My earlier post on Cambodia was more about the place and its history. Keeping Mihir and other friends' comments in mind, I am attempting to write about my journey. I dont know how this will turn out. But let me try....
Its not a secret that I love travelling to new and different places. I would love to cover the whole globe in this lifetime. Atleast as much as humanly and financially possible. So each year i keep looking for opportunities to make this happen. I kept trying to ask friends and family to accompany me. Neither the timing nor the choice of destination was matching with anybody at all. It was a year since i went anywhere. Finally I got a solution to my predicament. I found through Facebook about WOW Club - Women On Wanderlust. It organises all women tours to popular and offbeat locations.
My friends and family were quite obviously shocked. Both by my decision to go alone and to go to Cambodia of all places. People asked me, 'Is it safe?' I frankly hadn't researched enough. I was rash enough to tell them, 'If the organisers had managed to put together a tour and people had signed up for it, I am sure it will be safe'. People asked me, 'How will you go alone?'. This I wasnt sure of myself. I didnt know a soul on that trip. I was skeptical for a while. I spoke to a friend's friend who had travelled with them earlier. She assured me that the tour organisation part was handled well. And then i thought, 'Its a week. The worst that can happen is I wont connect with my fellow travellers. How lonely can I get in a week. I can live with that. Plus what other choices do I have anyway. Not going anywhere was not an option'.
So thats how I set out. When I met my group at the airport, I realised most of them were from the older generation. My room-mate was an Indian, born and brought up in America. When I entered the flight, doubts started creeping in of whether I had made the right decision. But now there was only one way forward. I slept off and we had a long stopover at bangkok airport. Thats when the introductions began.We were 14 of us with an interesting mix of people.The oldest being 78 and me being the youngest. The aunties were well travelled and the girls my age were as travel crazy as I was. Couple of them had taken a sabbatical from work to travel and see the world. I instantly started connecting with them coz we had a common interest. TRAVELLING. Each began sharing interesting anecdotes and snippets from their travel. Thus began our journey.
We started our trip with directly hitting the markets even before we reached our hotel. I am sure people will just sigh and say 'Ladies and their shopping'. But we had reached in the evening and site seeing began the next day. So of course, we didnt want to waste Day 1. Shopping, good food and rest ended Day 1. My room-mate and me managed to work out a way so that we could efficiently live together without getting in each other's way for the next few days.
Day 2 was sightseeing at Phnom Penh, the capital. Here we got to know about Cambodia and its recent history which I had elaborated in my earlier post. All the atrocities, pain and suffering made me realise, how much i should really value my life, freedom and good fortune. Discussing this and other things had brought the group closer. We went night shopping again. And since I was the youngest, all the aunties actually doted on me. I had fun since all of them wanted me to try on something, clothes, trinkets, sling bags etc. Plus i had to help them with buying stuff for their daughters etc. My roomie and me actually hit it off that day too. We talked to each other for hours together at night and realised that even though we were brought up on two different continents, its not really difficult to become friends.
Day 3, we travelled to Siem Reap to the Angkor temple complex. Enroute we saw Spider village, Carving village. They do fry and eat spiders, tarantulas, crickets etc. None of us of course had the nerve to try any of that. The bus ride actually gives you a feel of rural India. The poverty, roads, hanging electric wires, political party posters. Only when you see the people, do u actually feel that you are in some other country. Evening was spent boating in Tonle Sap lake which had numerous crocodiles in it. Thankfully, we didnt have any of them jump at us on the boat. In the middle of the lake, they had floating restaurants, where we managed to see a few crocs. More shopping, good food and sleep followed.
Day 4 and Day 5, we spent in the Angkor wat, Angkor Thom temple complex. As mentioned in my earlier post, these are 11th century Hindu templex complexes with amazing carvings and architecture from Ramayana, Mahabharata etc. This part cannot be described in a blog post. No words can justify the beauty and detailing of the carvings. One can only experience it firsthand.
