aimlessly ali

Cambodia: Part Two Angkor Wat

3:40 in the morning and my alarm cuts short the end of my dream; but I don’t mind because I’m about to go experience a real life dream come true! We’re both a little groggy from lack of sleep and we have a quick deadline that doesn’t leave us much time to get ready – no time even for coffee or breakfast! – but I don’t care at all because nothing can dampen my enthusiasm for getting out to watch the sun rise over the ancient temples of Angkor Wat. I’m buzzing with a giddy energy, and already envisioning all the epic photos I’ll be able to take.
The drive from our hotel in Siem Reap to Angkor Wat was about half an hour, and some time during those thirtyish minutes it started to rain. The guide made a comment about how nice it was for us to be here in the rainy season, as it meant there would still be water in the ponds. “More much beautiful this way.” Within three steps of exiting the van the rain intensified and all of us travellers made the instinctual decision to buy the plastic rain ponchos being offered us. We finally enter the complex and try to get ourselves set up in the best spots for the sunrise photos, mostly by following the crowd of other ponchos and umbrellas. Apparently we had about 25 minutes before the big moment. But the rain kept pouring and it was starting to become obvious that we wouldn’t see a bright sunrise through all the rain and clouds. I had left my umbrella in the room that morning, and the worst part was that I hadn’t forgotten it, I deliberately took it out because I didn’t want to be bothered carrying it all day; that fact added to my mood steadily souring as I tried to shelter my camera with a plastic bag. Standing in the rain and mud I snapped a few photos but it wasn’t long before I was ready to give up. Cliche as it is, I kept thinking “man, when it rains it pours!” because my list of little grievances was suddenly flooded. No Sunrise. No golden photos. Ruining my camera in the rain. Water dripping down my neck, mud coating my sandals and toes. No coffee or breakfast. Not enough sleep. I finally bought another umbrella from a vendor because at least that could protect my camera, and didn’t even care that I paid his first price instead of barganing down to a more reasonable price.

Our tour group of seven made the unanimous decision to return to our hotel for breakfast in the hopes that the rain would stop during that time, and I’m sooo glad we did. That was the reset I needed, and by the time we returned I was on my way back to being able to enjoy it all. The rain did stop, sun came out again, and we were able to explore the three main temple ruins like we had originally planned – Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, and Ta Prohm.

Throughout the centuries in Cambodia’s history the religion practiced here changed between Hindu and Buddhism depending on who was in power. It’s left behind an amazing mix of carvings depicting Vishnu and Rama next to statues of Buddha, both hemmed in together by the surrounding dense jungle.

Angkot Wat is unlike anything else I’ve ever seen, and exploring through the complex is still a complete dream come true. If you ever get the chance to go there yourself don’t pass it up – but just be open to having a different experience than what you may have pictured. I didn’t get the stunning sunrise photo like seemingly the rest of the Travel Bloggers were able to but in the end I don’t even miss it.

Cambodia: Part One

After Tricia and I spent our first two days on our own, it was time to join the tour I’d booked. I really like to sometimes have the mix of solo travel and organized tours, and we get to do both on this trip. For 8 days we’ll be part of a small group on a budget tour adventuring across three countries. Frankly, it wasn’t off to a great start, as half of our group was given incorrect information on where to meet and join the tour but thankfully it didn’t take long to sort out and we were already close by.

First thing the next morning we set off for our bus and settled in for a four hour ride headed towards the Cambodian border.

I like seeing the countryside this way; getting a compilation picture of what life might be like there as I gaze out the bus window. Plus the little roadside stands we make pit stops at have never failed to delight my curious adventure side. Have you ever had the pleasure of browsing a shelf of preserved cobras and scorpions while looking for a bottle of water? I have. And while I chose to skip out on the fried birds being offered, I did stock up on some new-to-me flavours of chips for the ride.

I love this kid’s shoes… at the gas station

Option A: fried bird, or Option B: sweet basil Lays

Crossing the border was an easy process, just a little slow while we waited for the entry visas. On the other side we found a new bus and loaded back up for the rest of the drive to Siem Reap. My first views of Cambodia were so satisfying in a stereotypical way, full of water buffalo in rice fields.

