I ran into Joe and Jodi again at the alms walk and their guide took us through the Morning Market which was alive and bustling. The residents of Luang Prabang come here in the morning to collect what they intend to eat that day or evening, it was absolutely bursting with color—

I bought a couple coconut rice pancakes and found a little coffee shop in the middle of the market to sit and do some writing. The Lao coffee is surprisingly amazing.

After walking through town I had breakfast at the hotel and met up with Lan, the hotel manager, who arranged my cooking class for the day. There was a couple who would take the class with me. They were from the Bay Area, David and Lynn. Lan drove us to another market outside of town to talk about the Lao food and the ingredients we were going to use in the class.

This market was much bigger than the Morning Market and it had some gruesome bits in there which are not photographed— namely Buffalo parts, hacked to pieces on a table. 

We returned to the hotel where they’d set up a kind of kitchen along the Nam Khan river.

Lan translated and Noy did the teaching. 

Our menu included:

1. Tom Kha Gai (tofu coconut soup)
2. Som Tam (papaya salad)
3. Gang Pa Nuea (jungle style tofu curry)
4. Gang Buad Fakthong (Pumpkin Coconut Milk dessert)

And they gave us a printout so we can make it on our own when we leave.

And when we were finished they set a table by the river where we enjoyed all four courses. 

The French left Laos in 1953, but they did not take their window shutters, architecture, nor cafe culture with them. At night the streets are lit with glowing stings of bulbs. Modest pubs, French and Laotian restaurants murmur but don’t bustle— at least not now, during the hot, hazy season. In the morning, at first light, drums sound and monks take their morning walk to collect alms. Cafes open and whir, the morning market bustles for a few hours, but then goes away before afternoon. Two rivers converge— the Nan Khan and the Mekong. It’s cooler than Cambodia, cooler than Bangkok. Traffic is light, the food is excellent.

I could stay here for much longer than I have time for at the moment. 

My first morning I woke before dawn to see the monks take their alms walk around the block. This is a ritual called Tak Bat. They leave the temples, and come out by the hundreds in a single, silent line. Buddhists sit along the path and offer alms— usually in the form of sticky rice. The monks take the rice and every block or so there is a basket where the monks deposit anything extra, to return what they’ve been given.

It is quite a beautiful site. 

As I understand it, ill-informed tourists are starting to disrupt this ceremony. You are supposed to dress appropriately, keep a distance, stay silent, if you photograph you cannot use a flash. And if you are not Buddhist you really aren’t supposed to participate in giving of the alms.

But some townspeople have turned this into a cash opportunity. They sell baskets of sticky rice to tourists so they can sit and give alms. Apparently sometimes the sellers are giving away rotten food and monks have been reported sick. To do this appropriately you really are supposed to ask your hotel to prepare sticky rice the night before or else make it yourself. As for myself, I just observed,

The next morning, April 10, I decided to take it easy. I did my routine, had breakfast, packed, took a dip in the pool and said goodbye to my hotel.

I arranged a ride to the airport with the hotel for $8. When I arrived there was some kind of dance performance in full swing IN THE TERMINAL. They sang and played instruments and danced. I watched for a while. It must have something to do with the Khmer New Year. It seemed to tell a story about archers shooting down a horse. The footwork of the dancers was great.

While waiting to board I saw a man wearing a Nevada Wolf Pack shirt. I struck up a conversation about it and it turns out he is from Reno and the woman he was traveling with was from Tahoe City. Joe and Jodi. We got to talking and we boarded a very empty flight.

Joe eventually came up and sat next to me and we talked for a while. He is retired, a former engineer turned into a dentistry practice. Lived in Reno for 20 years. We talked about Tahoe, Reno, Gardnerville, Asia. I ended up losing track of them after we arrived but I’d find them the next day on the street in Luang Prabang. I kind of figured I would.

When we touched down in Laos, the haze was so thick you could cut it with a knife. I could already smell it through the plane. I advised Joe and Jodi to get a mask if they didn’t have one already. I started to regret my plan to go somewhere with awful air. 

As I stood in line to get my Visa on arrival the sky outside grew darker and inside moths gathered around the lights until they formed a cylindrical swirling of chaos. Eventually they reached my neck, my back. I swatted at them. The guards laughed.

“What you call this?”

M-O-T-H. I told them. He looked it up on his phone. “This?” Yes, that. In Lao we call them “Mao.”

I got my passport back— and now my passport has more filled pages than blank pages, not a bad achievement! I tried to wait for Joe and Jodi, but the moths were getting really bothersome, so I found my driver and got out of there.

It was a short drive to my hotel. We crossed the Mekong River and he dropped me off at my hotel— The Burasai Heritage. Right on the river. The hotel has more of a guesthouse feel to it, but my room looks right over the river on the patio. 

