Tributes: The Last Post - Some Randomness

(by Susan)

As a last hurrah, instead of being driven by the story, this time we're taking you through a journey of images that you haven't seen yet. While travelling, there were things we saw (and managed to capture) that were not necessarily relevant to the particular stories we were telling.  So now, in this last post, come along with us in a retrospective of some of those parts of the trip.  Be aware too, that we've withheld most of the very many shots of toilets that we met along the way.  Occasionally, we can be kind!

Let's start in Bangkok, since that's where we started.

Razor Wire.

Razor Wire.  This was the first time on this trip that we'd seen it.  The wire was placed in front of a government building that we'd walked past on the way home from dinner one night.  It was reasonably close to the location of a disused protest site, so that'll be why it was there.  In the end, we found razor wire wasn't an uncommon site.

Detail on one of the Temples

We enjoyed the differences between the temples, the exploration of the art produced by different, unheralded, teams of artists.  The illustration above is from Wat Arun which was gloriously decorated with millions of pieces of ceramic - some of it pieces, some of it whole plates.  The colour, design, and overall impression had been clearly imagined before its construction.  The impression in nearly all the temples we went to was overwhelming.  How does a person handle the colour, the opulence, the splendour of the temple when you live in the everyday, the routine, the greyness that is the world of the dusty street and shopfront?

The Blues Bar

On our first night in Bangkok, we figured that the best way to handle jet lag was to make sure we stayed awake 'til the right time by finding a bar with music.  The thing is, we found the most fabulous blues bar.  The band was brilliant and supplemented with the bloke who brought his saxophone in.  It just made me wonder....  what kind of muso wanders the streets in the hope that he'll find a blues bar with a decent band? Lucky he had his sax tucked away somewhere....

Each morning these lumbering water dragons clambered up onto bamboo pontoons to bask in the sun.

Some flowers

We found that in Bangkok the boats on the river carried good-luck charms as they do everywhere else.  Here, they seem to find the form of garlands of flowers.  And from here we travel to Cambodia, and the business end of the trip.

Tributes

This is the only shot in this post from either the Killing Fields or Tuol Sleng.   There are untold numbers of tributes that have been left around the Killing Fields site - tributes to those who died in these places.  As it happens, the tributes themselves have become beautiful pieces of art, almost as installations.  This shot is from one of the gravesites - so colourful, so poignant.

From the Menu

At our lunch stop on the way to Tbeang Meanchey, we stopped at Kampong Thom.  The above extracts are from the menu that we were offered.  This is where we discovered in an enormous hall, where a couple of 40-seater buses had also arrived for lunch, that tourists weren't that common in these parts.  Lucky I'd arranged long pants.....

Now here's a thing.  It would seem that these hens had the best seat in the house, so to speak.

Try as I might, I still can't think of anything to say about this shot.  The picture says it all....

Ride-on mowers.  With bigger wheels.  And removed handlebar controls.  Amazing pieces of seriously useful equipment

A long shot of those strange, but clearly very useful, lawnmower-motor vehicles

The place is generally flat.  Very flat.  This loo stop allowed us a little concern about the prevalence of water courses.  And land mines.

It seems that razor wire is everywhere - even in quite small towns

Geology.  Luckily Paula had brought a multicoloured map

On the way to the village that we built in it was important to check the geology, just in case.  Of course!

Main drag.

This was taken where Paula and Dermot did their first gem transactions.  Horribly close to the Thai border, and exactly where the advisories advise against.  My overwhelming impression was of the Victorian and Californian gold-rushes in the 1850s.  Wooden verandahs.  Wooden footways.  Unsealed roads.  The satellite dish was probably a little out of the ordinary for that time, though.

Cattle cart

We spent quite a long time on the road, and saw all manner of methods of transport.  These two beasts were amongst the most reluctant...

Part of the forest out of Ban Lung

On our walk through the hills out of Ban Lung, Rory and I went through some gorgeous country.  This was in the hardwood forests.

Our launching spot to the swimming hole just outside of Bang Lung.

This lake was once the mouth of a volcano.  Such a gorgeous location.  And what a fabulous swimming hole.  The water was so warm, really deep, and there was no mud to battle on the way in - we just jumped straight in off the jetty.  Glorious!

Downtown Bang Lung. Solar is clearly part of the plan

The shops have a different sensibility of approach to their window displays to the ones we see in Australia.  It was interesting here, in addition to the generators, pipes, whipper-snippers, lightbulbs, that you could buy a range of sizes of solar panels.  It offered hope, I thought.  Without the infrastructure to connect towns and villages to any sort of national grid, renewables have to be the way to go.

It was so hard to find Guinness - and then we found it in a place where it just was't appropriate to drink it.   It was far too hot!

A stolen pic - not mine.  But it does illustrate the rubber plantations.

We tried to acquaint ourselves with what is going on but it was really quite difficult.  On the surface of it it seems that there is a huge amount of country that's being cultivated by rubber plantations.  Land is being compulsorily acquired to grow it, and who knows whose pockets are being filled.  Another series of displacements it seems.

More razor wire, this time in Kratie.  This guest house must be safe to stay in....

Bamboo scaffolding - it must work, it's in use all over the place

A girl and her friend

Stuff of nightmares

These two photos were taken at a roadside stop that was set up to sell insect snacks.  The girl in the top shot put her hand into her handbag and produced this tarantula.  She then carried it around with her.  She did offer to share the experience, but none of us really wanted to go there....  Paula, though, allowed one to walk on her hand, and her shirt.  She tasted one too.  Nope.  I really didn't wish to even contemplate that.  Yeeeeeuch!

Travelling salespeople were everywhere.  Want to buy it?  Some one will be selling it from a tuk tuk or a motorbike.

Various forms of transport waiting for their drivers.

Rory and his lovely little friend

We were in Siem Reap and on our way to dinner one evening.  We hailed a tuk tuk.  The driver woke his son up to let us in.  After clearly getting well away from me after one glance, he climbed up onto Rory's knee, snuggled in, and curled up on his lap.  And there he stayed for the whole trip.  None of us were taken more by surprise than Rory!  The gorgeous little man then jumped into his Dad's arms when we arrived at our destination, clearly all ready to continue his night's sleep.

Checking the tyre pressure.

Our tuk tuk driver, Mao, stopped to put air into his tyres.  This little guy apparently does the hard yards in the family's business since his father has been incapacitated.  Mao said that he always stops here - it helps to support the lad and his Dad.  There are very many families who just can't afford to send their kids to school as they have to help feed the family.  There's definitely a long way to go in Cambodia.

That's where we'll leave you all for this trip - a few random shots and memories, and a last reminder that there is much to be done.  This is a trip that will stay with us for a long time, and for very may reasons - one of which was that it was wonderful that we were able to share it with Rory.  Spending our time, contributing to the build, and spending some of our money in small businesses is but a tiny contribution.  And we haven't forgotten that many of you supported the work, being generous of spirit, buying materials for the houses, and there'll be some wells too.  We're very thankful for that, and we hope that we've taken you along for at least part of the journey.

Perhaps we'll catch you next time!