What a day. What a week. What a trip!
It has been a few days since I last wrote, so by now I’m guessing that many of you who are reading this have already seen the pictures from Siem Reap. Angkor Wat is just one of those places that I really wanted to go experience, and I wanted to do it sooner rather than later. Siem Reap is growing exponentially as tourism to the area increases. Right now it manages to maintain the precarious balance of being tourist friendly and safe – even as a solo female traveler I never felt uncomfortable – and yet not so overrun with western influence that you don’t even know you are in Cambodia. Unfortunately all signs are pointing it in that direction…good for the economy of Cambodia; not so great for the future tourist.
I spent a lot of time touring Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom – hiring a guide the first time and then returning to stroll and enjoy the feeling of being there without someone chattering in my ear. Another morning I went to the Ta Prohm temple, which is dilapidated and overrun by the jungle. It is also where Angelina Jolie filmed Tomb Raider, as the locals like to tell you. I spent the better part of an afternoon in Siem Reap, wandering the streets and vendor stalls. I met another female solo traveler from Britain and we shared a few drinks and stories of our travels. And on the last day, tired and hot from my exploration, I spent the afternoon at the pool relaxing with a book.
(Side note – if you watched the Amazing Race on Sunday night…they were racing around the Angkor Wat and Bayon temples at Angkor Thom. I happened to turn on the tv on Monday evening before going to bed, and the Asia run of it was playing. It was actually pretty cool to watch it considering I had been at those very temples earlier in the day!)
Before I was quite ready to leave Cambodia my time was up. Unlike Angie, I left without an adopted child in tow. I had a nice long travel day from REP-BKK-SIN-JNB…and 24 hours later I arrived in Johannesburg this morning. I truly believed I would never see my luggage again when I handed it over in REP, although the agent assured me he had interlined it from Bangkok Air to Singapore Airlines and it would meet me in JNB. Amazingly enough it did show up.
Joburg is not particularly known for being a safe city, so for my piece of mind I had arranged with the Hyatt to have a car and driver pick me up. I also arranged for an afternoon tour of the city, which was set to start at 1pm. There was some pretty significant traffic this morning, so the ride to the Hyatt took almost an hour. I checked in and got showered and then walked across the street to the shopping plaza that I could see from my room. It had nice little courtyard with numerous outdoor cafes and restaurants. I sat down for a bite to eat and relax before my tour.
To be honest, I did not go into the afternoon excited for the tour. I am really spending the day here as a connection point more so than a destination. However, there was no way I was going to go explore Joburg on my own, and since I had the day it seemed like I should go do something. Thus I used the Hyatt on line concierge a few days ago and ordered up a guided tour for the afternoon.
The afternoon in Johannesburg ended up being one of my favorite parts of the trip so far – and that is saying a lot on this trip. The tour guide picked me up at 1pm and we set off. I was immediately impressed with the guide’s presentation style. We started near the hotel, stopping outside of Nelson Mandela’s current home. The guide didn’t just show sites, he gave me a history lesson on South Africa. He talked about Nelson Mandela’s personal life – his wives and children – as well as his political life. The running commentary on everything from the South African infrastructure to the roots and animal parts made to use traditional medicines was well structured, interesting and extremely informative. As we drove by Constitutional Hill I learned about the famous prisoners who have gone through there, including Mahatma Gandhi. When I asked questions – ‘why was Gandhi put in prison’ – he consistently had answers (for buying a first class train ticket, which was illegal if you were not white).
The tour through Soweto turned into an emotional journey into Apartheid’s past, culminating at the Hector Pieterson museum. From the Orlando West township – and Nelson Mandela’s former home – we drove through upper class townships and then into the impoverished areas.
We walked through a project community and talked to the locals. The picture to the left is inside an actual home – I’m standing in the doorway about 4 feet from the woman on the bed. That is the entire house. To my shock she replied ‘7’ to the question ‘how many people live here?’…her, her 2 daughters and 4 grandchildren. They all sleep either on the bed or the small floor space next to it. I couldn’t stop the tears, although she wanted no pity. Similar to Peru years ago, children surrounded me as I walked and fought to take my hand, 
smiling happily up at me as they walked along; hugging me with such emotion… I struggle in these situations; I am much more comfortable with adults than children and handling emotion from strangers does not come naturally for me. But I am honored to be here, blessed in my life that I get to experience this world; blessed still more at the world that I grew up in – so different from this.I am exhausted now. The combination of the long travel day and the emotional history lesson has sapped my energy. Tomorrow I start yet another adventure, as I head to Zimbabwe to begin the safari part of this trip. For now I am going to go eat – I have given in to my exhaustion and ordered a pizza and glass of wine from room service – and then go to bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment