10 Day Meditation...

Back in Thailand, we headed straight to Bangkok. This time bangkok didn't hit us as hard as the first time with all its busyness all it's tourist madness because we knew what to expect and where to go. Shortly after we arrived we met Dennis and Sarah which is the most random thing ever, because we met them first in Australia on the barry way in the victorian alps which is in the middle of nowhere exactly on the day George's tyre was cut open on the side and we had to fill it with bark to continue and we ran out of food...older blog entry...anyway they passed us on this gravel road and George recognized their faces again on Khao San road even though we just saw them for half a minute in winter hats. So we had a really nice time with them before we went to the meditation course with the public bus north to Phitsanulok. Up in the mountains is this beautiful Vipassana meditation center completely run by volunteers. Everybody got shown the own little room just with a bed and a cupboard men and women in separated dormitory blocks and the noble silence began which means no eye contact, no talk or gestures. The meditation form was invented by Buddha itself and it basically is designed to break the habit pattern of the body to get rid of all the cravings and aversions and, in the end become enlightened. The day started with a bell at 4 in the morning and ended after about 10 to 12 hours of meditation in the lotus position with breaks and really good vegan food 3 times a day. It also brings up all the old sankaras which are the cravings and addictions emotionally or physically and we both had hard time between crying and pain on one hand and 1 hour orgasmic feelings on the other hand. It was a really amazing and revealing experience but basically it is the start of live of meditation with the goal to become the master of your mind, live in the present moment and understand on the experiencing level that everything in the universe is coming and going and there is nothing which is permanent... we can't describe it but it definitely changed our lives and opened up a whole new world for us...try it out!

Now we are back in Bangkok and about to make further plans for Christmas... update coming soon! Hard to decide which direction to go but we don't want to spend it in bangkok!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYBODY FROM THE PUMPKINS!!!!
Have fun in the cold weather, we will be thinking of you, ha ha!

f

From Phnom Penh to Thailand

the easy way to fix a child onto a bike
Bayon Temple
they call her pie, georgepie

in former times the elephants were carrying the stones for the tempel, now they carry fat tourist i wonder what is worse...

the pumpkins

there is only one shady spot for this guard

monkey business

busloads of these creatures swirling around the temples

my lovely steel horse
the boatracers training for the big day

siem reap at night

slow motion
rice farmers always say hello

four! kids on a bike

one of the stonemason take away stalls


its lilly season

monks on their way back to temple after collecting food

Long time no see, but finally we managed to sit down and write again!

The place we are writing from is actually country number 2 of our trip, Thailand. How we came here we tell you now:
So after our 10 nights in Phnom Penh that we really enjoyed we took of first North to a little town called Skon and then westwards on the northern site of the big lake that kind of divides cambodia, called Tonle Sap. The roads were pretty good and the traffic only light. Actually we really really enjoyed the ride because the countryside is just beautiful! It is pancake flat, mostly wet land which means flooded rice fields or little ponds are dotted along the way beside the street and every house is build on stilts, like in the mekong delta vietnam. The people are just the friendliest people we ever met in asia, the food is delicious and cheap...nothing to complain about! On the way to Siem Riep we slept in some pretty remote places but we always felt welcome as people were smiling their heads of. We were a little bit in a hurry to get to Siem Riep because we heard that the Water festival is on which is the biggest happening for the Khmer people in the whole year. We arrived actually right in time since the whole river in the city was crowded with people preparing for the big boat race while at night hundreds of lights in the trees were shining in different colours.

The main reason most people come to Siem Reap is the mighty Angkor Thom, which is the ancient capital of the khmer empire, in former times including thailand, laos and vietnam also known as Angkor Wat.

There is not much to tell because this is something you really have to see! Splattered over many many miles are a lot of temples originated from the 9th to the 16th century and they are unbelievable beautiful and impressing! You can't see it on the pictures in its full grace and still after 3 days of visit we have only seen a little bit of it. We were cycling every day about 60kms around the area to visit the temples and escape the tour busses that flood the area from about 8.30am with flash firing armies of all nations and ages. Still there is always a way to go around the busy places or come very early in the morning to see the sun rising and we had a great time watching the monkeys play and the light change in the temples. It all has a special feel about it and one day we cycled around on top of the old outer wall were nobody else seems to go. There were massive old fig trees towering high into the sky, growing on top of the old walls made out of stone once transported there on the back of elephants from 70kms away...

The 4 Days in a busy town made it easy for us to continue our way into the sticks again, this time not as easy going because of the surface of the road. 30kms west of Siem Reap the pavement stopped on the main highway which connects Siem Reap with Bangkok, we heard it doesn't get paved because there is an national airline which is very very interested to maintain that the plane is more apealing than the bus and good old bakschisch (bribes) does its work.

After we got used to it, it wasn't too bad and we still managed to make 60 to 80kms a day with headwind and monotone food supply (soup). Once we turned of the main highway north we were as much in the sticks as never before and the people just stared at us like we were some animals from the zoo. (Actually we might have looked a bit wild with all the red dust everywhere) This 200kms of rough dirt road with potholes that can swallow a whole truck paid its toll in form of flat tire and a broken pannier mount, fixed with a shoe lace. The road got smaller and the villages were shrinking, it made us hardly believe that there would be an international border crossing but after climbing over the final hill of mud and holes we made it.

