The Weekend - Sept 29-30

I was really tempted to switch from Blogger to Wordpress last week but once again the cost of owning a domain and paying the hosting fee etc put me off. Wordpress though is pretty impressive but changing the font size etc is a pain the butt. Also I saw that the import feature that allows you to import blogs from Blogger to Wordpress doesn't work perfectly yet. So for the time being I stick to Blogger.

Heartening to see that my Mutual Fund portfolio is finally doing well and may come in handy when I decide to go in for a new image stabilization zoom lens. The current 70-300 mm one I have from my old Canon SLR did not work as I expected it to. With digital cameras the biggest problem seems to be with capturing wildlife or other pictures using a zoom of more than 200 mm. Even the slightest tremble causes the images to blur and no matter how steady my hands were the results were a little disappointing.

The weekend was spent in the serenity of BR Hills. Just being there,soaking up the sounds of the Jungle made me feel so blessed. Bumped into an old classmate from Lovedale. Dominic hasn't changed a bit and I was meeting him after 14 years. The safari this time (both the morning and evening one) was a big let down. Only managed to spot a few female Sambhar's, the usual spotted deer and a few bisons. The highlight (that lasted 5 secs) was spotting a mouse deer at about 6:30 pm on Saturday. I am told that spotting them is a rarity.

The lesson I learned from the experience was to go into the jungle with absolutely no expectations of seeing anything special. But I find this so difficult. My eyes are constantly scanning the trees for Leopards or the track ahead for a Tiger only to be disappointed at every bend. Come to think of it, I have always spotted wildlife only when I least expect to. I hope to put the lesson to practice when I visit Nagarhole later this weekend.

I decided to show mom Shivasamudram Falls and took the road to Kollegal and apart from a few stretches of bad roads (from the foothills of BRT WS to Kollegal and parts of the road from Kollegal to Kanakapura) the roads have been newly laid out. Shivasamudram was a sight for sore eyes. Simply breathtaking. It also was an eye sore for it was crowded to the max with the weekend crowd from Bangalore. As usual we do not seem to have any sort of respect for our surroundings and piles of plastic cups, paper plates scattered all around bear testimony to this.

I took mom to Bheemeshwari as well to see the Cauvery in all her splendor and got back home at 5PM dead tired (without lunch too). The evening was good to me as Kimi finally won the Belgian Grand Prix and Force India secured a podium finish.

It was very interesting to see Kimi's reaction after winning. He din't go around congratulating the team and was least interested when Stefano Domenicali came up to congratulate him. No champagne was passed to the team either.

It's a pity that Ferrari will let Kimi go next season for I believe that he is a more complete driver than Massa can ever be and with Massa's injury, Ferrari will not let him go next year for purely emotional reasons. I think Massa will be blown away by Alonso next year and Ferrari will find them scratching their heads at the end of the 2010 season. I won't be surprised if Kimi chooses to drive for Toyota or Renault (he will definitely need to take a drastic pay cut though). But Kimi being Kimi, may as well hang up his F-1 boots and take up rallying.

Pictures: I managed to capture some good pictures which can be found at http://bit.ly/4D65x

Journey to the land of the Khmer - Jul 31 to Aug 2

If there is one thing I am grateful for with regard to my current job, it has to be the opportunities it provides to visit so many different places, meet people from different cultures and backgrounds and ah! yes taste the various local beer brews that each country throws up.

I had the chance to finally visit Cambodia earlier this month thanks to Vietnam Airlines (my current customer) who graciously offered me free tickets from Hanoi to Siem Reap on Business Class (ended up being an economy trip one way but I will not bitch about that since I was traveling OC anyway).

The airport at Siem Reap reminded me somehow of Coimbatore airport. You get off the plane and just walk across the tarmac, straight to immigration. There was the customary Swine Flu paperwork and temperature check. Visa of arrival is available for Indian passport holders and it takes about 10 mins to get done. Costs $20 for a 30 day visa. I had made arrangements to stay at the Golden Mango Inn and they had already arranged for a driver to pick me up at the airport on a tuk-tuk (a 4-stroke bike that has a carriage welded to its back). The ride to the Inn was about 30 mins and goes through paddy fields for a while before entering Siem Reap town which has a lot of French architectural influence. You also see the standard Cambodian house resting on stilts. Somehow you feel you have entered a different world. Just how different, I would see the next day.

Day 1:
I got up at 4 and my Tuk Tuk driver Mao was already waiting for me. Nice bloke who spoke a little bit of English. We headed out towards Angkor Wat which is approx a 20 min ride from the Inn. I was told that the sunrise at Angkor is worth the trouble of getting up so early. I had to shell out $40 for a 3 day pass to visit all the temples in and around Angkor Wat. A 1 day pass costs you $20 and one is required to show the pass at the entrance of all the temples. Uniformed personnel offer you the traditional Cambodian greeting (pretty much like a Thai greeting) and take a look at our pass before letting you in.

