Visiting Cambodia without checking out the Angkor Temples is like going to Mexico without eating tacos, going to the salsa-club without dancing; in other words it is like wasting the chance of your life.
Internationally famous Angkor-Wat was one of the most popular contestants for the New 7 Wonders, and still stands as the largest sacred temple of the world. It was built around 1150 A.D. in honor of the Hindu god Vishnu (deity of preservation). The temple is one of the most important national symbols of Cambodia, it appears in their national flag and has been considered to be the best example of Khmer architecture at its prime.
The magnificent rain-forest surroundings of these constructions as well as the hundreds of tarantula nests that can be found in virtually every rock, inspired the title of my post; the temples strongly reminded me some scenes of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, a classic 80’s film where the scenarios look very similar to what you can see in Angkor.
Although Angkor Wat is the most famous complex in the area, there are several other temple ruins to visit, some of them in an amazing state of preservation and the access allowed to visitors is practically unlimited so traveller responsibility should be observed; nothing justifies stealing any rock, no matter how easy it could be:
Cambodia is a place worthy to visit, not only because it was the creedle of a fascinating civilization with great influence in Asia, but also because it is a country where people suffered the horrors of civil wars encouraged by US bombings during Vietnam War. Cambodian people have faced starvation and massive killings by the Khmer Rouge; nowadays tourism is one of the most important factors in the country’s restoration, so travellers can experience the double joy of a life-time experience plus the contribution to families that expect this income to rebuild their country.
Would you enjoy having fastuous dinners with wine and candles for 5 dollars per person?
Are you ok to pay taxis that charge 1 dollar for taking you from your hotel to downtown?
Would you like to admire the remains of one of the world’s most fascinating civilizations?
If you answered yes to one or more of the above, then Cambodia is for you.
Cambodia is a small country in the south of Asia with 14 million habitants. Its capital is Phnom Penh but the most visited destination is the Siem Reap province and the Angkor temples. We didn’t have much time to travel around so we just stayed for 3 days and it seemed enough to visit the temples and taking home a nice memory of Cambodia. The safest way to reach Siem Reap is by plane, daily flights depart from Bangkok airport and I believe this trip to be worth it since the distance is quite short as you will see:
The day we arrived I exchanged some dollars into “Riels” (the local currency) and that was a big mistake, people in Siem Reap do not use their local currency so much, they prefer to be paid in American dollars, if you wish to use their own money they will charge higher prices… Crazy! Anyways I came back home with lots of Riels and I guess they could make a nice souvenir for when I return to Mexico.
We found a nice and small hotel in the Internet called “Secrets of Elephants” which I would greatly recommend. The rooms are very nice, they have everything you would need without outrageous luxury, a double room with king size bed, private bath and breakfast goes for only $25 dollars the night, the personnel is extremely helpful and speak perfect English.
By night we were taken to a souvenir shop with all kinds of nice stuff to add some Asia-Pacific taste to your home; if you have enough budget and space in your luggage these places are great, just remember, haggling is not just a clever man’s feat, in Thailand and Cambodia it is a necessity, prices go down as much as 1000% so don’t be afraid to bring your poker face and start bluffing.
Afterwards we enjoyed bufett dinner with traditional Cambodian dances. A great moment for smoking a cigar and getting lost in the spirits of tequila… ahhh, I loved Cambodia!
Cansado de playas atascadas de tantos europeos calenturientos buscando muchachitas tailandesas, decidí explorar una de las partes menos visitadas del territorio; algo me dijo que eso es lo que debí haber hecho desde un principio, pues desde mi punto de vista la parte más hermosa de Tailandia no está en la ciudad ni en las playas, sino en las provincias del norte, ahora mismo les muestro porqué.
De entrada, es más barato llegar, pueden tomar el tren viejo que sale de Bangkok (de verdad parece sacado de la película Expreso de Medianoche) y rentar un cubículo de 1era clase por algo así como 600 pesos. El tren viaja toda la noche, por lo que se ahorran una noche de hotel y llegan a Chiang Mai muy temprano al día siguiente. En la estación de llegada toman un “Tuk-tuk” (la versión tailandesa de las “combis” y los “peseros), que los lleva al hotel que hayan elegido. La ruta que recorren es más o menos la siguiente:
Chiang Mai es un pueblito precioso. El ambiente me recordó mucho a la provincia en México, la gente no está tan maleada y es mucho más amable con los turistas, los precios son bajos y los pobladores no te están tratando de ver la cara todo el tiempo como me pasó en Bangkok y Phuket. Una buena idea para conocer el pueblo es rentar una moto tipo scooter y recorrer cuanta callejuela se encuentre, es muy barato y sólo te piden tu pasaporte, además andar en moto entre ”Tuk-tuks” te hace sentir casi como un poblador más, en los países del sur de Asia que he visitado mucha gente usa estos vehículos.