Our destination revealed itself to be a small city with a great laid-back tourist vibe. This is the launching point for Angkor Wat, the reason most people come to this corner of the world – myself included!

Better than expected Bangkok

When was the last time an experience was a pleasant surprise for you? I’m curious about that now as I sit and process my past two days in Bangkok, pleasantly surprised at just how much I’ve enjoyed it here. Don’t get me wrong, I expected to like it – by nature I tend to go through life with an “everything is awesome!” outlook, but I had also entered Thailand’s main city with the preconceived opinion that it was a busy smoggy city much like any other. Everyone always says to get out of the city as fast as you can, and tour around the countryside instead. At the moment I tend to disagree, because had I left immediately I would have missed out on being wowed by the kindness of its citizens.

Thailand is in official mourning after their King died. I’m not sure what it would be like here during a regular day, but what I witnessed over and over again was the unique camaraderie that comes from a united population. All along the crowded sidewalks people would be stationed to give out free bottled water, or meals, snacks, and photos of the king. Thousands of them. And often an extra effort would be made to let us know we were also welcome to take what was being offered. Beyond that, there were several times both days when someone passing by would stop to point us in the right direction, translate for us, or even lead us for 10 minutes down the winding roads to our destination.

Hundreds of thousands paying their respects

Many of the usual tourist highlights in the city are closed or adjusted this week, but the ones we did see were stunning.

We started at Wat Pho, the temple complex of the Reclining Buddha.

At Wat Pho (shared photo credit with Tricia)

As per usual during my travels, much of the day was spent walking. I love seeing a city by foot and thankfully Tricia’s a good sport about that – we just need to make pit stops for food all the time and street vendors are the perfect solution!

Between all the eating and temple touring we found time to shop. Bangkok has everything you could possibly want, and more tourist-trap knickknacks than you can imagine so it’s easy to get lost in the markets. Figuratively and literally. The good thing about backpacking is how reluctant I am to buy things I don’t really need, since I know it just means I’ll have to huff it around for the next 20 days. I was feeling quite proud of my shopping self control, until I realized it’s really only the instant reward of lighter bags with the delayed gratification of knowing I can buy it all when I’m back here before my flight home. One for the win!

While wandering the shops along Khao San Road, happily hypnotized by all the sensory onslaught around us, we talked ourselves into trying a fish pedicure. Seemed like a fun way to cap off a day of new experiences. Aaaaand, we hated it. Yes, our feet were soft after the little fish ate away all the dead skin but I can achieve the same with a pumice stone and way less ick factor. I was suddenly reminded of my biggest childhood fear in the summers at the lake: “What if fish come and bite my toes?”

Barely keeping it together (Photos by Tricia)

Early morning of Day Three has us meeting up with our tour group and setting off to Cambodia. But before we go, here are a couple more shots from Bangkok.

En route

One of my favourite ways to pass the time is to people watch, especially when cultural differences are at play. Thankfully, 25 hours of travelling have given me ample opportunity to sit back and observe! My route took me from Calgary to Vancouver where I met up with Tricia (more on that later!) to Beijing, and finally to Bangkok. During the 10.5 hour flight across the Pacific I was reminded again that the North American concept of personal space is something I’ll need to say goodbye to for the next three weeks. I had a window seat and when I indicated to my two seat mates that I needed to get up, they both smiled at me, collected some of their items, and leaned back in their seats. It took me a moment to realize they expected me to climb over them, since I was expecting them to stand up and move to the aisle to let me pass. And so I did my best to delicately walk past/over these two strangers without stepping on their feet or touching their legs or having too much of my body in their faces. No easy feat in economy class. I was trying to decide which way is more appropriate – should I have faced away from them or toward them as I clambered across their laps??Apparently they were unfazed because when I returned to my seat we repeated the whole hoopla again in reverse.