I went for a walk to get a vegetarian meal. As I walked I found the little river village town to be decorated in little lights. The streets were narrow, and quiet, and well lit. I passed two temples in two blocks. I felt like I was in Carmel-by-the-sea, without the luxury stores and malls, and any regret I had about coming here vanished. 

The meal was excellent and I stayed on my balcony sipping tea until entirely too late. I have to wear a mask when the haze gets bad, but the lights on the river were worth it.

Tomorrow morning I had to get up early. Hundreds of monks in bright orange robes begin their alms walk at dawn. And I’m going to see it. 

April 9 (cont’d)

At 10am we went back out to the two other main temples around the Angkor Wat area. My guide was worried that “all the Chinese are here now.” And they were. The tour busses were here en masse. My guide re-routed our plan to adjust to the mess.

“First we go to Ta Prohm because all the Chinese are right now at Angkor Thom.”

Ta Prohm is the site of the first university in Asia. The king, Jayavarman VII, was the “greatest king” of the Khmer Empire. He built the most temples of any king — and a king’s greatness was measured by how many temples he could erect. During his reign he built over 100 temples and over one hundred hospitals, and perhaps most significantly-- he built the site of Ta Prohm to include the first university in Asia. They taught and studied everything— math, science, religion, language, astronomy. 

But today Ta Prohm is known for the mysterious trees that have intertwined themselves in the walls. If anyone saw Laura Croft: Tomb Raider, then they’ve seen these strange sights. (Incidentally, Gary was a producer on that film and he came to Cambodia with Angelina Jolie when there was little more than a dirt path. They slept in sleeping bags. And this was about the time when Angelina first adopted a Maddox from an orphanage— in Cambodia. 

But back to the trees. 

The way these trees grow is that birds and the wind drop and deposit seeds on the roofs and walls of the temple. Within the moss of the stones, the seed grows into a sapling. As the roots of the trees grew, they searched, as roots do, for water. They wound down the walls, around the stones, through the walls and roofs. And now they are every bit a part of the temple as the stones and engravings themselves. 

Still today people are lining up massive chunks of stone and marking them by number to figure out where the pieces went. It might be the longest and hardest three dimensional jigsaw puzzle in history— partly because it requires knowledge of history to assemble.

My guide then showed me this small tower: 

He took me inside, and had me stand in the middle. He clapped his hands he made noises with his mouth— nothing. Then he thumped on his chest and the whole tower vibrated in echo. I tried it and it happened again. He told me the idea was that your hands and lips will not reach the gods but they can hear the beating of your heart.

Very cool.

Before we left he showed me this hidden gem—

Peek-a-boo. The tree did this naturally.

ANGKOR THOM

We got back in the car, he handed me a cool rolled towel scented with Lemongrass and a bottle of water (he did this each time we got back to the car). And we headed to our last stop— Angkor Thom.

The above is the entrance to the temple. Four faces, facing each direction. Each face different than the other.

In this photo you can get a sense of all the crumbled stones to the left. Pieces that don’t yet have a place yet. But hopefully they will someday. Also, I waited quite a while to snap this photo. This was the fewest amount of people I could get in it.

I mean, can you believe the amount of time it took to carve these faces into stone, by hand?!

This last photo, my guide said, “Why is that fat woman in the way?” Then she walked in the temple. And he whistled to his guide friend to get out of the shot. I snapped this next one with no one in it— which is pretty incredible.

Shortly after this my guide drove me back to the hotel. I tipped him 100,000 Riel, which is probably like two bucks, and took a photo with him. Thank you Mr. Sopheap! 

I can’t say enough about his services. He really knows his stuff, but more than that he loves this stuff. He knew each moment during sunrise when it counted most, and how to get around the rules, and where to stand. I’m very grateful for him and for Gary for arranging this incredible experience. I’m definitely recommending him.

I took the rest of the afternoon to cool off. I took a nap, I hydrated. After a while I walked into town to see if I could find a market to poke around. I walked for a while, but if I’d gone just a couple more blocks I would’ve come across the big market that I’d end up going to later that night anyway.

I stopped into a Starbucks and ran into the guy who was our Stunt Coordinator, Charlie, on THE STRANDED. Total coincidence. He’s also an actor and since his work with Stranded is over he took a job acting in a film in Siem Reap. It was fun to bump into him and catch up a little.

That evening I hired a Tuk Tuk to take me into town. I found a Vegetarian Restaurant that had great reviews. It was also in a part of town I wanted to go to. So for $2/USD I had a driver take me into town.