The first thing that hit me when I entered the outer premises of Angkor Wat was the immense size. Although there was not light, the shadows cast by the buildings is an inspiring scene by itself. A sizable crowd had already gathered before the main temple and people jostle (albeit gently) for a good position to get those photo shots. Seemed like a page out an Indiana Jones book. The sunrise was not spectacular as the sky was overcast but nevertheless the scene in front of you is breathtaking.

The temple walls have fantastic carvings depicting the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, the Churning of the Ocean and the exploits of Suryavarman II who built the temple. Angkor is dedicated to Vishnu. The temple complex is massive and the carvings are out of this world. There are no idols in the sanctum sanatorium as one would expect in a temple. There are however numerous idols of the Buddha.

I had my new Canon EOS 450D with me and I had a blast trying out some of the features that the camera had to offer.

Pic 1: Angkor Wat - Sunrise


Next stop was Bayon. The temple has numerous carved images of the Buddha and is photographers delight. Totally Indiana Jones country.

Pic 2: Bayon
By 10 am I was sweating by the bucket. The humidity must have been like 99%. I went to several other temples. Most of the temple complexes are in a state of ruin and several countries are running restoration projects on several temples.

Another fascinating temple complex is Ta Prom. This temple is famous because the tress surrounding the complex have now grown inside the temple and it is quite a sight to see.

Pic 3 and 4: Ta Prom













The heavens opened up in the afternoon as is the normal case during the monsoon season in Cambodia. The skies cleared up at about 4 PM and gave me a chance to go back to Angkor Wat and click some more photos under better light conditions.

The evening saw me hiking up to a sunset point (Bakheng Hill) , about 2 or 3 kms from Angkor Wat. I was surprised to see at least a thousand people crowded around the temple ruins jostling for a place to see the sunset. Madness! The sunset is not as spectacular as it is on say a beach or other locations but sharing space with hundreds of people across cultures and different lands amidst ruins from a bygone era is pretty special.

Pic 6: The Rush Hour at Bakheng Hill

Pic 7: Sunset at Bakheng Hill

I headed back to town for dinner and settled down for a veggie quiche and choco mousse at The Blue Pumpkin. Pretty good. The default currency for trading in Siem Reap in the US Dollar although you can use the local currency too. I din't come across anyone using it at the restaurants. Mao, my tuk tuk driver suggested that we go to Kbal Spean and Banteay Srey the following day and finih the Grand Tour of Angkor (which is basically a set of temples at the out skirts of Siem Reap.)

Day 2:

We started off at 5 AM and went back to Angkor Wat to see the sunrise as the skies were clearer than the previous day. I spent 25 mins taking more photographs and we then proceeded to Kbal Spean which is located about 45 kms outside Siem Reap. We stopped at Banteay Srey, a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva first. I was completely blown away by the carvings at this temple site. I have never seen such intricate carvings in my life.

Pic 8: Sunrise at Angkor Wat


Pic 9: Banteay Srey


Kbal Spean is located at the Kulan Hills 25 km from the main Angkor group. It is commonly known as the valley of a 1000 Lingas.It consists of a series of stone carvings in and around the Stung Kbal Spean river. There are rock carvings of Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva. It stream is a good 1.5 km climb from the base and takes you about 40 mins to reach. Taking a hand towel is always a good idea and of course lots of water. I highly recommend having coconut water that is available in the small shops at the foot of the hill. They are totally refreshing.

Pic 10: Lingas at Kbal Spean



I then went downstream to a small waterfall which provided me another chance to play around with the EOS 450D. Some of the photos came out very well if I say so myself.

Pic 11: Waterfall at Kbal Spean

I managed to have some breakfast at Kbal Spean (old bread with some cheese..sot be $4!) and we headed back towards Siem Reap. Saw several more temple ruins and somehow I could never get enough of it. I was totally captivated by the place.

Cambodia is still living in a world that we passed a few decades ago. The atrocities of the Khmer Rouge are still visible when you visit the temples. Bands of musicians play peacefully at the entrance of most temples. All of them have been handicapped in one way or the other by the deadly mines that still dot the country side. Poverty is rampant and I could not help but feel an overwhelming sense of sadness and sympathy for the hundreds of children who are forced to sustain their families by selling souvenirs to tourists. The inequalities between the haves and have nots in this world is beyond repair. You can only be humbled and feel grateful for having a life that 80% of the planet cannot afford. Subtle are the ways in which god reminds you of how kind he has been to you.

More information on the temples of Angkor are available on Wikipedia and here

More photographs from my trip are available here.

Other Tips:

For the budget traveler visting Siem Reap, I highly recommend the Golden Mango Inn. A single deluxe room with AC costs $13 a night and the rooms are clean and very well maintained. The service is excellent too.

The bar street at Siem Reap has numerous restaurants catering to all types of cuisine. There are a couple of Indian restaurants too. Slightly pricey though.

International departure tax if $25 is levied when you leave Siem Reap. Only US Dollars are accepted at the airport so make sure you have enough change when you leave.

A tuk-tuk ride on the small circuit (covering Angkor Wat and surroundings) for a day costs about $12. Add $3 if you want to go see the sunrise.

A day trip to Kbal Spean and the grand tour will cost you $25-$30. Water costs about $1 a bottle.