Chris Loehmer Kincaid's Blog, page 14

Will I Make It? – Cambodia blog entry #15

 Afterthat miserable afternoon and evening on Friday, September 21, I woke up at twoa.m. and stretched. The left hip that was causing me so much pain when I wentto bed wasn’t too bad. I rolled over and went back to sleep.

Afew hours later I woke up again and once again stretched. I slowly rolled myway over to sit up on the edge of the bed, then tentatively stood up. My hipwas fine. All those tears of pain and frustration that I had been holding backthe night before, thinking I would not make today’s six-hour bus ride andtotally miss seeing the temples at Angkor Wat. Those tears almost spilled outagain, but this time because of thanks and joy.

Godis good, so, so good to me!

Thelong bus ride to Siem Reap went well; the coach bus we rode on was huge andmodern. We got to pick our lunch from a menu of several entrees, then after astop for a potty break and to buy snacks, they served us our meal as the buscontinued rolling into Siem Reap.

Itwas easy to fall in love with the town as soon as we got there. But I’ll writemore about that later. For today’s blog post, I need to write about the nextday.

Wegot up at three a.m. and were picked up by our tuk tuk at 4:30, arriving at ourdestination well before sunrise. The sunrise we never saw because of the heavycloud cover.

Butas day broke over Angkor Wat, the huge and iconic temple complex rose out ofthe dim light.

Imade it! Don’t ever, ever, EVER let anyone tell you to give up on your dreams. Anddon’t ever doubt that God listens to your prayers!

AngkorWat was built by the Khmer king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century. Thetemple was dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu and original religious motifs werederived from Hinduism. The temple was dedicated to Buddhism by the wife of thenext king, who encouraged him to convert. After the transformation from a Hinduplace of worship to Buddhism towards the end of the 12th century, Angkor Watcontinues to be a Buddhist center to this day.

AngkorWat is always packed with people when it first opens before dawn. But because it isso big, the crowds disperse enough after a while that it’s not so bad. The perimeter around its outer wall is over two miles, while the moatsurrounding it is over three miles around. Basically,it is really huge.

Butenough of my chatter – here are just a few more pictures, in no particular order.

I’m Going to be Okay - Cambodia blog entry #14

Give your worries to the Lord, and he willtake care of you. He will never let good people down. (Psalm 55:22, New CenturyVersion)

  Afterwe got off of Bokor Mountain, with its miserable weather, K took us to amangrove forest. 

Itwas a totally unexpected side trip, so we didn’t know what to expect. But itwas a fun boat ride out to the forest on the edge of the ocean and fascinatingto walk among the mangroves. 

Thenext morning, Friday, September 20, we took the van back to Phnom Penh where wecould relax for the afternoon and get ready for the long bus ride the next dayto Seim Reap. From there, on Sunday, we were scheduled to see the temples ofAngkor Wat.  

Myleft hip was starting to hurt and was really bad by the time we got back to thevolunteer house. The pain was bad enough that I was limping and wished I had acane. I wondered if I'd make it to the bus the next day or if my dream ofAngkor Wat was over and I would be stuck at the volunteer house all week, whilethe others had adventures in Siem Reap.

Forthe past year, when one of my hips gets all bound up and achy, the pain usuallylasts two days. Then I wake up the third day and pain is in the other hip fortwo more days. I tried not to panic, but I knew how these things went.

Dand I walked the two blocks to 7-11 for a snack. Walking usually helps. Sure,it loosened up while walking but tightened right back up when I stopped. And wehad a six-hour bus ride scheduled for the next day.

Ipopped a Vicodin, hooked up my TENS unit, and then laid down while D packed forthe trip. When she was done and turned her half-filled suitcase over to me, Islowly started setting my clothes and other necessities in it, feeling this wasa waste of my already limited energy.

Igimped downstairs for supper and then back up. Brushed my teeth and crawled inbed with a pain patch on, topping off my meal with a half of a pain pill, amuscle relaxant, and a prednisone. None of these efforts had ever cured thepain on other occasions, but I had to try it all.

Isaid my prayers, thanked God for letting me have the trip thus far. I wanted tobeg and bargain, tell Him that as long as I was already in Cambodia, why can’tHe let me be pain-free and make it to the temple I’d been dreaming about forfifty years.

