The Penh – Viet diary Week 12

This week we stepped out, all of us literally and figuratively! The family invited me to visit a friend’s lychee farm close to the China border. An hour and a half out of the city and we were surrounded by nature, mountains, streams and fruit farms. 

Shared an elaborate spread with the villagers and drank beer with some of the farmers who seemed delighted. I stepped out and made a sincere effort of getting to know the people.

 I met a special child who due to some complications at birth had grown physically but the brain had not kept up, the most attractive little thing she was. We instantly connected, she kept seeking me out and I kept looking for ways to excuse myself from the others and spend time with her. Her mother cried when we saw how much we had bonded, she had led a rather difficult life and shared some stories with me. With a lump in my throat I excused myself, went for a walk found a lonely spot in the village and howled. I was overwhelmed by their simplicity; I was overwhelmed by how someone who had nothing could be so content? I was in awe of how happy the family was!  I couldn’t understand why life must be the hardest on the nicest people? This incident also shook me up as it mocked a recent stand on how I wished to live my life, it was a bold, progressive but compassionate stand.

Overwhelmed and humbled again, I ended the week with some somber thoughts. Life will keep throwing stuff at you and you have absolutely no control over that; you do however have a choice of surrounding yourself with your own little army that will fight, dodge, deflect these obstacles with you, and love you.

Reducere Ad Simpliciorem, The Art Of Dying And The Final GoodBye – The Penh Diary Week 9

Traveling, packing, adjusting to new places-situations and constantly shifting base is a part of ‘backpacking’. I say backpacking because in my head I am gradually starting to lean towards the simple and frugal style of traveling though god knows I would need to be born again to ever fully comply with all that it entails.

My time in Cambodia is up and I am surprisingly ready to move on even looking forward to the change. After exploring all the countries that had convenient visa laws I chose Vietnam to nest in for the next couple of weeks.

But there were some exciting and valuable encounters to be absorbed before I left the country and I got exposed to these literally in my last few hours in Phnom Penh.

7pm Reducere Ad Simpliciorem and the Art of Dying:

 I met John who was sitting at the table next to mine at Space. John taught literature in an Australian university and we began discussing well-written film scripts.  I tend to gravitate towards anyone who makes me think, considering I do so little of it voluntarily and John really got me thinking about life my sabbatical and the essence of time. He asked me how I would gauge if my sabbatical had been successful, I told him it was an internal feeling and I felt I was 75% there. He asked me what was the first thing I think of when I wake up and I said there was nothing fixed per se he said it’s the same for everyone across the globe, what time is it :)

John philosophy in life is Reducere ad simpliciorem Latin for reduce to simplify which is also my dad and brothers way of living life, I have been advised to follow it multiple times but its tough when you have a phd in complicate to increase stress in your life!  Since three weeks now circumstances and the depleting money reserves have forced me to live simply and boy do I feel free! I didn’t realize that with all the baggage physical and emotional that I was lugging around the stress it was giving me was crushing. I don’t know if and when I return to my material world I will be strong enough to continue living like this or will I be gobbled up by the consumerists side of society but for now I am loving it and living it and hence completely got what John was trying to tell me.

The night was young and I had yet to visit a couple of my favourite joints so I took my leave but not before asking John the mandatory what brings you here question. He very casually told me this was the last trip of his life and he was making the most of it. Why last I asked, well because I am dying of cancer!  Not exactly the answer I was expecting but since we had discussed so much about life etc I took a chance by asking him something I have always pondered about. I told him I have always hoped that I know exactly when I am going to die so that I could make the most of my last days but wasn’t sure if once I actually knew if I would be able to handle the truth. He said it made no difference. When I probed further he told me how he explained what was happening to his 10 year old daughter we are all pushed in front of the bus at some point, in my case I can see the bus!

I told John I was going to write about him in my blog and he requested I make it philosophical. Well I don’t know what this is but I have as always written from my heart. I have nothing but respect for you John, I am waiting for your email so that we can keep in touch and I hope I have done justice to the conversation we had. Enjoy the journey xoxo.

11pm The notion of family, friends and the whole support system jargon:

When I returned to pick up my bags (remember the 47 kilos?) from my apt I met the new volunteer who had replaced me, Muad a Dutch girl. I have always felt you just need a moment to really connect with someone, and that’s all it took with Maud.  We spent my last eve visiting all my favourite haunts in Phnom Penh and she joined me along with all the other volunteers. Several times through the eve I looked at her and mentally asked her ‘ who are you girl’? I felt we just understood each other perfectly even though we hadn’t really spoken much. She called me her soul mate while I joked that she was me in a much fitter body.

