on our new (broken) tablet. We arrived 4 or more hours late as expected, and settled in to the relaxed vibes. We entered into a conversation at one point in the night, with a ‘local dealer’ from East London. He told us stories of his 10 years in jail, his new start and ironically, his flower business back home that funds his travels. He began speaking to us as a ‘Connoisseur of Marijuana’, describing treatments, life-spans, effects, ladidadida. I zoned out and wandered off until realizing it was time for bed.

Kampot’s a beautiful little French Colonial Town, with a newly built, pristine highroad that leads directly to Bokor National Park. We’d decided to rent a bike for the day, the prospect of having a smooth road beneath us seemed inviting and the 2 hour ride was worth every minute. J was ill before the ride, the wake-up alarm ‘Say My Name’ was stuck in my head and it was hot. But the moment we got going everything was better. Pink, pungent  Bouganvillier lined the perfect road and the bends in the road were fun to ride. We thought we were heading off to trek past tigers and jungle, but our experience was rather surprising. We stopped off at huge water towers, a few old buildings that had been destroyed with graffiti and an ‘old casino’ over looking an expansive view of dense forest, sea and sky.  We meditated on specific spots and created visuals in the trees. A brand new Casino had just been built a few hundred metres away, so we thought we’d check out our luck on a few arcade games, for 10 minutes or so? That 10 minutes turned into hours, as the rain began pouring down and we realized we couldn’t ride our soaking bikes, so would just have to stay. After losing $5 to 3 games and not understanding why, I walked away from gambling and we ordered some of their extortionately priced food. We looked around and laughed. It was such a tacky place, purple velvet, a million patterns on every surface, over-dressed women and men, fancy dining room but not fancy food, the two best adjectives to destroy it would be fancy but fake. We entertained ourselves by running through the dark corridors of this huge casino, being watched at every turn by one of the many staff in the vicinity. A funny Italian man with no shoes ran up to us, obviously stuck in the same situation, jabbering on before running off again to have a 5 minute massage for $1. The rain finally eased and we shivered back down the slippery road to check out the local zoo, the sun was setting so we chose to skip it, raising our eyebrows as our bike slowed down halfway back from the zoo. We rolled ourselves over to a little wooden house, filled up our fuel tank and kept going, off to ‘The Rusty Keyhole’ for the ‘Best Ribs in Cambodia Award 2 years running’. We drove back along the bridge, with the river flowing away from us, and the multicolored collection of clouds spanning the sky. A few games of checkers and pool (with a blunt pool cue) later we were battling the mosquito’s out of our net and falling asleep.

Jack being massaged in P.P by the madame

The next morning a routine was established, breakfast, a swim in the lake, a meditation, a spliff. We sat over the river on a few planks of floating wood that had a table and a rubber ring on it to sit and eat breakfast. We booked our ticket to Sihanoukville and got in another hot, sweaty bus with no air flow, to finally arrive in stunning Snooky. It was full moon party soon so we thought about jumping aboard a boat to Koh Rong where it was all going down.. but the $20 put us off and the sea beckoned.We jumped in, gasping at how warm the water was (33 degrees!), it was more refreshing to stand on the beach. Exploring up and down the coast we bumped into our Canadians again, laughing and settling on drinks that evening.

Another sticky bus ride

The next day was supposed to be ‘Job Hunt day’ but being offered a puff of a strangers spliff (this 64 year old organic farmer from Tennessee that’s cycling around South East Asia alone – what a story!) and making new friends just prioritized itself and the mission got pushed back another day. The following morning productivity kicked in and we booked a boat cruise for $10 with our new mates, and got jobs (with game faces on). The full moon party was that evening so we hopped between a live house DJ on our beach to the crazy, greasy, grime of Serendipity – the party beach. We had $2 fish n chips with another couple outside the notoriously cheap hostel ‘Utopia’, and then we bumped into just about everyone who’d come this route – Luang Prabang, Vang vieng and the 4000 island crew. We raved all night on the beach and then jumped on a bike to get home. Halfway through our journey the driver freaks out and the tuk-tuk in front of us stops. Around us are hundreds of little shiny metal thumbtacks thrown across the road to burst tires (usually a ploy for mugging people) so I stuffed my money and camera down my shorts and walked over to the tuk-tuk with J that was taking us back instead – we arrived safe and sound.. :p We’d danced with prostitutes, played pool with lady boys and joked with drug dealers, it was all happening in Serendipity.