My friend Tricia was with me, but we weren’t able to get seats together on the flight due to an error I made earlier. Too bad… I had anticipated using those hours to get her opinion on the various details of my messy life! Instead I watched a Chinese movie by reading the subtitles and noticed throughout the film that the characters showed affection by teasing each other. Maybe we’re not that different after all…

Are you wondering what error I would have made to keep us from sitting together? For a self-proclaimed “travel expert” I sure pulled a boneheaded move; one that almost cost her missing the flight!! Here’s the scenario that I’m super embarrassed to admit. If you remember a couple weeks ago, I had both of our passports after bringing them to Ottawa in order to get our entry visas for Vietnam. The plan was for me to make a trip up to visit her before our departure and I could bring her passport, but due to some recent chaos at home I ran out of time for that. So, I told her she could just use her drivers license to fly from Edmonton to Vancouver, where I meet her, then I’d hand her her passport for our international flights. Yeah… that was really bad advice. She was able to check in for the domestic flight using other ID, but was not allowed to be checked through the connecting flights, meaning her her luggage needed to be picked up at the baggage claim after landing in Vancouver then hurried over to check in for the next flights, all while still making making it past the security line ups and back to the gate in time for boarding. There was only an hour for all this to happen, and while she was running around dealing with it I spent the whole time worrying and kicking myself for not considering a potential negative outcome prior. Thankfully, Tricia was able to charm the right people into helping her, and she arrived at the gate with minutes to spare! But because she was the last person to check in for the flight we couldn’t get seats together. But as she said after we were both onboard “we made it! If this is the worst hiccup we face on the trip we’ll be in great shape!”

Next post from Bangkok Thailand!

More miles and Milestones

Guess where I am again right this very moment? I’ll give you a hint…. in the background around me I’m hearing “cookies or pretzels? Cookies or pretzels?” on a continuous loop anytime I pull out my earbuds. (Side note for anyone that may get tired of hearing the flight attendants always say the same things, even though you know what to expect on the flight: I promise they are more tired of having to say it with a smile a trillion times each day!) So you guessed it – I’m on another flight!! Today I hopped over to Vancouver to trade in the windy weather of Calgary for the rainy wet West Coast. And also to actively avoid the adult pressures I have at home…. life seems so much simpler when I’m literally running away from my problems! Not that I recommend that – please do as I say and not as I do!!!

So speaking of doing as I say… I’ve recently found a great website that has the potential to make my life as a traveller much easier. Have you heard of RideGuru? If you haven’t yet, I say you should go look them up!! This handy site helps sort out the options available between ride share companies, and will give a realtime estimate of the costs for each option, including a traditional taxi cab. It’s like comparison shopping for modern transportation! Here’s a peek at what I had today when I pulled it up on my phone:

Super easy! And since I like things that make my life easier, this automatically ranks pretty high in my books. Unfortunately, keeping with my “aimless” title apparently, I realized with hindsight that a little planning may still be a good idea, even when using a smart new website. If you look back at the bottom left screenshot in the picture above, you might see that the Uber ride is from Vancouver Washington. Turns out that Vancouver B.C. still has a lot of restrictions in place on rideshare operators, and there’s no Uber here. So we took a taxi, but at least thanks to RideGuru I could anticipate how much it would cost!

In the cab, because Vancouver doesn’t have Uber

That I had a little hiccup in my travels probably doesn’t surprise anyone who has read my blog before. I seem to do this a lot, launching into action before looking at the details. Maybe one day I’ll learn – but then what would I write about if everything went smoothly?!

I’m lucky enough to have high caliber friends in multiple cities who are willing to put up with me when I say things like “Hey! I’m in town for 5 hours – want to show me some city hotspots?” And two of the best happened to be available to do just that today in Vancouver! From our first perch overlooking the False Creek Harbour, to a scenic walk through a rainy park and into a new Distillery at Granville Island, I don’t think I stopped laughing. Next, with a little help from RideGuru, we zipped to Yaletown and settled into yet another pub. Usually I spend a day walking through a city; today I ate and drank my way around. I like to keep it balanced!

These poor guys had to listen to me gush all day about how much I love writing my blog, and while I’m sorry for being repetitive, I’m currently a little obsessed in my excitement about all this. I am over the moon thrilled with the response I’ve been getting, and it truly makes my day learning that people read what I write. From they bottom of my heart, thank you for following along aimlessly with me!! I reached a big milestone today – 500 WordPress followers! So exciting!