Instead,I released a long sigh and turned my heart over to Jesus, shared my thoughtsand feelings, not just about this trip, but about my life over the pasteighteen months, all the pain I’d been living with and how just when I thoughtI was coming out on the other side and was going to live pain-free, somemiserable ache would pop up. And I told Jesus that I just didn’t understand itand I really did not understand God’s will for my life. I apologized for havinghad this fascination with a Buddhist temple complex for so long. I told Himthat I was willing to accept His will, would always be His child and wouldnever have any hard feelings.

Eventhough I had finally made it to Cambodia, maybe my dream of seeing Angkor Watreally wasn’t meant to be. And I was going to be okay with that.

Not Quite the Weather I Had Expected – Cambodia blog entry #13

 Thatfoggy, rainy, windy morning on Bokor Mountain in Cambodia, our next stop wasthe Le Bokor Palace. At one time, it had been an extravagant resort, a placefor the wealthy French living in Cambodia to retreat from the heat.  

Itlooked totally abandoned that day, but reviews on line say it's been renovatedand rooms are available for the night. K however said it is only available foroutdoor events, and the back patios did look like they could accommodate aparty. 

Butnot today!

Notsure I'd want to rent the grounds for a wedding and then have this kind ofweather. Unless it was a themed wedding of “The Shining.” Yikes! 

Andhere’s the picture you may remember that I shared on Facebook back inSeptember, so now you know the rest of the story. 

Well,you’ll know the entire rest of the story, if you click on this link for thehistory of this property. 

Afterwe were turned into icicles from the rain, wind, and cold, we drove a short wayto the abandoned catholic church. Soooo cool and eerie.

Wewere able to walk inside, wind blowing through the broken windows and rain drippingthrough the roof in places.

Just crazy and such a waste to be sitting decaying.The only furnishing was the altar, where people were still leaving flowers andsuch. 

Lastmiserable stop on the mountain was Wat Sampov Pram. 

Thewind and rain and fog were now unrelenting. After climbing a flight of wetstairs, we checked out the two Buddhist temples. 

Onethankfully had an overhang which gave Hippo a break. 

No break for my camerathough. The moisture was starting to break its spirit just as the elements weredoing to us. No matter how I tried to protect the lens and wipe it off when wesheltered in the car, the pictures it was taking started looking like nothingbut the dense fog outside. Then the camera lens stopped closing altogether whenI shut it off. I tried not to freak out. I had the camera on my phone and D wasthere taking all the same pictures anyway. 

Isilently tucked the camera away, hoping for the best.

Koffered to take us to Popokvil waterfall, but when he told us it was about aten-minute walk from the car to the waterfall, it was immediately unanimousthat we were happy just driving back to town. That is once we convinced ourdriver to turn off the AC.

Into the Fog – Cambodia blog entry #12

Aswe neared the top of Bokor Mountain, a large sculpture pierced the fog. Ourdriver pulled the car over and we disembarked. My inclination was to climb thestairs in front of me and see what that statue was, but K motioned us to go theother way and cross the road. 

Herewe found the ruin of the Old Royal Residence, also called Damnak Sla Khmao orBlack Palace. It was built of brick and black wood in 1936 as King Sihanouk’ssummer residence, where he and other royals could escape from the summer heat. 

Walkingaround it and inside of it, I thought it was mighty small for a “palace” – onelarge sitting or gathering room with a bedroom off to each side. 

Atiled bathroom was attached to each bedroom.   

Outside,I could imagine the views on a sunny day, but all I got that day was a wetface.

It looked like there was a kitchen of sorts just on the outside as well.In its day, there may have been more to the building, but time and the elementswere not its friend. Also, from research on the internet, I’m sure there weremore buildings nearby, creating a true king’s compound. 

Aswe walked back up the path, a serious rain shower pelted us and the windattacked our umbrellas. Hippo remained strong and faithful. Best six bucks everspent and no one would ever mistake me for someone else. 

Weshuffled across the road and up the steps to the stature. Yeay Mao or Lok YeayMao is an ancient mythical heroine and a divinity in the local popular form ofBuddhism in Cambodia. She is recognized mainly as the guardian of coastalprovinces of the country. 

