Fascinating Cambodia

This time, we (I and my family) spent the Christmas/New Year holidays in Cambodia. The trip was well worth it. It is a country so full of culture. There is a heavy influence of Hinduism and Buddhism in Cambodia (the land of Khmer).  The Indian epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata are inscribed and depicted in many old temples here including Angkor Wat.

There was so much of Khmer culture to soak in. We went to Phnom Penh first and Siem Reap next. Keeping Siem Reap as the base, we explored places around such as Angkor Wat, Bantey Srei, Tonle Sap. The majestic Angkor Wat is a an imposing structure. It is arguably the largest temple in the world.

Coming from India, it was easy for us to relate to the stories carved or inscribed in the temple stones and walls. In fact, we were called upon by our guide to explain some stories (from the epics and Hinduism) to the rest of the tourist group, which we gladly did to the best of our knowledge.

We found the Khmer people to be so polite, friendly, pleasing, and hospitable. We never felt, anyone we interacted with was taking us for a ride.

A few striking observations that I had:

Tuk-tuks are ubiquitous in Cambodia. A tuk-tuk is very much like the "auto rickshaw" in India. A tuk-tuk is a three-wheeler which provides seating for 4 people. It is a 2-wheeler motor vehicle made taller and expanded to accommodate 4 passengers by having one wheel in the front and two wheels in the back. It is a very inexpensive way of going around the city or towns. To travel say 2 kilometers, you would need to pay something like USD 2 to 3. They are easy to hire and available anytime.

If it is 4 wheeler (cars, SUVs etc.), then it is Toyota everywhere. More than 90% of cars and SUVs that we saw in Cambodia are Toyota. In Cambodia, they consider Toyota to be the most reliable brand for cars. We learned that Cambodians largely import used cars from USA, since that the customs and duty involved is cheaper than that for importing brand new cars. Most of these used cars are Toyota. I saw exclusive shops selling imported cars (the cars are lined up for the customer to come and pick) and I found it hard to spot one that is not a Toyota. Quite a number of them still sported the American registration plates, which I assume,  will be converted to Cambodian registration once the customer buys it.

Vegetarian food (no meat, no fish, no egg) is not easy to find. We being vegetarians had a bit of problem in finding vegetarian food.  We had to explain to the restaurants clearly about no fish, no meat, no fish sauce, no egg in the dish. A few Cambodian dishes (such as coconut milk mixed veg curry with steamed rice) that we tried were really tasty. A few times, we located some good Indian restaurants where it was easy to order vegetarian food.

For local cell phone connection, I bought a USD 5 SIM card from the telecom operator named "Smart", right at the Phnom Penh airport itself. That card gave me about 80 minutes of local calls within Cambodia plus international calls with about 1 GB of internet. That was sufficient to cover our 6 day trip.

Here are some pictures from Cambodia.

Bayon Temple

Angkor Wat

Sunset from Bekhang Hill

 Bantey Srei

 Fishing Village

 Tonle Sap lake

 Cambodian culture village

 Reclining Budha

Pristine Nagarhole forest and Kabini waters...

We are just back refreshed after visiting the Nagarhole national park and staying at Kabini river-side resort. The lap of mother nature is so calming.

Nagarhole is one of the well protected forests in India. On our jungle safaris there, we sighted quite a lot of animals and rare birds. We spotted a ferocious leopard with its fresh kill on top of a tree. Our able guide could read the signals from the gray langurs - they let out a distinct sound which serves as warning to the deer and other vulnerable animal population. Our guide also sensed the smell of the fresh kill. This helped him locate the leopard. The leopard, it seems, carries the kill to the top of the tree to save it its food from the more powerful tiger.

We sighted spotted deer (lots of them), sambar deer, barking deer, Gaur, wild boar, Tusker, Baby Elephant, Gray Langur, Malabar Giant Squirrel, pack of wild dogs, peacocks, peafowls, Jungle fowl, Turtle, Owl, Kingfisher, Wood pecker, Painted Stork, Darting Bird, Gray Heron, Night Heron, Egret, Eagle, Wag tail, Cormorant, Eagle, Pun Sparrow, and Mongoose.

The tiger and the black panther did not bless us. We went on the jeep safari thrice deep into the jungle in the hope of sighting them, but were unlucky.

The air in the forest was so rejuvenating. It is supposed to be a deciduous forest. We took a boat ride on the Kabini river waters in the morning. Calm and clear waters welcomed us as we cruised towards the forest side. On the other side of the river is the Bandipur national park.

Me today, You tomorrow

My grandfather used to mention a proverb which is translated as "It is me today, it will be you tomorrow", taking the example of leaves of a tree. It appears, the new leaves in a tree laugh at the old leaves that are falling. The new leaves do not realize that the same fate is in store for them.

When we are young, we are full of energy and zest. We tend to think this will last for ever. When we look at the old, we sometimes ignore them, we consider them as not useful, we think they are a burden, especially when they cannot take care of themselves. It does not occur to us that we are also aging and we shall also become old one day and the next generation would think of us the same way. If only we accept this and age gracefully.

We need to respect our past generation and be there for them.