Art Talk: April 2010

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Back from my travels and a good time was had by all! Met up in Bangkok with our friends who had gone a week before us and spent that time at the beach. We ended up staying 4 to 5 days in each of the following cities...Bangkok & Chang Mai in Thailand, Phnom Penh & Siem Reap in Cambodia, Luang Prabang in Laos and then Krabbi at the beaches of Thailand. Highlights include Angkor Wat for most amazing temple ruins, Luang Prabang as favorite town...temples, people, Mekong River, great food, lots of monks and easy to bike or walk around, Elephant sanctuary where the animals who used to work in logging now earn their keep taking people on rides through forest, fields and a lake...they are well taken care of and eventually retire there...they eat 150-250 kilos of food a day, floating city outside of Siem Reap where hundreds of people live on boats and barges and work together as a coop to ensure everyone is taken care of, Chang Mai with best tailor to have clothes made and a fab place to stay, called Small Hotel, Krabbi as fun place where we explored on motorcycle, went to 8 different islands for snorkelling, kayaking and sailing. Our last night was in Bangkok where the protests were...we saw them but seemed very organized and controlled. Other facts: it was freaking hot and steamy...always 35' but up to 39 and 40 by the time we left. Bangkok was really our least favorite as it is huge, with lots of traffic which drives way too fast, vendors spilling out onto sidewalks so not a walking city. I sum it up by saying Thailand (the cities at least) seems to exist because of us as most of the life revolves around selling us something whereas in Cambodia and Laos it seems we are just part of their life. Was an amazing experience and I hope you enjoy the following photos....