Theconstruction of the Lok Yeay Mao statue started in February 2010 and wascompleted in May 2012. The statue was built of cement, 95 feet tall and 26 feetwide, and sits on the high ground near a cliff on Bokor Mountain. Because ofthe seasonal rains and winds, she needs to be repaired every two to three yearsto maintain her shape and color. 

Thewind was really picking up by then and the temperature was dropping. Wecouldn’t wait to get back into our waiting car and continue driving further upthe road as the fog enveloped everything. Thicker than pea soup, thicker thanmy lumpy Thanksgiving gravy.

Wecame up to a fork in the road, and K announced that there was a fancy resort onthat corner. We saw nothing but clouds and gave him a hard time, accusing himof making stuff up.

So,he responded by telling us there was an elephant! And we countered with, nothere was a dinosaur. It looked like a scene from Jurassic Park, the continuingrolling fog – anything could be lurking out there. All we needed was dramaticmusic in the background.

Mypictures just didn’t capture the mood. At our next stop, however, I think my camera caught the ambience admirably. 

So Much for an Inspirational Sunday Post - Cambodia blog post #11

 

Ihate doing this; I always try to post an inspirational blog on Sundays. But Ijust counted, and I possibly have another 24 stories to tell you about our tripto Cambodia. Posting on just Wednesdays and Fridays, that would take me intothe new year, and none of us wants that!

Sohere I am, Sunday morning, inspiring you with the beautiful riverfront walk inKampot.  

Theriver’s name is Preaek Tuek Chhu. Further downstream, according to Google Maps,its name is Prek Kampong Kandal. I thought maybe Kandal translated to river,but it really means Central in English. Tonle is river, and we’ll get to thatanother time (around post #23!). 

Alongthe riverwalk, a seahorse sculpture stands tall, spraying water from its mouth.It’s said to be a symbol of Kampot’s spirit – its relaxed atmosphere,fascinating history, and beautiful natural surroundings. 

Lessthan 2,000 feet away, where the Praek Tuek Chhu River meets up with anotherone, a large modern clock tower is located on Traeuy Kaoh Island. It was onlyjust unveiled on August 22nd of this year and is Cambodia’s tallest and largestclock tower, standing at 115 feet high, with a clock face nearly 33 feet indiameter. 

Thesun was out and the reflection on the river was beautiful. 

Acrossthe river, we could see our elevated destination for the morning. Bokor Mountainrose majestically into the clear blue sky. It would be a great day andunusually sunny up there, even though K said it was always foggy and rainy thistime of year. But we assured him that, because we were making the drive up themountain with him, the weather would be stellar.   

AToyota highlander with a driver arrived. We piled in and started our trek upBokor Mountain. As we slowly climbed, navigating one switchback after another,clouds started moving in. Followed by the fog, followed by an oppressive fogand drizzle.

Westopped at a waterfall alongside the road.

Anda few times for monkey photo ops. Little beggars just like – I almost wrote 'home' – but I mean Kenya.

Aswe continued to ascend the mountain, the fog and rain worsened and the windpicked up. Oh, we prayed, “it’s going to be clear on top of the mountain”.

Somuch for this being an inspirational post . . . Check back on Wednesday to see how this turned out for us. 

Being Goofy in Kampot - Cambodia blog entry #10

Wednesday,I took you on a tour of some of the sites in Kep, along the Gulf of Thailand.Today, I’ll introduce you to Kampot, which is a few miles inland. Wikipediasays that the population is 49,600, but it didn’t feel that big to us. 

It’san adorable town along the Preaek Tuek Chhu River, with many old Frenchcolonial buildings which have been converted into guesthouses, bars orrestaurants. 

Amongother things, the town is known for its durian fruit. But I kept referring tothe statue of one in the roundabout near our hotel as a pineapple. 

Afterchecking into our hotel, D and I set out on a mission. Betweenleaving the house in the morning, riding the tuk tuk, then switching to theminivan, I lost my umbrella somewhere. We were told there was a greatpossibility of rain the next day, so I thought I better buy one, somehow,somewhere.

Weleft the hotel and walked the two blocks to the night market, which like othermarkets in Cambodia, sold anything and everything. Inside were even severalkids’ amusement rides. 