The ridiculous New Casino

The boat cruise was a good idea to just do something, it was fun seeing cheetah fish and mermaiding around the ropes, it was nice to have a few girls on the scene for a change. The best thing about travelling is meeting up with friends and doing things doesn’t require planning or stress. It either happens or it doesn’t – and it usually does. The Boat rocked over little waves in the turquoise ocean, the colors here couldn’t be any more beautiful. Emerald wooden boats over blue waters, green palm trees and fresh coconuts. It’s like Google images topped off with the odd HD sunset, the colour scheme going from dark purple to light orange/ pink across the sky. Various difficulties do exist in paradise, lighting anything on the beach (the wind is not your friend), the (sometimes) angry dogs, the sand flies, rubbish (that comes in the form of nasty fishing hooks, the odd syringe and needle and plastic bags – mostly due to the fisherman chucking out their waste) and power cuts (when the air’s still and the fan isn’t working in bed, eek!) but besides that we’re in our element here. You barely need any clothes or technology, the people we live and work with are lovely, our room’s great, the sand squeeks, our job’s social and the rest of our day is appreciated instead of wasted. The only dramas that have happened here so far is the other huge hostel on Serendipity 'Monkey Republic' being burnt down (burning the 3 adjacent shops in the process) and our motorbike being stolen, so that’ll be $650 dollars to replace..

There’s a Saturday night market here, where live music (didgeridoo’s, latin singers, tribal drummers etc) play, food, jewels and clothes are sold from little stalls and the bar’s in the corner. Everyone sat on straw mats, watched the live music and inhaled the whisps of night air. A& T had just been in a head on Tuk-Tuk collision so were a bit shaken up, on our ride back we had 7 of us squashed in, and their expressions weren’t exactly at ease. The next night at the psytrance rave they let loose a little and sat on the beach watching the lightening storm move across the sky with an open mind and crazy visuals, while I crashed out in our little room with a sore tummy. 

TopCat!

Night swimming here is incredible here, as the  bio luminescent plankton are out. They glow because of a chemical reaction 'chemiluminescents' that is caused because of an oxidation reaction with the 'luciferins' that create the glow - it's magical. We waded through the water with glowing bubbles appearing as we moved. You could make dragon balls, swords and swirly shapes, swimming underwater was like being in space watching a million stars run past you.. the vaist starry sky above us reflecting the vision. The light only travelled a short distance but other people were experiencing the wander too, so all that could be seen was a dark head floating eerily above the water. The paranoia of unknown sea creatures popping up around us kicked in, so we jumped out of our transfixed gaze and onto land. A & T were cozy for their last night in a mushroom  (bungalow’s shaped like shrooms) at ‘mushroom point’ and we headed back to our place. Work was interesting the next day, meeting a man that works with wormwood, a restricted product as of 2000, to brew his own absinthe and go around selling it to bars/ people in the area. He told us about it’s psychoactive and tummy healing properties. He was a character, tall and lanky with tattoo’s, dark clothes and long black hair, but he knew how to market his product! Our bar happily bought a bottle. We later ran into our old French family member S and our Vang Vieng boys D & T, catching up on the last few weeks of everyone’s adventures. Showing him the ropes and our favorite hang out spots, dodging cockroaches on the sofa and passing out in a hammock... we had a good evening.

A viewpoint in Kampot

On our day off we rented a bike and headed into town, panicking as the debit card was refused in all machines and realizing I was trying to use one that I’d cancelled already. Duh. So we drove back and forth, got money out eventually, explored the market, had a coconut sticky rice cake, drank a cold ice coffee, did a bit of shopping and went to ‘TopCat Cinema’s’. An incredible creation in which you pay $4 to have a private room with a flat screen TV and a huge bed, the biggest selection of movies, series, documentaries or play station games. Order your own pizza, crisps or drinks and settle down for hours. We bought a bottle of wine, smoked a J and watched ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ and ‘The Truman Show’ happily until our time was up. We enjoyed the AC, the cushions and the wine, appreciating the clean environment. We’ve got in with our bosses, made some good new connections,explored the town and are completely in love. I don’t know how we’ll ever leave, we're in Stuckville, but no one's complaining..