Además de relajarse y disfrutar un buen Thai-massage (de los de verdad, no de los que te dan en Bangkok con “calambre”), se recomienda visitar el templo de Doi Suthep, que se ubica en una montaña a las orillas del pueblo y tiene una vista espectacular. Además aquí sí podrán presenciar el budhismo tailandés en una expresión original, nada es falso, la gente acude a orar y a pedir consejos a los monjes.
Por la noche, hay un evento de cena en el Centro Cultural de Chiang Mai, llamado “Khantoke Dinner” muy recomendable, se sirve comida tradicional tailandesa, la cual se disfruta reposando en la también tradicional almohada triangular, todo ello amenizado por un espectáculo de bailes típicos y fuegos artificiales (cuetes) al final. Los dejo con un video:
Finalmente, si tienen tiempo suficiente, les recomiendo que tomen el tour para visitar a las tribus nativas tailandesas, entre las que destaca la tribu Karen con sus extravagantes costumbres de alargar el cuello. Una última foto y me despido:
The exquisite selection of poetry that my good friend Fernando has done for its blog Notas al Pié reminded me of this old hobby of mine.
Ever since I was a child I have liked poetry, I must admit that at first I felt a bit ashamed since none of my childhood friends were into it and that made me feel a bit wierd, but now I realize (or maybe I don’t care anymore) that the appreciation of this art is enriching for mind and spirit and there are many things and thoughts in every person that find a reflection in the words of poets who masterfully wield words and endure generations through them.
Maybe because Spanish is my native language I have a tendency to prefer Spanish poetry rather than English; however I have heard and now I can start to perceive that Japanese poetry is also very beautiful and rich in content; hopefully I will be able to share one with you in the future.
In the meantime, I would like to inaugurate a new section of my blog, and its name will be “READING POETRY” where I intend to read and convince others to read, silently and also in loud voice, different poems that will be selected and suggested. But I intend to go further and would like to invite all of my readers to participate in this section, selecting a favorite poem, recording it in an audio or video file and sending it to me so we can upload it and post it in the blog.
But why is it so important to READ poetry?
In order to appreciate a good poem we shall read it at least three times: (i) the first one understanding the meaning of its words and the message that it conveys; (ii) the second appreciating its technicalities like proportion, rhyme, rhythm and other literary resources; and (iii) the third one in a loud voice so we can appreciate if it shows an aesthetic sound for the spoken language, which is also a fundamental part of a poem’s beauty.
Without adding anything further, by now, my first selection is the “Poem of the Things” (Poema de las Cosas) by the Cuban poet José Ángel Buesa; which is in Spanish so I will include a very poor translation, and finally a reading by your good friend Vago, hoping that in the near future we would be receiving recordings from much better readers. I hope you like it:
Quizás estando sola, de noche, en tu aposento
oirás que alguien te llama sin que tú sepas quién
y aprenderás entonces, que hay cosas como el viento
que existen ciertamente, pero que no se ven…
Perhaps being alone, at night, in your room
You will hear someone calling you without knowing who
You will then learn that there are things like the wind
Which certainly exist but cannot be seen…
Y también es posible que una tarde de hastío
como florece un surco, te renazca un afán
y aprenderás entonces que hay cosas como el río
que se estan yendo siempre, pero que no se van…
It is also possible that in a boring afternoon
As a furrow blooms an eagerness will be reborn in you
You will then learn that there are things like the river
Which are always leaving, but that never leave…
O al cruzar una calle, tu corazón risueño
recordará una pena que no tuviste ayer
y aprenderás entonces que hay cosas como el sueño,
cosas que nunca han sido, pero que pueden ser…
Or while crossing a street, your joyful heart
Will remember a sorrow you did not have yesterday
You will then learn that there are things like the dream
Things that have never been, but could be…
Por más que tú prefieras ignorar estas cosas
sabrás por qué suspiras oyendo una canción
y aprenderás entonces que hay cosas como rosas,
cosas que son hermosas, sin saber que lo son…
Even if you pretend to ignore these things
You will know why you sigh while you listen to a song
And you will then learn that there are things like roses
Things that are beautiful, without knowing they are…
Y una tarde cualquiera, sentirás que te has ido
y un soplo de ceniza regará tu jardín
y aprenderás entonces, que el tiempo y el olvido
son las únicas cosas que nunca tienen fin.
