Angkor Wat ... Rain and Tears

We had the best day at Angkor Wat with Tom and Michelle, who we met on our 5 day retreat. We met some great people on the retreat, many of them looking for meaning or some new purpose in their lives. Tom and Michelle really stood out to us and we spent time chatting with them and getting to know them. They are from the UK and had not long quit their day jobs to commit full-time to their music. Michelle is going to return to the UK and buy a van and live in it while she travels round playing gigs or busking. Tom is going full-time composing and performing. They said they had got to a place where they did not want their music to be secondary any longer and they were committing into it.  They are frightened and excited at the same time. A very courageous and inspiring step. Their story was really interesting and Pete enjoyed interviewing them for his next book on calling. 

Their plan was to go to Angkor Wat and do some filming for the cover of a song they are going to do by Aprhodites Child, Rain and Tears. They are fans of Demis Roussos who was one of the members of the band before he went solo in the 70s and they wanted to do a tribute to him. I remember the song ... some of the best music and musicians came out of the 60s and 70s. Some of you might be familiar with the band and their music. We were going to Angkor Wat on the same day and suggested we meet up. The idea evolved that Pete would be their camera man and do some of their filming. He did a great job and they said that he had the steadiest hands they had ever seen. All the filming was done on Tom's iPhone 5C. We are looking forward to seeing the final cut. While everyone around us was taking photos of Angkor Wat and enjoying the splendour of the ruin, we were focused on picking spots that would make a good film setting for Tom & Michelle's music video.

While Pete was filming Tom & Michelle I was photographing everything else... here are some photos of our day at Angkor Wat with our new friends.

These photos of Tom & Michelle are taken with Pete's iPhone, our camera battery died. I was so mad, but the iPhone did ok.

Behind the scenes. Michelle helping Tom with his hair in preparation for filming.

Action ... Pete lying on the ground filming. They were so pleased with their footage and Pete really got into it and was such a good camera man. He was helping pick locations and suggesting ideas to them, it was a lot of fun. None of our other photos of our day seemed as interesting as the ones we took of Tom and Michelle. They are so talented. We wish them well on their big adventure.

Here is a link to Izzy's Daughter, which is the stage name for Michelle. I do not know how to download the actual clip so I hope you will look these up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-hzPmgf_uE

Here is the link to Art Penley which is the stage name of Tom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKd_Yr9Om6s

Pete was sick with a stomach issue after we spent the day with Tom and Michelle so ended up spending the next few days stuck in our hotel room, which was small and dark. We have done so well with illness on this trip. We have had the odd off day but nothing serious, so Pete having to stay indoors was a first for us. I ventured out on my own with our tuktuk driver to visit the rest of the Angkor sites. I had a great day by myself. I really enjoyed the sites I visited and had a great time wandering round the ruins. It was such a hot day! Here are  photos from my visit to the Angkor sites.

 

A lot of the ruins have moats around them and some of the bridges that we walked across have these kind of statues on either side. They are very impressive and foreboding.   

One of the gateways that had to be walked through. There were lots of tourists in parts of the park. I really admire the stamina of the Chinese. They go for hours. I don't know where they get their energy from, I am guessing they might sleep on their tour buses between destinations.

These buildings are really impressive. The stone work is beautiful, some of these ruins are majestic in scale. I am so glad that we made this one of our destinations even if it was only a brief visit.

I love the stone carvings that we have seen on many of the ruins we have visited. So detailed and delicate.

Beauty can be found anywhere ... even in a dangerous looking swamp.

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The country side round these ruins is jungle. I thought this photo gave a bit of an idea of the landscape and I really loved the dead boat that is sticking out.

There are alot of these trees that are growing round the ruins. They are huge and I am sure they help keep some of the buildings standing by providing support. I think Hobbit here.

While I was wandering round by myself I met a very nice Korean family and we took photos for each other. It was soooo hot! I was much more outgoing with people while I was wandering around these ruins by myself.

Happy face. Some of these carvings look a little intimidating. Think Tomb Raider.

 This tree is huge and they seem to grow over anything!! I love the evening light. These photos are left over from our day with Tom and Michelle.

The original stone steps up to these buildings are very steep and narrow. Almost life threatening walking up or down them. I don't know how they managed to climb them without hurting themselves.  These are not the original steps, they are replacements for tourists so they don't kill themselves.

Our tuktuk driver having some fee time. He was quite young and a real flirt. When a group of young women went past on scooters or bikes he would toot and wave at them. Not all of these women responded with the same enthusiasm as our driver.

I stopped of at a butterfly sanctuary on my way back to our hotel. These two are mating ... I love the design and colour of them. I learnt quite a bit about butterflies here.

Meet David ... I was so relieved to discover him, I was desperate for a haircut and he came to my rescue. I was a little nervous about making an appointment, my haircut in Nepal was a disaster, but I was desperate. David is a professional hairdresser from Brisbane. He moved to Siem Reap with his partner about 3 years ago. He told me that Cambodia sung to him when he came here on holiday and so they quit their jobs and moved here. I am not sure they will ever go back to Aussie. He is such a lovely man. Below his salon is their cafe The Little Red Fox, his partner is a Barista there. They do a lot to support their Cambodian staff by training them in their cafe and also helping them get into university. University fees are about $US300 per year but it is almost impossible for them to get the money. He gave me a great cut and I felt so much better. Pete interviewed him as well and really enjoyed recording his story.

A Sunday evening stroll along the river in Siem Reap. While driving back into Siem Reap from our retreat we stumbled across church so I rented a bike and cycled there. Those of you who have scootered, driven or cycled in Asia will have some idea of the kind of danger I placed myself in. I felt really proud that I had the confidence to venture out on my own here in Siem Reap. We heard that most people who ride scooters in Cambodia do not have drivers licenses which might explain some of the strange riding habits of the scooter riders. 

Pol Pot Regime reminder ... I found this very chilling. The memory of Pol Pot is still very much alive for the people here and land mines from that period are still a serious problem. There are people with lost limbs all over the place. There was a woman at church that had lost both her legs. It is still not advisable to go of the beaten track because of land mines. A man was killed while we were there accidentally digging up a land mine and his wife was badly injured. Neither Pete nor I wanted to visit the killing fields, but Pete would have liked to have attended the War Crimes Tribunal, but it was in the opposite direction to where we wanted to go. 

The sun setting on a Hindu Temple in Siem Reap.

Boys love to do the same thing all over the world ... jumping into the river in Siem Reap These boys were having so much fun. 

This is where all the action and night life happens in Siem Reap ... Pub Street. We have noticed a lot of young travellers from all over the world here and they do seem to do a lot of drinking.