Recipe of the day: Chicken Amok

http://www.bigoven.com/recipe/250266/chicken-amok

Cambodian romance

Colourful juices

'Air Asia flight AK1473 is ready to board, please proceed to the departure gates', the ladies voice echoes across the airport (funny how it's usually a woman's voice - but that can be saved for another post) we sit, in a weird delusional/ buzzed state, after an early start and a large coffee. I can't believe our Christmas holiday is over already. But I don't feel that usual dread of having to go back to work or school, because the adventures just keep on rolling - much to the envy of the three other members of my family, hehe. So our trip - this is going to be a long one, but I'll try to keep it as concise as possible. .

The streets of P.P

As everyone knows the cheapest flights are usually at the most difficult hours, so we board our flight from Kuala Lumpur to Phnom Pen at 4am,  everyone appearing slightly bedraggled and zombie-like, I'm getting used to this look. This was mum and I's second trip to Cambodia, the first was the beginning of a love affair, the second is when the romance really kicked off. We lead the way as soon as we got to the airport, feeling fairly empowered as we grinned with the knowledge of the prices to pay and the places to go - we took the boys to our favourite little boutiquey cafe for a yummy brunch, introducing them to a beautiful Cambodian morning. Fresh beetroot, carrot, ginger and apple juices arrived, the colours vibrant against the white table cloth. The food followed suit, with a light start of soups, salads, fish and sweet potato rosti's. There was plenty of time for a taste of Khmer so a spot of western didn't seem a crime.  After dumping our stuff in the room, the family split according to sexes, the boys dossed in front of the TV, grinning from ear to ear as they melted contently into their beds, and us girls went to our favourite, and very dangerous shop Ambre, for an indulgent spree. We arrived back about  4 hours later, sweaty and tired but refreshed after a king coconut break, opening the door, the boys lay in exactly the same position we'd left them in, I smiled.

Spiders straight from the kitchen
eek!

My mind roamed free as I inhaled a few flower girl fumes and we went to a beautiful local Khmer restaurant that gave it's profits to street orphans - the heart put into the food was evident as we munched down on masaman curry, Asian greens and so much more. We fell asleep satiated and happy to be there. The next morning we made our way to Kep, a little seaside town near Kampot where the French influence is large with the beautiful architecture and French boutiques. We had to give the boys a taste of the notorious Kampot pepper crab, a meal where you remain totally present as you use your fingers to delicately discover the fresh meat underneath the hard, red shell. Your eyes widening as you crunch down on a fresh, green piece of Kampot pepper, little yelps coming out from everyone in turn as a prick from a claw or leg was felt. It's funny being back in Asia, and having to slow down from the fast paced London vibe. Getting used to slower service at restaurants and testing your patience as the orders repeatedly come back wrong or different to what you expected - laughing about it's the easiest way out, compared to the simmering anger that my brother was experiencing opposite me. We all slumped down onto the round, comfy deck chairs by the pool for an afternoon siesta. I awoke to see everyone snoozing around me, and slid quietly into the water. The clouds were positioned in such a way that only a triangular shaped slither allowed you to see the glow of the setting sun. As it lowered it looked like the eye of an elephant, but warm, rich and knowing - a serene ending to a full-on day.

Cooking Kampot crabs

Lilo action

After us girls found a happy place with our morning yoga, we ventured to 'rabbit island', walking away from the crowds to find a tranquil, empty area on the white, sandy beach. I took off my dress and lathered myself in sun cream  laughing at mum's comment towards me "oh darling you're a beautiful colour, ivory almost" - secretly praying  that the ivory would shift up on the colour scale post-Cambodia. I swam out and for hours I felt like a child again, rolling around, making weird shapes and thinking weird things, with no one but the fish to judge you or tell you what's wrong or right. I lay floating above the turquoise water, my head half submerged - underneath the surface it always amazes me that there's a whole other world, the distant sounds of boats, fish pecking on coral or swishing through the water as their way of making their presence known. And then above water you have the birds, the people, the wind, cicada's and crickets screaming their tunes.  The sun zapped our energy and our water so we went in search of something yummy. Starting off with fresh juicy watermelons, green papaya salad followed, king coconut and a variety of grilled seafood and Cambodian goodness - everything coming to a 'hefty' sum of $10 - I love it here.