Foreigners flock to see this part of Cambodia. Where there is tourism, shopping cannot be left far behind. Cambodian silk and cotton garments, silver articles are exported even to the West. Of course, being ladies we went crazy too. Clothes, bags, wooden and stone carvings, paintings, gift items, souvenirs, accessories, tablecloths, runners, cushion covers, pirated DVDs of movies, sitcoms, lonely planet books etc etc. Siem Reap has a night market. So shop, shop, shop till you drop. I also had the experience of Fish spa, wherein you put your feet in a tank full of fish and the fish peck at the dead cells of your feet. My feet felt great after the walking of the past few days. Also, it was really surprising but Cambodia felt really safe even late in the night. The locals are really sweet and caring.
Day 6, we woke up at 4 a.m to watch the sunrise at the backdrop of Angkor Wat. This was a magical moment. But again, my poor old camera couldn't capture the real glory which my eyes had the good fortune of witnessing. Nevertheless, adding a picture here.
We had a mix of Chinese and Cambodian food all six days. The food was just amazing. Special mention of 1 dish called Fish Amok which i wouldn't have minded eating entire week there. God knows if I can find it here and that too in their style.
In this entire week, I realised my earlier doubts had been completely quashed. It was actually easy for me to get along with these complete strangers. These women had the same spirit that I had, to go and see the world, come what may. Also, I was highly impressed by the spirit portrayed by everybody. There was so much walking, climbing to do. Despite their age, none of them even remotely complained of any discomfort.Even after a whole day of sight-seeing, they were as enthusiastic about shopping at night as us.
My biggest learning was that the more we travel, the more people we meet, our perspectives widen. How we see the world and how it affects our thinking and actions changes for the positive. Every experience teaches us more and more. Also, for me, it was a confidence building experience. I can now fulfill my dream without having to wait for anyone. This time, I went with a group. Next time, I can go alone maybe. Everybody has their own passions and priorities. We cannot expect these and the timing to match with ours every time. Its time we led our life exactly as we want, to get a deeper satisfaction for ourselves. Cheers to all the wonderful women on my tour and on other tours who have the will and confidence to travel without their husbands, family, friends.
If anybody lasted through this post, I am grateful and obliged. Ciao and take care....
Its not a secret that I love travelling to new and different places. I would love to cover the whole globe in this lifetime. Atleast as much as humanly and financially possible. So each year i keep looking for opportunities to make this happen. I kept trying to ask friends and family to accompany me. Neither the timing nor the choice of destination was matching with anybody at all. It was a year since i went anywhere. Finally I got a solution to my predicament. I found through Facebook about WOW Club - Women On Wanderlust. It organises all women tours to popular and offbeat locations.
My friends and family were quite obviously shocked. Both by my decision to go alone and to go to Cambodia of all places. People asked me, 'Is it safe?' I frankly hadn't researched enough. I was rash enough to tell them, 'If the organisers had managed to put together a tour and people had signed up for it, I am sure it will be safe'. People asked me, 'How will you go alone?'. This I wasnt sure of myself. I didnt know a soul on that trip. I was skeptical for a while. I spoke to a friend's friend who had travelled with them earlier. She assured me that the tour organisation part was handled well. And then i thought, 'Its a week. The worst that can happen is I wont connect with my fellow travellers. How lonely can I get in a week. I can live with that. Plus what other choices do I have anyway. Not going anywhere was not an option'.
So thats how I set out. When I met my group at the airport, I realised most of them were from the older generation. My room-mate was an Indian, born and brought up in America. When I entered the flight, doubts started creeping in of whether I had made the right decision. But now there was only one way forward. I slept off and we had a long stopover at bangkok airport. Thats when the introductions began.We were 14 of us with an interesting mix of people.The oldest being 78 and me being the youngest. The aunties were well travelled and the girls my age were as travel crazy as I was. Couple of them had taken a sabbatical from work to travel and see the world. I instantly started connecting with them coz we had a common interest. TRAVELLING. Each began sharing interesting anecdotes and snippets from their travel. Thus began our journey.