Snapshots of the Canadian Arctic

Next week I’ll be jetting off to South East Asia so pretty soon I’ll have all sorts of new posts, but right now I want to run back through my archives and write about some old experiences. I missed #ThrowbackThursday… how about #FondmemoryFriday ? Can that be a thing?? #Way-back-whenWeekend ? Whatever we’re calling it, I’m taking you along as I reminisce on my time North of the Arctic Circle.

My memory was triggered last week when I visited the National Gallery in Ottawa and viewed the Inuit Art exhibit. Beautiful collection, by the way. I think I’ve mentioned in this blog that my previous career took me to all sorts of locations, and one of those was the Canadian Arctic. This is a unique world unlike anything else I have ever experienced and I consider myself spectacularly fortunate to have had the chance to be there.

ali-in-the-arctic — This map is from the Inuit Art Exhibit. I added in the stars at the communities I’ve been to

In 2007 and 2008 the company I worked for had a contract with one of the airlines serving remote Arctic communities, and I would spend two weeks at a time on rotation up North. Dramatic landscapes, extreme temperatures, different languages, new foods – there were many times I had to stop and remind myself I was still in my own home country! (At least until I started talking with someone again: I found Canadian Inuit people to be very generous and friendly!) In summer the sun doesn’t set, and 24 hour daylight is something that takes some time to get used to. But that’s a much easier adjustment than winter, where the constant darkness is made even worse by the incomprehensible temperatures. (Negative 45 degrees Celsius in not uncommon during winter!)

1909996_29595465200_2658_n — A 10 minute walk in Yellowknife left me frosty

1929457_42562725200_8270_n — Beautiful Spring day in Yellowknife

1929457_42562830200_5322_n — Cambridge Bay, March 2008

This shop always made me giggle – I love the irony

Iqaluit, Baffin Island, in August. Notice all the icebergs in the bay

8 hours in Ottawa

I think I’m getting too old for this. I can’t believe that these thoughts are entering and escaping my head – who wants to feel old?!? – but the truth is I have been squirming in my seat on the plane for the last hour trying to find a way to believe that my knees and lower back aren’t actually starting to ache. Oh and earlier today I was so mad at myself for forgetting to bring my sunglasses along, because it meant I had to squint in the bright sunlight and all I could think about was the new wrinkles that were sure to be forming at that very second. Aaand I just realized as I wrote that last sentence forgetfulness could also be another symptom. I’m rolling my eyes at myself right now….

Let’s back up a little, to yesterday, when I apparently believed I could still pull an all-nighter like a twentysomething. It was Thursday morning and I was trying to figure out how I could be in about 3 different places across the country at roughly the same time. (And failing at that solution, in case you were curious) I realized I would have to scratch PEI and the East Coast off my weekend list, but then had the brainwave that I could take the red-eye flight again from Calgary to Ottawa, spend the day there and still be back in Alberta for my family’s Thanksgiving Dinners on the weekend. Bingo! Two places – one day!!

I did have a valid reason for being in Ottawa today. Last week on my way to Toronto I dropped off our passports at the Vietnamese embassy because Tricia and I need a tourist visa stamped prior to our trip in less than two weeks!! so I needed to be back to pick them up today. (It was more fun this way than mailing the passports… just roll with it.) And I was pretty excited about another chance to stroll around Canada’s beautiful capital city, which is clearly way better than sitting at home brooding about all the adult stresses I have. My luck with the standby flights continued to hold and my plan worked, so I had a great day and am thrilled with it all. Just not my aging knees.

Alright, let’s get to the interesting parts, shall we? Here’s Ottawa in a day.

I took the bus from the airport downtown and then started walking to the embassy. Should have been a quick 35 minute walk but I was distracted every few minutes with all the things I wanted to take pictures of. I’m a sucker for nature in cities.

After I finished collecting the passports, I went to see the exhibits at the National Gallery of Canada. Beautiful. I love museums and galleries, and I passed more than 2 hours here today. This is despite the main exhibition wings being closed for renovations. I’ll need to come back again after May 2017 when it’s all reopened for Canada’s 150 birthday.

After the Gallery I walked past and through beautiful buildings and neighbourhoods slowly arrived at the Byward Market. This is several blocks of outdoor markets and vendors, eateries, entertainment, and an all around good time.