And any given afternoon, you will feel you are gone
And a blow of cinders will spread over your garden
You will then learn, that time and oblivion
Are the only things that never reach their end.
El siguiente post tiene una importancia personal pues es el primer post tras la renovación de mi blog, que ya no será conocido más como www.unchilangoenjapon… etcétera, sino simplemente www.chilangueando.com, lo cual espero sea más fácil de recordar para todos.
Quise dedicar el post a reseñar el trabajo de hombres extraordinarios, cuya bondad deja huella, liberando almas mediante la verdad; espero hacerles al menos un poco de justicia.
Hace algunos meses, siguiendo las enseñanzas del célebre Carlos V, quien decía que: “Yo hablo con mis caballos en alemán, entre políticos en francés, con las damas de la corte en italiano, con los mercaderes en inglés y con Dios en español” (tal vez ahora hubiera agregado que “con su computadora en japonés”) busqué en Internet quién impartiera misa en la lengua de Castilla en esta bella ciudad de Fukuoka. Felizmente encontré una pequeña iglesia cuyo sito trilingüe de Internet puede verse dando clic aquí.
La iglesia de Minoshima es dirigida por el padre Marcel Kauss, miembro de los Misionarios Extranjeros de París (Les Missions Etrangères de Paris), quien ha estado en Japón por más de 30 años, comunicando el evangelio mediante la noble herramienta del ejemplo y el sacrificio.
Junto a él, predica todos los domingos en la misa de las 11:00 de la mañana, el padre José, un jesuita sevillano de altos vuelos que llegó a Japón en 1947 para continuar la labor evangélica que años atrás habían comenzado otros insignes jesuitas como los mártires de Nagazaki, de quienes escribiré en otro post. El padre José también es mi actual confesor y una de las personas más sabias y amables que he conocido, también próximamente escribiré más sobre él y la labor de la Compañía en Japón.
Esta pequeña iglesia realiza labores titánicas de altruismo tales como la rehabilitación de jóvenes drogadictos, la atención a indigentes y de manera muy importante la protección de migrantes latinos en la ciudad, principalmente peruanos, a quienes se les da asesoría no sólo espiritual sino también legal e incluso se les enseña gratuitamente a hablar japonés; lo anterior siguiendo la máxima de no dar peces sino enseñar a pescar.
Es reconfortante descubrir que aún existen hombres buenos que siguen las enseñanzas de Cristo, ubicándose en la primera línea donde más se les necesita, rodeándose de los pobres y esparciendo el evangelio, para ellos mi admiración y cariño pues ya lo dicen las bienaventuranzas del Sermón de la Montaña, “Bienaventurados los limpios de corazón, porque ellos verán a Dios“.
A visit to Thailand could never be complete unless you visit at least one of its famous beaches.
Whether in Ko Pha Ngan, Ko Samui, Ko Phuket or any other “KO” (island in Thai), visitors can be sure that they will get a fair amount of sun, mosquitoes, white sand and a wonderful sea.
Even when, from my particular perspective, Mexican beaches are among the top of the world, not only for their natural beauty but also for the quality of their services (Playa del Carmen), Thailand offers a very large coast-line with activities for every kind of tourist, from the sex-shopper to the family resort and the nature-lover paradise.
Due to our short schedule, we decided to fly to Phuket, by recommendation of several travel agents; problem was that 99.9% of the hotels were fully booked and we had one of our hardest times seeking for accommodation. In the end everything went fine and we discovered that staying at the downtown was much cheaper and convenient for our plans.
Phuket offered us many great things, fun beaches, horse riding and a long new-year celebration full of fireworks, music and flying lamps; now I understand why Andy doesn’t like to spend new year in Mexico City anymore. But the best was still to come.
Phuket is a very big territory, surrounded by many smaller islands where many tourists spend day-trips snorkeling or just eating good food and resting under the sun. Among those beaches we can find Phi-Phi Island, better known as Leonardo Di Caprio’s “The Beach” scenario, or “James Bond” island, where the legendary movie “Dr. No” was filmed.