We started our trip with directly hitting the markets even before we reached our hotel. I am sure people will just sigh and say 'Ladies and their shopping'. But we had reached in the evening and site seeing began the next day. So of course, we didnt want to waste Day 1. Shopping, good food and rest ended Day 1. My room-mate and me managed to work out a way so that we could efficiently live together without getting in each other's way for the next few days.
Day 2 was sightseeing at Phnom Penh, the capital. Here we got to know about Cambodia and its recent history which I had elaborated in my earlier post. All the atrocities, pain and suffering made me realise, how much i should really value my life, freedom and good fortune. Discussing this and other things had brought the group closer. We went night shopping again. And since I was the youngest, all the aunties actually doted on me. I had fun since all of them wanted me to try on something, clothes, trinkets, sling bags etc. Plus i had to help them with buying stuff for their daughters etc. My roomie and me actually hit it off that day too. We talked to each other for hours together at night and realised that even though we were brought up on two different continents, its not really difficult to become friends.
Day 3, we travelled to Siem Reap to the Angkor temple complex. Enroute we saw Spider village, Carving village. They do fry and eat spiders, tarantulas, crickets etc. None of us of course had the nerve to try any of that. The bus ride actually gives you a feel of rural India. The poverty, roads, hanging electric wires, political party posters. Only when you see the people, do u actually feel that you are in some other country. Evening was spent boating in Tonle Sap lake which had numerous crocodiles in it. Thankfully, we didnt have any of them jump at us on the boat. In the middle of the lake, they had floating restaurants, where we managed to see a few crocs. More shopping, good food and sleep followed.
Day 4 and Day 5, we spent in the Angkor wat, Angkor Thom temple complex. As mentioned in my earlier post, these are 11th century Hindu templex complexes with amazing carvings and architecture from Ramayana, Mahabharata etc. This part cannot be described in a blog post. No words can justify the beauty and detailing of the carvings. One can only experience it firsthand.
Foreigners flock to see this part of Cambodia. Where there is tourism, shopping cannot be left far behind. Cambodian silk and cotton garments, silver articles are exported even to the West. Of course, being ladies we went crazy too. Clothes, bags, wooden and stone carvings, paintings, gift items, souvenirs, accessories, tablecloths, runners, cushion covers, pirated DVDs of movies, sitcoms, lonely planet books etc etc. Siem Reap has a night market. So shop, shop, shop till you drop. I also had the experience of Fish spa, wherein you put your feet in a tank full of fish and the fish peck at the dead cells of your feet. My feet felt great after the walking of the past few days. Also, it was really surprising but Cambodia felt really safe even late in the night. The locals are really sweet and caring.
Day 6, we woke up at 4 a.m to watch the sunrise at the backdrop of Angkor Wat. This was a magical moment. But again, my poor old camera couldn't capture the real glory which my eyes had the good fortune of witnessing. Nevertheless, adding a picture here.
We had a mix of Chinese and Cambodian food all six days. The food was just amazing. Special mention of 1 dish called Fish Amok which i wouldn't have minded eating entire week there. God knows if I can find it here and that too in their style.
In this entire week, I realised my earlier doubts had been completely quashed. It was actually easy for me to get along with these complete strangers. These women had the same spirit that I had, to go and see the world, come what may. Also, I was highly impressed by the spirit portrayed by everybody. There was so much walking, climbing to do. Despite their age, none of them even remotely complained of any discomfort.Even after a whole day of sight-seeing, they were as enthusiastic about shopping at night as us.
My biggest learning was that the more we travel, the more people we meet, our perspectives widen. How we see the world and how it affects our thinking and actions changes for the positive. Every experience teaches us more and more. Also, for me, it was a confidence building experience. I can now fulfill my dream without having to wait for anyone. This time, I went with a group. Next time, I can go alone maybe. Everybody has their own passions and priorities. We cannot expect these and the timing to match with ours every time. Its time we led our life exactly as we want, to get a deeper satisfaction for ourselves. Cheers to all the wonderful women on my tour and on other tours who have the will and confidence to travel without their husbands, family, friends.
If anybody lasted through this post, I am grateful and obliged. Ciao and take care....