Wewandered around a bit. None of the sales persons knew much English, but D hadbrought her umbrella to show them what we were looking for. The first one wefound was a long Mr. French umbrella. It might be handy if I needed a cane, butwould be cumbersome when not in use. The vendor dug around and found acollapsible one, but it still wasn't short enough to fit in my purse.  

Ikept wandering and found some kids’ umbrellas in several different colors. WhenI asked the woman to see them, she just opened the pink one which would not bethe one I would pick. But when I saw it, I fell in love. It had an adorablehippo in the jungle on it, and for six US dollars I couldn’t pass it up.

Iwas so happy. I’ve never even owned my own umbrella. I basically hate them andthink they are highly overrated and don’t even protect you from the rain thatwell. But there I was, the proud owner of Hippo. 

Ourhotel for the two nights we were in town was called the Neakru guesthouse.  Our room on the second floor was large andclean, with a large window overlooking the city and a balcony just outside ourroom. 

The beds were comfy. 

And the bathroom was – shall I say – adequate. There wasa leak in the ceiling above the toilet which made relieving oneselfdisconcerting.

Iwoke up in the middle of the night and had to go to the bathroom. I lay in bedfor the longest time trying to figure out what was in the room which I coulduse to protect my head from the dripping ceiling. My vinyl folder holding mytrip paperwork? Did they have a tray under the ice bucket like many hotelshave?

Think,Chris, think! 

Duh!There was Hippo sitting so happily in the corner, waiting faithfully to be putto work! 

Iwas so proud of myself and so relieved – and dry – when I crawled back intobed.

Kep, Crabs and other things - Cambodia blog entry #9

 

Alongthe Gulf of Thailand and less than twenty miles to the Vietnam border is the quaint town of Kep, Cambodia. It is the capital of Kep Province in southernCambodia, has a population of 35,990, and is 107 miles south of Phnom Pehn. 

Beforethe time of the Khmer Rouge in the late 1970s, Kep was a mansion-lined beachresort town that the French from Phnom Penh would escape to on the weekends.During the war, the mansions were pillaged or destroyed. There are stillmany that remain today, a ghostly reminder of the past. 

Afterthe fall of the Khmer Rouge, Kep became a seafood hot spot, mostly known fortheir crabs. 

Alsoavailable to buy in the seafood market is durian, known as “the king of fruit.”Durian has a spiny, thick husk ranging in color from dull green to yellow-brown. Its edible interior is a soft, custard-like pulp that can bewhite or yellow. But it is best known for its nasty odor, described assmelling like sulfide, blue cheese, or even sweaty gym socks. 

Ourguide K bought one and cut it open. I didn’t think it smelled that bad - just kinda funky - but I still wasn’t willing to try it after all the horror stories I had heard. The otherwoman with us, Helen, tentatively took a bite. The look on her face wasprecious. She totally kept it together but handed the rest of it off to him,saying in a reserved tone, “that's was enough. I'm done”.  Then she scrambled for a mint in her bag. 

Knext bought some tiny squids and waited for the vendor to fry them. He chowed downon them with glee. I would've tried a bite, claiming earlier that I would eatanything that was cooked done, except I couldn't picture biting a leg off thebaby. If someone had a scissors, maybe I would have snipped off a leg - wouldonly be like a baby green bean - but no, not chewing off an appendage. 

Wewandered down to the end of the pier and the pounding waves reminded me so muchof Lake Superior, even though it was warmer than Michigan’s UP. I was socontent. 

Fromthere it was a short drive to Kep Beach. We walked in the sand and got our feetwet in the waves. I was still content, even though my feet were damp and sandythe rest of the day, and I was as unphotogenic as ever.

TheWhite Lady statue sits at the end of a pier waiting for her husband – a fisherman– to return from the sea. She is a symbol of unconditional love and patience. 

TheKep Crab statue is not a random crab – he is a blue swimmer crab. Surely, anycrab aficionado would see that right away.

Lastalong the beach was the Lady and Fish statue, of which I could find noinformation online. Which is a shame as she is beautiful. 

All in all, a very good afternoon. 