While we were all dancing, I looked around at these strangers from places far far away who had become my family in just a couple of weeks. Its ironical how at this stage I am witnessing this irreparable crack between a relative and don’t think I recognize or will ever feel the same away about this person but at the same time felt such warmth love and affection with people who were strangers in the recent past.  Bound by blood doesn’t necessarily result in bound by love I’ve deducted and as long as you are surrounded by people who get you and dance to the same tune as you, you are going to be alright. We do after all come alone and go back solo as well.  Invest in people you connect to, expect nothing in return and live happily.

4am The Final Goodbye

Remember the soul mate? So I had met him twice again and though I still felt the draw I was glad I had not gone back and reconnected with him as expected. Nonetheless I hate loose ends and felt I needed to go say goodbye. I was advised by well-wishers that it might not necessarily be the smartest move as I had gauged he was rather temperamental in my last interaction with him. I still dragged everyone with me and we went to his rooftop bar. My most favourite place in Phnom Penh.

He was initially thrilled to see me and inquired about my trip down south everything was fine till I told him I was leaving in three hours and had just come to say goodbye and then the dam exploded. He went bananas! I have grown up with three men with competing tempers so I am well versed with the whole anger package but this was something else.

I was yelled at for vanishing and not keeping in touch, yelled at for coming just  hours before leaving, yelled at for choosing to stay in a hotel as opposed to taking up his offer and moving in with him. Huh ?!

I told him I had just come to say goodbye and could not understand all this drama, but I guess not everyone is good with goodbyes. I was stunned felt hurt and very upset. I never intended to take this equation any further but I don’t like ending things badly and after a lovely eve this was how my last hour in the country was playing out. He walked away in a huff, I sat watching the skyline that I so loved for one last time. Waited for the tears to come, they didn’t he was clearly  not deserving of them took a deep breath got up and without so much as looking at him walked out of the bar. Got back to my hotel picked up my bags and with these bemused feelings left the country.

Alice in wonderland ... The Penh Diary Week 8

When I was shooting for one of my favourite shows Achievers Club we had a serial entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala as of one the guests. He said something, which has stayed with me ‘whenever you are faced with a dilemma about what to do, ask yourself what is the worst that could happen’ the worst had happened I had nothing left to lose! Right after my mugging when I was really feeling down and out Yan kept telling me soon the feeling would change to anger real rage, anger never really came but FREEDOM did. And that is a very liberating feeling. I haven’t felt this free in the longest time.

This feeling helped me a lot when I decided to go traveling down south to Kampot & Kep. Since I need to make my money last much longer I decided to stay in hostels and oh did I pick the right one! Kampot is a beautiful riverside town and I picked a hostel that was constructed on bamboos stilts ON the river, with a 180-degree view of untouched nature. It was an out of this world feeling; luckily that was just the beginning!

Hostel life is all about chilling out together and making new friends. When I hung out in the lobby the first day I felt socially awkward, everyone was chatting with each other but I have an inherent problem I cannot initiate a conversation! Once someone talks to me I can take over completely but making the first move is not in my DNA. So there I sat for a good one hour soaking in the beautiful view, kicking myself for not having completed my swimming lessons as everyone was indulging in all the water activities and seemed to be having a blast. I felt like I was doing a social experiment on myself and failing miserably. You need to smile more was what Ramon my boss in Phnom Penh had once told me. So I started mechanically smiling at people passing by, slowly the smile became more genuine as did the conversations, the evening ended on a spectacular note.

 The new liberated me wanted to try new experiences. I decided to rent a bike and go up Bokor Mountain. Several people warned me that the roads were twisted and an inexperienced rider might not make it all the way up. The old me would have gone into a shell and perhaps even fallen for the easier tours that everyone was hard selling. What if I had an accident or got a flat tire? Or even ran out of fuel? There are always two choices. Two paths to take. One is easy. And it's only reward is that it’s easy.

I was rewarded and how for taking the tougher route. I saw magic! The journey was far more enjoyable than the destination because I saw an orchestra in the sky, the clouds played hide and seek with the sun and i saw psychedelic lights come down, the landscape kept getting better, I rode through the clouds and caught myself singing several times. When I couldn’t recollect the lyrics I made them up, pure joy and happiness is what I was experiencing, I was actually high on life or nature?