Rabbit island

New years eve was never so relaxed, we played cards, we ate amazing food, restaurant hopping for tastes of it all and sipping on cocktails before snuggling up in bed. I walked out onto our veranda and lit my last cigarette of 2012, reflecting on the craziest year of my life and wondering what 2013 would hold. The next morning I felt utterly grateful for the clear head and the intact memories of the night before, a first for a long time. My dad was quick to slip into his seargent major role and hurry us all into the taxi to get to the beach in good time. So we gulped down our breakfast - scrambled eggs with the unesacary addition of a mountain of MSG, and we were finally off to Otres beach, (what Phuket was 20 years ago - basic and beautiful).

Coconuts

To entertain the young 'un in the car we played 'guess what I'm thinking', the game being constantly interrupted by fits of laughter as the realization of the ADD and 'out of it-ness' of every member of our family became increasingly apparant. 'Is it a metal?' 'Yes' 'Is it a parakeet ' ..  'Really?'.. The tyres hit bumpy ground as we veered off the road towards our little Robinson Crusoe beach huts. The picturesque Google image of white sandy beaches, tanned tourists and sparkling seas greeted us. Driving passed 'happy herb pizza' and 'mushroom point' made me giggle.

A bit of sibling bondage during a
civilized massage

I always discuss with friends how school zaps a lot of pleasure out of reading because so much text is unwillingly forced down our throats. But not having school, and taking the time to get into a good book is so worth it. This holiday I excitedly raced through 3, 'Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change' by Pema Chodron- An easy and concise read that teaches you the principles of Buddhism in a very relate-able manner - an appropriate title given my fear of instability that's now been thankfully lifted for the time being, a quote that I love is "Chaos should be regarded as extremely good news" - Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche (it explains why in the book). It taught me my most recent spiritual discovery, almost a form of meditation that can help in the most trying times - 'Tonglen' that I've been practising a lot lately. It's a Tibetan word meaning 'sending and receiving , look it up if you're interested, but the four basic steps are 1) to pause, 2) to visualize, feel your inhale as being heavy and your exhale being light, 3) breathing in the pain, and breathing out the relief and 4) expanding the situation to all those feeling the same way.

Cocktails

 The other two books weren't quite as spiritually enlightening, but sexually - haha E.L James does soft porn well. I was given the book as a slight joke, and I rolled my eyes at the thought of reading it, but after the first 3 pages I was hooked, and finished 2 books out of the 3 in two days. 'Fifty Shades of Grey' - the ultimate girly book. Most of my imagination from my childhood comes from books, and that's what makes them magic; your imagination can go so much further than any special affects created on a screen. It's sad how we, well I, mindlessly sit in front of the TV so much more often than fully engrossing myself in a book. Falling in love with a character, or a certain Mr. Grey, and closing the book with tears streaming down my face just because of a few words printed on a page - the magic that writing can do. I put the book down and swung side to side in our hammock, with a little spliff and cold soda water with a slice of lime.

Asian greenery

Our hut

The spliff didn't turn out to be such a good idea, we sat at the table for dinner and our lovely Scottish waiter Andrew approached our table for our order. 'Patrick and the 3 J's what would you like", everyone made their requests and the attention was shifted to me, causing a 5 minute, non-stop outburst of laughter. You know those moments when there's nothing to laugh about but you just can't stop yourself? And the realization that nothing's funny makes you laugh even more? Luckily it was slightly contagious and mum started as well - I didn't manage to make my order so mum thankfully made it for me. Andrew walked away smirking, and the boys blushed beetroot red, lowering their heads down on the table, 'I'm so embarrassed Jake' was all dad could say, and they looked at each other and shook their heads as our laughs slowly died down. The next few days were lazy as everyone wound down and got into their groove, with no game consoles or computers in reach. Yoga and sea swims for exercise and a little kayak down the nearby lagoon to see the bird life and the mangroves.. expecting to find ourselves in a peaceful paradise we ended up in a sewage dump, laughing and frantically trying to turn around without splashing the water everywhere, it was a funny site. The girls on one kayak, rowing in-sync and the boys on another, the dynamic was hilarious, mum constantly chirping in with 'pull up from your naval point, straight backs guys! open your heart centre' and Jake's response 'shut-up mum my back's fine!' Dad motored along in their kayak as my brother sat back proving to be as useful as a wet paper bag as he picked up on the sergeant major vibe,  shouting orders at everyone to row faster - we ended up tossing him out when we reached the sea.