Despite my fanatic feeling for James Bond films, we decided to take our chances in one of the least explored beaches surrounding Phuket. 40 minutes in a speedboat took us to “Raya Island”, also known as Ko-Racha or Ko-Raya; and may I say it is one of the most beatuiful places I have visited in my life.
We stayed only one night in Raya, but after the tourists were gone in the morning we had the beach practically for ourselves, there we had the freshest crab you could imagine and finally experienced the exotic-asian-beach we were seeking from the beginning. If I ever get back to Thailand I will not bother to visit other places, Raya is deffinitelly the place to be.
En Tailandia pueden encontrarse una gran cantidad de estatuas de Budha, algunas de ellas simplemente doradas, pero otras, por más inverosimil que paresca, son di puritito oro.
Cerca de las ruinas de la ciudad de Ayutthaya, es posible observar la estatua de uno de los budhas dorados más grandes de la región, desafortunadamente ya no es de oro macizo, como solía ser, pues la invasión birmana arrasó con todo el oro que podía encontrar, incluído el de los templos, por ello hoy los tailandeses sólo tienen esta modesta reproducción:
Aunque probablemente el budha dorado más famoso de Tailandia sea el que se encuentra en Wat Pho. Esta figura de colosales dimensiones destaca tanto por su postura alegre de aparente reposo, que en realidad simboliza la entrada al estado de perfección denominado “Nirvana”, como por el hecho de que cuenta con un templo literalmente para él sólo ya que la figura ocupa el 70% del espacio. Es muy impresionante entrar porque al ver un edificio relativamente chaparro no es posible imaginar cómo podría albergar uno de los budhas mas grandes de Tailandia, sólo es hasta que se entra que puede apreciarse la curiosa estatua:
La gran diferencia entre estas dos estatuas y la que voy a mostrar ahora es que ambas son doradas, pero no de oro como sólía ser. La figura de Budha de oro más grande de Tailandia y del mundo está en Wat Traimit, pesa 5 toneladas y fue salvada de la invasión birmana gracias a que los monjes del templo la cubrieron con concreto para aparentar que se trataba de una estatua de roca, después de muchos años se descubrió que bajo la piedra se escondía una figura como esta:
Lo interesante del asunto es que mientras Budha está contemplando al mundo desde sus 5 toneladas de oro sólido, la mitad de Tailandia se está muriendo de hambre, yo por eso soy admirador de los franciscanos; no hay que adornar a nuestro Dios con riquezas materiales porque su reino no es de este mundo, hay que llenarlo de gloria con vida y obra sobrenatural. Creo yo.
I was just about to continue with my travel chronicles when an important message reached my inbox.
It was a letter written by my good friend Linda (Ling-Lin) regarding my last post about the Olympic Post Relay.
Linda is a Chinese citizen currently studying with me in Japan, with uncommon outgoing attitude, she is certainly one of the most friendly and reasonable persons you can speak about this and many other topics.
Linda has an interesting point of view about the recent protests surrounding the Olympic Torch relay and I thought it would be of great value to include it in my blog in order to present a different approach to the same events. With her permission I am posting her letter as well as the images she attached to it, hoping it will benefit the dialogue and understanding in our very small, but still, international community.
Linda would like to clarify that this is just her personal opinion, not an official statement, and could not possibly represent the thinking of 130,000,000 Chinese citizens.
Thank you for your contribution Linda!
Dear Oliver,
I saw your article about torch relay in your blog
And i would like to clarify that Chinese people know that torch relay is being destroyed by some protestors. We can see it through Chinese website(you can see through an unofficial website which site in HK since you may think all the websites in China are controlled by the governmenthttp://2008.ifeng.com/specials/hj/) and we can also see the news in BBC/CNN/NYtimes. We know that protestors fight violently against torch relay and they even beat a disabled Chinese torchbearer(You can see it from the pics. attached).
I agree that Chinese government did not act properly in some affairs, for example Tibet affair. But Chinese government did not treat Tibet people brutally because Chinese government is eager to keep our country peaceful especially in this sensitive period. Chinese government is not so stupid to induce the opposition and anger from people who love peace around the world, especially in this period of time. The fact is some protestors destroyed shops, houses and even burned some citizens in Tibet and want to induce conflicts there. What Chinese government did wrong is they did not disclose the fact to public and media immediately. They are not transparent to the public. All Chinese know this is the biggest and emergent problem of Chinese government.