A good 1:45 mins later I made it to the top, kind of exhausted. Found a gorgeous waterfall and took a nap below it then got up and rode across the mountain. By the time I got back to my hostel I was deliciously exhausted but extremely content. Taking a nap in the mixed dorm didn’t bother me at all; I surprise myself all the time nowadays. In the eve I hung out at the hostel and made some good friends, people who I connected to but didn’t get attached to, so the next day when I left we didn’t exchange email ids or numbers, just shared memories.

Having tasted blood I didn’t want to let go off the bike and rode 50 km to Kep a beach town with some seriously spectacular landscape. I enjoyed the best crab fry I have ever had on the beach before going to a lovely restaurant where I began the gin and tonic marathon. Some 10 drinks later I was exhilarated ahem! I wanted to go for the firefly cruise in Kampot, which was an hour away, check into the new hostel and take a shower before leaving. I didn’t have much time so I zipped on the highway feeling like i was inside the road racer video game i used to love playing as a kid and it was the best feeling ever. I evidently made it in one piece. I now completely get why men love their bikes more than their women!

I made it just in time for the cruise, and the magic continued … we sailed for a good one hour and just as I was beginning to wonder if the fire had left the flies cause I could see none, the motor was switched off and we docked in front of a massive tree. Pin drop silence, pitch-dark exterior and then I looked up! The tree was full of fireflies …

When you experience so much magic and get so high on life, you become like alice in wonderland. Seeing the same old things in a new way, and they have a completely different impact on you. The wand has been circled around my head and I have magically transformed for the better. Calmer, more at peace, a lot more accepting of what is happening to me and most importantly I am comfortable in my skin though honestly it feels like I have got a whole new skin that is prettier, happier and content. The journey has finally become as much of an external one as a far more fulfilling internal one.

The most peculiar comment I have received in the recent past ‘ You are unapologetically strange’  perhaps the old me would have dissected this for hours trying to decipher some good in this comment, today it makes me smile and I wear it as a badge of honour ;) 

Emotion Explosion - The Penh Dairy Week 6

My primary reason for getting away was that I felt I had stopped feeling anything, being a hard-core vibe and emotion person that felt like a death sentence that had clearly been executed and executed very well! This week I was flooded with feelings albeit of varied kinds. Barring the constant physical pain I have been through since I landed here, listing down the 3 most significant events of this week.

The Killing Fields –Killed me!

After procrastinating for a month I decided to man up and visit Choeung Ek, expecting a really horrific site. The lush green and peaceful venue sure had me fooled initially, for the ill informed this could very well be a scenic picnic spot. And then bit-by-bit the trauma unfolded, I survived upto the killing tree where I sat and wept completely aghast feeling extremely helpless and angry. The killing tree is where the Khmer rouge after killing the parents grabbed the kids and smashed their skull into the tree to ensure that the kids don’t grown up and seek revenge. You can still see bones and fragments of their clothing peeping up from the soil…

Take back: As my boss commented the worse race on earth is us, one maniacs idiotic vision and we all become degenerate slaves catering to his every whim. With all the stress and pressure of surviving in the world today, it is very easy to fly off the handle and before you know it you have snowballed into the next ISIS. We ALL have it in us to save a life as well as take it; lets not push the wrong buttons. Lets learn to rein it in and feel centered, whatever works for you deep breathing, yoga, meditation.  I know events like this have happened before, but I sincerely hope they never happen again.

My friend Lena

Lena had come to watch a movie at the theatre, she met another guy there and they were generally hanging out. Before leaving the theatre they asked me for directions and we got talking. They told me they were going to a party and asked me to join in. I was done for the day so I agreed. Three random strangers went to a couple of places that night, spoke a lot and had a great time. Lena asked me which theatre I was working at the next day, promising to come visit me again. I smiled not expecting her to actually show up, but she did J I have a lot of time free between movie screenings and she started coming and hanging out with me, she would get her bike we would explore the city, have a meal, exchange travel stories etc. Slowly (actually rather fast since its just been a week) we have become very close. I recently found out that we have a common friend whom she had met in Laos, the world is a village she joked.

Lena has helped me realize that the world is actually a village and all the love and happiness I felt with spending time with her, I would soon find with the next person who was traveling through. She is pushing me to explore my limits and breakout of the conventional traveler and become a real traveler. A part of me has already transformed, other parts are work in progress.

Take back: going to face my biggest test tom of not getting attached to people as Lena is leaving tom. Take each day as it comes, easier said than done, but hey at least am trying!