A smile

In psychology you learn about 'in-groups' and 'out-groups', it's so fun being back with the family as the dynamic shifted between girls vs. boys to parents vs. kids to father and daughter vs. mother and son - it was endless and all such a light hearted laugh. Our taxi ride back to Phnom Pen was the cherry on top as we battled to understand the taxi driver who refused to speak to us, apart from his occasional phone conversations in which everyone in the car went into a shocked silence as he screamed in Khmer to whoever was on the other side of the line. We arrived at our hotel 2 hours late, having gone slightly crazy with cabin-fever, to crash out on soft white pillows as we enjoyed a final spot of luxury, what a happy ending. I look down at my arm, I'm not quite 50 shades darker but it's better than ivory at least  'Please turn off all electrical devices as we prepare for take-off', time to go!


Recipe of the day: Cha Traop Dot (pork and eggplant)

http://www.food.com/recipe/cha-traop-dot-cambodian-eggplant-pork-stir-fry-228764

Rounding up Cambodia

Piles of dried shrimp (Ha-gow in Cantonese)

Grilled chicken on skewers

Fresh King Coconuts

So from temples to tummy aches we spent the day resting in bodhi villa, i lay on the bed listening to Gilles peterson's podcast with the famous reggae DJ Roddigan, being lulled to sleep by the sounds of Peter Tosh and Bob Marley. I'd decided to go on a coconut fast but the hunger pangs kept coming, come evening i'd given up and ordered a delicious plate of fresh veg. hummous and crispy baguette (which i fairly shared with mum). For pudding we had hot banana's in sago and coconut milk - it soothed my tummy and after a lovely chat with one of the long-term bartenders we went to sleep soundly. Actually the chat was very interesting - he spoke of leaving his mother for 10 years at 15 years old to go and find work and a more satisfying (financially) lifestyle - his reason for not going back to his mum was he couldn't keep intouch as she doesn't have a phone, internet and is illiterate (no letters)... He knew whereabouts his house was but could never remember the address - so after 10 years of the dissapearance of one of her 5 sons (considered a small amount of kids for a local cambodian family), she was stunned into silence on his return. Influenced majorly by his boss (a very cool, chill Aus. who spends his day running the hippie guest house, swimming in the Mekong, and smoking spliffs) he's off to Australia to see what he can find there. I couldn't help thinking the road ahead of him involved a lot more rough edges than he could foresee but I sent positive vibes for him.

Fresh crabs in a basket

The natural light of the sun streamed through the open space lying infront of our bed above the river, and we woke - did our regular yoga routine, and had a scrumtious breakfast of muesli, yogurt and fruit on the dock with our feet dangling into the Mekong. The day before we'd gone on a little bike-ride through Kampot - it wasn't as quaint as we'd expected, but there were some beautiful touches that could be seen in the French quarter, the elaborate designes on the eaves of the buildings, the sweet french cafe's etc. It was a Friday, and a big night was planned at the Bodhi Villa due to the departure of their long-term bartender. We decided if we had to wake up the following day at 6am to get our bus to Phnom Penh, a little shut-eye would go a long way. So we packed up and waved goodbye to the 60's, rainforest style, hippie California guest house - those adjectives seem most suitable. We moved everything (again.) to Bokor mountain guest house in the heart of Kampot town - the room smelt a little and the view wasn't great but there was TV, wifi, AC, our OWN bathroom and soft beds so we had no complaints. However when the electricity chose to only burn out in our room - we got upgraded to the room opposite which smelt nice and had a nice view, so we were sorted! 

Kampot pepper and a weird tasting wormy sea creatue

The ladies waiting to bring in the Crab

A woman preping crabs

We took a day-trip with our sweet-faced tuk-tuk driver Bunty (like bounty the chocolate!) to Kep, a close sea-side village. We were planning on hopping on the ferry to Rabbit Island that was half an hour away but the sky looked ominous and we decided against it. Kep proved to be more interesting than we'd thought - it's a village that wasn't really looked after at all, the waves lap against the unnatural sand that was imported from Suhanouk-ville years and years ago to keep up appearances of 'a beach'. The 'grub' market as Bunty kept saying didn't sound too appealing but despite our protests he took us there. it turned out to be a crab market, the famous kampot crabs! We watched the strong women reel in the crab pots as everyone steamed around grabbing at the bubbling blue and red live crabs that were stacked ontop of each other. Metres away other crabs were being boiled, and behind them fresh kampot pepper was being sold. We bought bags of the delicious stuff. We decided we had to try the famous kampot pepper crab, so for lunch we tucked in - what i love about eating crab is how present you are forced to be with your food, sucking, cracking, digging - it's such a process for such little flesh but when a really nice piece is found it's  more than worth it (i discovered a really amazing piece of crab-leg meat is priceless!)