Pub Street is what it is called, and it is turning Siem Reap into something of a party town. It was just a few downtown blocks next to a Night Market, but it was very vibrant. Oh, if I were ten years younger, I’d find all kinds of trouble here.

My restaurant was down this little alley.

I had Khmer Vegetable Curry and it was out of this world, and about a quarter of the price they charged at the hotel. 

And look, even the dogs get a kick out of Pub Street. Here’s this stray pup just trying to figure out what everyone is doing.

And… Fried Ice Cream Rolls, because I'm on my time.  

I'm still processing the profundity of this experience. Bear with me.

I woke at 3:30 so I could meditate and write my morning pages and properly caffeinate myself before the guide pickup at 4:45am. Mr. Sopheap was his name and he met me promptly in the lobby with a pressed official collared guide shirt. I assumed we were going in a Tuk Tuk, he showed me the way to the Lexus where a driver was waiting.

Mr. Sopheap began talking as we drove through the dark streets of Siem Reap, turning from the main drag onto the darker road leading to the temple. He told me that this was the best tour they offered. (Gary had taken this same tour two weeks earlier and loved it). We were going to visit Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, and Ta Prohm. 

As we drove in the dark he told me that great astronomers and architects chose this site because not only does the sun rise directly over the highest steeple on the equinox, but it directly corresponds to a Naga (mythological serpent in Hindu and Buddhism) constellation. Some 70 temples are situated along this constellation. But the very head of the Naga rises in exactly this point— Angkor Wat.

We drove to the East Gate, which is the back of the temple. I’d read that this was the best way to enter as all the tourists enter through the west gate. We got out of the car and were alone save one small tour group. My guide walked fast and held a flashlight. We turned onto a dirt road and walked faster, presumably to put the small tour group well behind us.

“We do not come to see the sun rise at Angkor, we come to see the sky change color, the clouds change color, and to see the way the light touches the temple. Look up at the stars. Beautiful.”

They were.

“I’m going to turn off the flashlight now so that our eyes can adjust and we can see the temple.”

He turned off the light and very soon my eyes did adjust, and the first thing it made out was the shadow of a steeple against a shadow of a sky.

“Beautiful.”

He’d repeat this refrain for the rest of our morning and afternoon together. 

We paused when we got to the rear of the temple. We were all alone, though the tour group did gain on us.

“Why they have their flashlights on?” He asked. 

He let the tour group pass us and go around the perimeter. Once they were out of site he said, “Come on.” And we went into the first perimeter of the temple, which I understand now is something you’re not supposed to do. But it was all us and we were all alone walking along the walls of this temple. 

He stopped me when we got to the west side of the perimeter and told me to turn around. The first etches of light were coming into the sky. “Beautiful.”

I would soon understand that my guide had the tour timed down to the minute. He knew the best places, the best views, and at exactly the window in which to stand in those areas. He’d show me them all over the next hour.

Read more

We’re off on Hiatus for Songkran and I’m taking advantage of this time to do some personal travel before meeting with Jim in Chiang Mai to look at the first episode edits.   

I had a 10:10am Air Asia flight out of DMK bound for the Kingdom of Cambodia. As I went through immigration they asked if I would like to extend my Visa. I hadn’t planned on this being an option, but I knew it would come in useful as I planned to be back on set for another week after I return. I agreed.

I waited in a small room and took a number— 11. While there I scanned the signs. It appears you are welcome to overstay your visa (with a fine) up to 90 days. If you stay longer than 90 days then you are not welcome to return for another year. If you stay longer than 180 days, 3 years, and so on.

While waiting I met a man named Bobby from Indonesia who asked if I was an English teacher. I told him I wasn’t but I understood why he asked. He told me that he was an English teacher and had been teaching in Thailand for 8 years. We had a nice talk and then they called my name, I requested an extension, I stupidly requested multi-entry, which I won’t use. It was the Visa I was supposed to get in SG, instead they only issued me single entry. Now I have multi-entry, which cost 4k baht as opposed to 1200, for less than a month left on the Visa itself, and with my next flight leaving the country being a one-way ticket to Los Angeles on April 25.

Well, at least it’ll look cool in my passport. 

The flight was crowded, but otherwise a breeze. I barely had time to fill out my immigration card, they did not offer drink service, that’s how quick the flight was. 

The Siem Reap airport makes Burbank feel like Charles De Galle. Tiny. And it requires Visa on Arrival, which is different from a normal Tourist Visa. (I learned all this only the day before). You need a small passport sized photo and about $30 USD.

I didn't have USD but luckily I had two photos of me that production had printed for my Thai Visa (I didn't end up using them). Gary had given me some Cambodian Riel (4000 Riel = $1 back in Bangkok). I tried to pay with Riel but the guards insisted on cash. I was not in Thailand anymore, no sweet apologetic faces. Just a finger pointed toward the ATM machine.