As soon as we crossed the border we found ourselves back in civilization and on billiard smooth pavement, driving on the left side again, and 7elevens to buy huge much needed ice coffees!

So long, we hope you enjoy the pictures!

We love you all

Love us back!

Write in our GUESTBOOK! (No Swearwords!!!!)

you may not hear from us for a while because we going to do a ten day meditation course in a temple in the jungle in the north of thailand with no speak no see no nothing just us and our thoughts, called vipssana.

We will write you afterwards if we haven't gone insane...

byebye

A Day At The Orphanage

Hello!

so we have crossed the border into Cambodia and relaxing in Phnom Penh. Crossing the border was nice and easy, even though it looked as though it was closing time and we had to wake the sleeping visa man to get into the country and stamp our passports it ook no time at all! Instead of taking it easy we decided to get up really early the next day and peddle all the way to Phnom Penh. We ended up doing 135km to get here, but went through beautiful rice fields, the first 10/20 kms was just a straight path and on either sides rice fields as far as the eyes could see..amazing. locals were farming in them or paddling through with wooden boats. Our stop for lunch ended up being pretty eye opening. The only thing the lady had to eat was what looked like hard boiled eggs, so we ordered two. After the first crack we were a bit puzzled why the liquid coming out was all gooey and non egg like color. Nils opened his first(very thankfully) and found a half cooked chicken inside, full with bones, feathers, wings etc. It was cooked just in time for it to be not quite a baby chicken and the yolk was still there ready to eat. I nearly spewed everywhere and couldn't watch, Nils managed to tuck in and polish mine off as well due to the fact we didn't want to look rude as they don't have much to eat themselves and throwing away what to them is great food seemed wrong! The lady looked at me as though it was pretty stupid to have this reaction but im still calling Nils abortion eater and never would like to see one again!

Phnom Penh is a really interesting city, much smaller than Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh, the poverty is much more noticeable and spills out on every street. We are staying on the lake side, the rooms are very basic with a bed and what seems to be cardboard for walls, but the building struts out onto the lake and the view is great, especially at sun set, just on the right is a big mosque with a huge golden roof that shines in the sun and all the way around you can see the small shacks and buildings the locals live in. We are sharing the place with about 1000 mosquito's however! There are many children everywhere begging or just playing in the roads, all of whom are very playful and want to speak to you and say hello, some in the more tourist areas are just plain cheeky, but great fun. We hired a tuk tuk for the day and made our way around the tourist traps. Firstly we were taken to a prison used in the pol pot time for torture, killing and interrogation. This was mind blowing. We were able to see the rooms and equipment they used and see the mug shots of many of the 1000s that were killed. After, we then visited the killing fields. Funny as it sounds the area now is very pretty, and the shrine filled with the skulls and the bones of the victims like a temple, but we saw the mass graves and after the prison and this we had had enough death for one day. Phnom Penh has an amazing grand palace($6 for tourists and 50c for locals!), huge grounds with many different temples and praying areas. The place was busy with monks with whom we sat and chatted with and is definatley the most beautiful we have seen in Asia so far.

We have stopped here for longer than expected but the city has so much to see, every road or park or market is just so interesting. We also bumped into some people we met in Vietnam and spent some time with them.

Yesterday we visited the orphanage, its something i have wanted to do since being in Asia, and the experience was great. we bought rice, fruit, toys, pens with us and as soon as we got there we were accosted by the children holding hands and asking us questions. There are about 140 children living in this one, the space is pretty small, they have a small room for teaching and a stage for play and music workshops. All the children had smiles and were beautiful. I sat and played with the girls, we did each others hair, talked and drew pictures. Nils enjoyed picking up the kids and swinging them around and playing drums. It was so hot in there and they had so much energy, after having two on each arm and one on your shoulders shouting and running around a few hours took it out of you! They rely a lot on visitors as the government doesn't help at all with funding, and even though they seem happy you can see that there is a shortage of food, equipment and facilities. It was also interesting to talk with some of the older guys who had lived there for 5/6 years and in there 20's.

We hope you like the pictures, this day was a highlight of our trip and it was hard to chose which ones to add! So far Cambodia is fantastic, the culture and people are so friendly and cant wait to visit more.

Although we bought lots of toys they all much preferred the cardboard boxes! nils had at least 2 at a time in 1 box swinging them around...great fun!

The living, play and sleeping area

This is the entrance to the orphanage

Nils learning the bongos, they had a small area for drums and wooden blocks

Piggy backs and jumping around was the favorite game

Mark, one of the guys with us with some of the kids

I took along my tattoo pens, which the girls loved. This girl had been living here for 5 years and now is 20 years old

we brought with us all kinds of fruits and toys for the children

As soon as we got to the orphanage, this girl grabbed my hand and took me to her sleeping area to chat and draw pictures

Welcome to Country 5! Cambodia!

riceballs fried with vegetables, 1000r for two {30cent }
Banana bike!
We stopped at this ladies stall for lunch
Dirt roads, thankfully we didnt have to take this one, however there are many to come!

Many of these drove past us

This is one of the side stalls, this fruit was a bitter tasting pomegranite

Local market
Monks on their way to the temple

Cambodian school