A chicken in a bag

We looked around at the 'old palace' and 'old buildings' that were all only 100 years old, just abandoned, ugly houses really which squatters had taken over. 

We dawdled around in the room, packing, checking our emails, the usual. Then we got a little peckish - our bellies were still bloated (I soon discovered bowel movements is one of the first conversation most travellers have as everyone seems to experience either constipation or the runs - neither being particularly pleasant.)

We went back to the guesthouse we were originally going to stay at, Rikitikitavi - and ordered yogurt, chicken wraps and a wonton dish. With fresh apple pie and vanilla ice cream for pud! The spliff before dinner just made the food sparkle and burst in my mouth.The plan to watch a movie slightly failed and we crashed out comfortably. 

Fresh Vs. Cooked crabs :o

The morning after our Kep adventure, which we truly loved despite the grey clouds (it brightened up at times), we boarded our 7am bus. The bus we'd chosen to take so early because it would take the 'fast route' ended up arriving just after 12. Atleast we stopped on the way! Munching on boiled eggs with kampot pepper, and a fresh king coconut, we had no complaints. Unfortunately the public toilets aren't as well-kept as Hong Kong, but a toilet's a toilet - and when you're sitting for 3 hours on a bus bursting to go, anything will suffice.

We arrive in Pnom Penh, dump our stuff at our rather clubby hotel 'Number 9' (the manager looked like a pimp in a suit coming to greet us, lights flashed all round and the bartender was pacing back and forth trying to make eye contact and seduce you into buying a 'buy one get one free cocktail!') and we stretched into our body glove (yoga time!) I love that yoga orientates you, it brings you back and calms you down amidst whatever chaos exists at the time.

Notorious Kampot pepper crab

We shared a little spliff by the tiny pool on the third floor, overlooking a busy Saturday in Phnom Penh, and headed off to 'quickly collect' our dresses from the beautiful French-Cambodian shop that had totally seduced us ,'Ambre' (definately reccomended!) Our vulnerability got the better of us and we ended up trying on multiple dresses and purchasing 4 more items (To be fair we had saved on transport and accomodation.)

Apple pie and ice cream!

Our girly day wouldn't be intact without a delicious lunch (of peppered tuna, goats cheese salad and ginger/ soya halibut) and a trip to the hair salon! I've been obsessed with having some sort of radical change but went slightly safer (but still shorter!) with a meek side fringe. I had it straightened so combing through my seemingly thin, soft hair was all I did for the next few hours - allowing vanity to get the better of me. We returned to our room, got ready, and headed out to dinner with a yogi-friend of mums, Anna. When she turned up, all i saw was legs and blonde hair, a beautiful tall, blonde Russian woman who had amazingly had a child 6 months ago (you would never tell) pulled up in her big kundalini white four wheel drive. We felt suitable in our new dresses with our hair swishing back and forth. We were being taken to 'China house', i assumed this would mean plastic chairs and chopsticks but it was a very flashy two-floored resteraunt with beautiful modern art and dim orangy lighting. The women at the restaurant were all dressed to dine, long beautiful dresses and elegant hair pieces, we felt under-dressed! We were greeted with a shot of fresh gazpacho - followed by a salad, lamb skewers, lentil and avocado salad and for dessert, apple tempura with vanilla walnut ice cream! AH. They give you a taste of their rich dark hazlenut chocolate to top it all off. The wine slipped down, my temperature rose and the conversation lifted - it was a fabulous night. Sealed with a spliff, mum and I fell into deep sleep in our comfy beds (despite the room smelling like perming solution) for our last night in Phnom Penh.

Recipe of the day: Kampot black pepper crab

http://thehungrycyclist.com/kampot-pepper-crab-cambodia/