Look, I get it, the Khmer Rouge was a pretty awful government— and these guards definitely lived through that mess. I'd be on edge too. 

Strangely the ATM machine dispensed American Dollars— the first I'd held in months. I found out later that American currency is not only widely accepted it's actually preferred in certain places (now I get why Gary pawned off all that Riel on me!)

My driver picked me up and it was a short ride through town— a much smaller city than I'd expected. I learned that no building can be higher than the temple— a good thing because Siem Reap is going through tremendous growth at the moment (my guide would tell me EIGHTEEN PERCENT growth every year). Last year they put in a Hard Rock Cafe. Point being: buy in Siem Reap now.

The hotel greeted me kindly and warmly. Showed me to my pool view room. I cooled off, drank some water, unpacked and ate lunch at the hotel restaurant. The guide service called me in my room to confirm the pick up tomorrow morning at 4:45am.

I didn't want to fuss with getting a temple ticket at that early hour so I had the hotel call me a Tuk Tuk to take me to the ticket office. His name was “Rah” though I'm sure that isn't how it's spelled. “$10” he quoted me. I'm sure I was being ripped off but since the hotel called him I felt obliged to accept.

I got to the office a little early (they start selling next day tix at 5pm) and so I bought a wide brimmed hat like a good tourist who was wary of tomorrow's excessive sun exposure. “Do you want to go see Sunset today? A little extra. $7” quoth Rah.

Well, here I was stuck at the ticket office (which is nowhere near the temple) and wanting to see Sunset. (If you hold a next day pass they let you see Sunset) So I accepted again and let him hose me all the way to the west gate. He dropped me off and told me he'd wait for me (btw I hadn't paid him yet, no credit card either, this is all on trust, I could've taken any number of Tuk Tuk’s back).

And so... Angkor Wat at Sunset. Eclipsed only by what I'd see in less than 12 hours. 

And of course… Angkor Pup

Tourist central. Too crowded. In fact. I walked a dusty street which led to the west gate. I'd later learn that this was once a highway which connected a hundred temples all the way to Thailand. Merchants were selling their goods— all tourist trappings, some food, all were very assertive sales people. Children running up to you to sell postcards “10 for $1, very handsome!”

After I watched the sun set I found Rah napping in the Tuk Tuk. He woke up and drove me back down the main road to town. He tried to upsell me his other services— restaurant? Drinks? Need a lady?

I had him drop me off at the hotel. I ate at the hotel, which was overpriced but delicious. A Khmer Vegetable Curry. 

After that I went upstairs and got under the covers by 8:45. I had a very early morning to catch a once in a lifetime experience. I laid out my clothes, prepared the water boiler and coffee, my notebook and headphones.

When next I’d see daylight, it would be against one of the most incredible feats of architecture still standing on this earth. 

It felt so nice to come back to a controlled environment this week, with reliable Air Con, steady Wifi, and no sun nor bugs. I once encouraged younger writers to write the words “EXT. EXOTIC BEACH” often as they will get to scout and spend time on lovely beaches. I rescind that advice. Please write something like “INT. MALL” more often. It’ll be much easier on everyone. And you’ll be happier.

Our Director’s daily prayer at the spirit house near set, asking for permission to work on their land, for a safe shoot, and yesterday, specifically, to hold off the rain. Yesterday’s constant threat of thunderstorms yielded only two downpours: once at sunrise, once at lunch break, never when rolling.  What do you do to connect with a higher purpose before you commit to a day’s work?

It’s been a very long and hot three weeks, and an even longer month on the beaches and in the jungles. Though I will miss the ocean and the daily chance to dunk myself into it, Bangkok sounds extraordinary. I have more than a little bit of laundry to attend to. 

Thanks Chumphon. 

Rest, poor girl (not pictured) by marker 389 / 300 along Scenic Route 4004 in Chumphon. You couldn’t have been there long, still, by the side of the road. Your pack howled and I kneeled. I tried to flag someone for help but I speak even less of their language than I do yours. When I knew we’d have to do this alone I howled with your pack. I prayed at the Spirit House near the shuttered Palm farm where you lay. I’m not even sure that this is proper way to use a Spirit House. I don’t know what I’m doing other than my best. Tell me what the rain felt like this morning, tell me what morsels you had for breakfast. And maybe I can tell you that I haven’t seen so beautiful a sky tonight in a very long time, and the crickets are playing for you now. You are loved, you are loved, you are loved, even if you never had a name, you are loved. May your pack make you feel not alone tonight, may my prayers reach to rub the soft of your belly, and the wind, may it tickle the hairs on your feet, wherever they have traveled. 