Know that God has it under control

God says, “Be still andknow that I am God. I will be praised in all the nations. I will be praisedthroughout the earth.” (Psalm 46:10, International Children’s Bible)

I’ve been trying to share as much of my trip toCambodia as I can, including here on my Sunday morning post. But I had a reallystressful week. Besides the support from my dear husband, I kept hearing God’svoice, “Be still and know that I am God. Be still and know that I have thisunder control, turn your troubles over to Me and relax.”

I looked up Psalm 46:10 in lots of different versionsof the Bible and they all used the exact same words. Except the Messageversion, which gave us other words of hope.

Attention, all! See themarvels of God! He plants flowers and trees all over the earth, bans war frompole to pole, breaks all the weapons across his knee. “Step out of the traffic!Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, aboveeverything.” (Psalm 46:8-10, The Message Bible)

Hope you had a good week and that this coming week iseven better for you.

Laughter at La Plantation - Cambodia blog entry #8

 Afterthe last few very heavy posts, I thought I should add some levity to yourFriday. 

Ourfirst Wednesday in Cambodia, back on September 18 (how was that over a monthago!), we hopped in a van for the ride to Kampot and Kep. I’ll share more onthose two cute little towns later, but I thought I’d start off that area of thecountry with our tour of La Plantation Pepper Farm.  

Builtby a French couple in 2013, La Plantation employs over a hundred localsyear-round and an additional 150 during harvest. They provide their employeeswith three meals a day, medical coverage, and a pension, as well as schoolingfor the children of the workers. 

Anda beautiful place to work.

Ourguide told us lots of other details but I was zoning out by then. Pepper growthand production sounds fascinating, but it had already been a long day and Ireally wanted to take a nap.  

Butafter hearing all about the Kampot pepper, we walked to the next pepper field –black pepper, I think it was. 

Youhad to jump or take a long stride across a ditch to get to it so I think only fouror so from our group of 16 went across. D was one of them. One of the guys onthat side suddenly slipped in the mud by the plants and fell down. Most of usgiggled but the woman next to me knew him. And really started to guffaw. Whichof course fed my inappropriate chuckles. 

Thenout of nowhere, D sneezed. Enough heads turned her way that she had to respondwith “it's just the pepper”. Which just about put me - and everyone else - on the ground in peals oflaughter. 

Wefinished the tour and headed in for the pepper tasting. D and I really weren'tinterested but K talked us into. Naturally, the silliness continued. At onepoint, D took a peppercorn she didn't want and started to throw it out thewindow behind her, then realized that the window wasn't open. We lost it andpoor K had to walk away, shaking his head, probably thinking, crazy AmericanWOMEN!

Itfelt so good to just laugh and be silly after the couple of taxing days we’dhad. There would be more silliness in the coming days.

S-21 Prison - Cambodia blog entry #7

Afterour visit to ChoeungEk Killing Fields, we went to S-21 prison museum, also called Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.

Ihave no words. I feel I should just leave a long empty page here. No pictures,no words. Because there is nothing I can share which will convey the somber,horror of this former school.

Ican share the faces of those imprisoned, tortured, dehumanized, and ultimatelykilled there. You can look into their eyes and feel the breath catch in yourthroat. You can swallow hard and divert your head. Try to erase those hauntingfaces from your vision. But you can’t.

Theirlives deserve to be remembered. But as it is, I could only look at one wall ofthem. I had to skip a lot of the rooms altogether, as well as the audio clips themuseum supplied.

Instead,I sat in the previous school yard and imagined the laughing voices of thechildren who attended it prior to April 1975. Carefree, happy kids thinkingtheir whole lives were ahead of them.

Instead,politics snuffed out all of their dreams. The Khmer Rouge, or mostly the childsoldiers they indoctrinated, committed unspeakable atrocities, while the worldwas led to believe it was still the Civil War that the country had beenstruggling through and of course there was still Vietnam.

Somuch was involved. So much crap.

We’vebeen hearing for our entire lives about the unrest in the Middle East, and theyare at it again. But all over the world, millions of innocent men, women, andchildren have suffered and ultimately died for reasons no rational person cangrasp.

Thankyou for bearing with me. Next post, on Friday, I promise to present morepleasant places we visited in Cambodia.