Actually, torch relay is a tradition of Olympic Games all these years. It is not because Chinese government is pushing it so we have to accept it. Chinese people are also discussing whether we should cancel torch relay this time because it caused so many troubles. But the question is why should we cancel the relay rather than the protestors stop destroying relay violently? They are respected to express their opinions. But why not through a non-violent way? They kept on grabing the torch or beating torchbearers. I feel quite sad these days, really sad. As a Chinese, i really want to be friendly to people around the world. But do i have a chance?
I respect people who speak out their different opinions non-violently and helpfully just as you did. And i understand your feeling about Chinese government since it has lots of problems. But can we co-operate with each other rather than fight against each other? I really do not want to see the violent actions happen any more.
Since I am a Chinese, I may be quite biased. I really would like to listen to your comments*^^* Best regards,
Yesterday I woke up with news about the multiple strifes over the Olympic torch array in London, no more and no less than what could be expected given the present human rights situation in China.
The Chinese government is pushing forward an International tour of the Olympic torch, in an attempt to promote the controversial Beijing Olympic games, to be held in August 2008. However the plan seems to be back-shooting and instead of receiving a welcome hug from world citizens, the torch array has been used by human right activists as the perfect spotlight for their protests against China.
The protests reached dramatic levels during the Olympic torch’s pass through two of the most important capitals of the western civilization, Paris and London, where the shouts of “Free Tibet!” were louder than any other voice and the mass media reported accordingly as it can be observed in the two videos I will be posting.
As an admirer of Tibetan traditions I am happy that Europe, the heart of western culture, has raised its voice against the atrocities committed by the Chinese government in Tibet, not only did the European Parliament protested when the Olympic Games Event was assigned to China, but even president Sarkozy has threatened to boycott the event if China does not change its policies towards Tibet and now hundreds of citizens protested in the streets of Paris and London.
The Olympic torch’s route does not seem much easier in the near future since it still has to pass through San Francisco and Buenos Aires, two more western cities where, unlike China, freedom of speech will allow their citizens to speak out their minds. I predict that the Buenos Aires array will be particularly conflictive unless the Argentinean government takes serious security measures; in the meantime however, Chinese citizens still believe that the Olympic torch is being rallied without any inconvenience, why? very simple, because the Chinese government has decided not to show in Chinese TV any news regarding the protests… ignorance is bliss… the bliss of a leading chain.
Siguiendo por el paseo de la tierra de los Thais, les comento que esta nación fue governada por varias monarquías que, tras establecer su hegemonía en el territorio, levantaban ciudades en donde encumbraban su poder.
Así pues, en Tailandia destacan el antiguo reino de Sukhothai que posteriormente sería derrocado por el reino de Ayutthaya (1350-1767) y hoy día ambas ciudades subsisten en ruinas semi-reconstruidas.
Ayutthaya está más cerca de Bangkok que Sukhothai, tal vez estará a 1 hora de distancia y, a decir de las fotografías que yo llegué a ver de Sukhothai, ambas ruinas se parecen mucho, por lo que los viajeros con poco tiempo pueden aprovechar mejor el día viajando a Ayutthaya y regresando más tarde a Bangkok.
El reino de Ayutthaya toma su nombre de una palabra India que significa invencible, una característica interesante de este periodo en la historia de Tailandia es la cercanía con los poderes extranjeros, no sólo de naciones asiáticas, sino también europeas, de hecho los governantes de ese tiempo solían contratar samurais japoneses para integrar su guardia personal.
En Tailandia es evidente la fuerte influencia de la India, cuya religión denominada Budhismo Theraveda es practicada por más del 90% de los tailandeses, de ahí la peculiar forma de los budhas y las diferentes representaciones de Rama; pero también existe una fuerte influencia arquitectónica del impero Khmer, cuya base fue lo que hoy conocemos como Camboya.
La gran mayoría de los templos en Tailandia, así como las estatuas doradas de los budhas, son reconstruídas, literalmente, no sólo restauradas pues varias de las estructuras básicamente fueron levantadas de cero después de la invasión Birmana que arrasó el reino de Ayutthaya y extrjo gran cantidad de oro y riquezas de Tailandia. Pero ya hablaremos más de las estatuas en el próximo post, mientras tanto los dejo con más fotos:
