December 14
We are still in Siem Reap. Went to the temple about 1-1/2 hours from here called Ban Maelia. Rented two monks so we could do some interesting photography but the temple was more in ruins than I had anticipated. We had to do a lot of climbing but I think I still got some good shots. The monks were 24 and 25 years old and varied their stay as monks from 8 months to 7 years. They were very good sports and I think they enjoyed themselves. The weather was wonderful, warm in the sun but quite nice in the shady areas. This temple was proposed to have been the model for Angkor Wat, built by the same King who built Angkor. The temple is in ruins more than Angkor and this has been both good and bad. The good was that they have built wooden ramps and the bad news is that they built wooden ramps. It sort of kills the original look of the place. I did manage to shoot around these obstacles but the difficult part was the climbing. I do feel my age when climbing up rocks and large pieces of broken temple walls.
This was the first temple we have visited on this trip and today we will visit two more places. Going by car as opposed to tuk-tuk was a live-saver. This is too long a drive for a tuk-tuk. You would be shaken and bounced and be very uncomfortable.
We have been doing mainly visiting “Green Gecko” and talking with another NGO who are working with building schools, drilling wells, and providing water filters for many of the small villages outside Siem Reap. These people are really saints in doing the work they do. They use the principle that teaches a man to fish and he will be self-sufficient for the rest of his life. They set up well-drilling companies with donated equipment and the village people all share in the benefits. Along with the water filters the village health rate climbs and everyone we better off.
The Green Gecko is a couple who lives here. The woman is from Australia and the husband is Cambodian. They take street kids off the street and give them some education for a few hours a day, one hot meal and help get them off the street and into productive small businesses, like selling greeting cards and books. We were happy that we introduced the idea of greeting cards to Tanya just at the time they were looking for something else to sell and they ran with the idea and the first day they sold 35 cards. Most of the money goes to the kids themselves and some to the school for the materials. They learn the cost of doing business and prices of raw materials. We were very impressed by the organization.
Everyone here has been very charming and doing good work for the common people. Lots of good people in the world giving up much time working and making peoples’ lives better.
Touring two temples today and other than that everything has been fine. Aek has called and his farm is back in good repair and he will join us again in Kuala Lumpur for our trip to Bali and Borneo. Look forward to seeing his smiling face again.
We are still in Siem Reap. Went to the temple about 1-1/2 hours from here called Ban Maelia. Rented two monks so we could do some interesting photography but the temple was more in ruins than I had anticipated. We had to do a lot of climbing but I think I still got some good shots. The monks were 24 and 25 years old and varied their stay as monks from 8 months to 7 years. They were very good sports and I think they enjoyed themselves. The weather was wonderful, warm in the sun but quite nice in the shady areas. This temple was proposed to have been the model for Angkor Wat, built by the same King who built Angkor. The temple is in ruins more than Angkor and this has been both good and bad. The good was that they have built wooden ramps and the bad news is that they built wooden ramps. It sort of kills the original look of the place. I did manage to shoot around these obstacles but the difficult part was the climbing. I do feel my age when climbing up rocks and large pieces of broken temple walls.
This was the first temple we have visited on this trip and today we will visit two more places. Going by car as opposed to tuk-tuk was a live-saver. This is too long a drive for a tuk-tuk. You would be shaken and bounced and be very uncomfortable.
We have been doing mainly visiting “Green Gecko” and talking with another NGO who are working with building schools, drilling wells, and providing water filters for many of the small villages outside Siem Reap. These people are really saints in doing the work they do. They use the principle that teaches a man to fish and he will be self-sufficient for the rest of his life. They set up well-drilling companies with donated equipment and the village people all share in the benefits. Along with the water filters the village health rate climbs and everyone we better off.
The Green Gecko is a couple who lives here. The woman is from Australia and the husband is Cambodian. They take street kids off the street and give them some education for a few hours a day, one hot meal and help get them off the street and into productive small businesses, like selling greeting cards and books. We were happy that we introduced the idea of greeting cards to Tanya just at the time they were looking for something else to sell and they ran with the idea and the first day they sold 35 cards. Most of the money goes to the kids themselves and some to the school for the materials. They learn the cost of doing business and prices of raw materials. We were very impressed by the organization.
Everyone here has been very charming and doing good work for the common people. Lots of good people in the world giving up much time working and making peoples’ lives better.
Touring two temples today and other than that everything has been fine. Aek has called and his farm is back in good repair and he will join us again in Kuala Lumpur for our trip to Bali and Borneo. Look forward to seeing his smiling face again.
posted by LarryKiesel | 6:46 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home