Notre-Dame Cathedral

Inside the Notre-Dame

Beautiful buildings

Totem pole at Byward Market

Byward Market

My first Beaver Tail

Ok, the Beaver Tail stand is worth mentioning. In my experience when asked what a uniquely Canadian food is, the first answer is Poutine and the second, after some hesitation, is generally “Beaver Tails?”. Not very common in Alberta (yet?!) so today was my first taste of the amazing fried dough with cinnamon and sugar. It’s somehow so much better even than it sounds, and I’m already addicted.

After that fat-bomb of deliciousness I made a healthy effort to pick up the pace and walk a little quicker than the slow saunter I’d be doing all day. This brought me to the Rideau Canal Locks and Parliament Buildings, where I of course had to slow down again for the gazillion photo ops.

fullsizerender-19 — Chateau Laurier and the Locks

I would have gone for a guided tour inside the Parliament Building, but it was so nice outside there was no way I was going to miss anymore of the sunshine! Instead I plunked down on the lawn, took my shoes off, and enjoyed pretending it was still summer while I people watched other tourists. And took pictures. I would have had a cute selfie here, except I had to block out the wrinkling-and-squinting glare from the sun…. After this was more walking to see some of the monuments to great historical Canadians, and then back to the airport for me.

My four hour flight tonight has gotten me back home, and it’s just after 11pm on Friday. I can’t wait to get home and crawl in to bed, but it’s a good thing I did take advantage of the summer weather in Ottawa – Calgary had winter today! My car is encased in a sheet of ice, but at least I can finish up this post while I wait for the windshield to defrost…

Toronto

Not long ago I wrote about being a “Hometown Tourist” and I think that this will be something I’m going to keep circling back to from time to time. I know that I won’t always get 5 months off to go explore the wide world like I’ve been able to this year, so to get my fix for travel when I may not be able to jet off I’ll continue to explore the areas I overlook because it’s just ‘home’. Plus, that means that I’ll be ready to give the best tips or play tour guide to friends that come to visit Calgary!

But today I’m writing on a riff of that, home country rather than home town. The same level of comfort and familiarity but spread across a much larger area. More to love!

Calgary to Toronto

A dark roast from Timmy’s

Canada is BIG. That little line I have drawn on the map from Calgary to Toronto is a 4 hour flight, or as I discovered while I was playing with Google Maps, a 34 hour drive. Plenty of time for our patriotic coffee!

When I arrived in Toronto I took the UP express train direct from the airport to Union Station downtown and enjoyed wandering around this vibrant city for a few hours. I’ve been to Toronto several times before, but this is the first time I’ve been able to slowly and aimlessly explore a few neighbourhoods as a tourist.

Alleyway eateries. Love them

Early on at Nuit Blanche – an all night street festival of arts

Toronto Streetcar

Later in the evening Erin arrived, and that’s the other best thing about hometown/home country travelling – I know people here!! (side note, Erin’s graced the pages of this blog before…you can find that in More from New York)

We happened to be in the city the same time as Nuit Blanche was happening. I’d never heard of this before so I’ll go with the assumption that maybe you haven’t either. According to their website the Toronto Nuit Blanche is a “free, annual, city-wide celebration of contemporary art…from sunset to sunrise.” Roads were blocked off and transformed to pedestrian thoroughfares, museums and galleries open all night and art installations enchanting downtown. How great is it to be able to safely walk around a city after dark?! The streets were buzzing with energy, everyone happy and thrilled with one more chance to be out before it gets too frosty.

Bright and sunny the next day (notice I didn’t say early…. we spent all night walking around enjoying the art life!) and after loading up on coffees and brunch we were ready to fall into all the tourist traps Toronto has to offer. First up: The CN Tower.

CN Reflection

Foliage framed

Skyscraper

The CN Tower is pretty tall, standing at 553 metres or 1815 feet high, and apparently until 2007 was the world’s tallest freestanding structure. If you want to challenge your fear of heights from a cozy safe space, come up here and walk across the glass floor, or really ramp up your adrenalin and try out the Edgewalk where you are literally walking along the top edge outside with only a harness to keep you alive. I’m sure it’s fun….

All smiles

Walking on air?

View from CN Tower

Being a tourist – with my new friend Mr. Moose Mountie

Steps away from the base of the tower there’s the old rail yard, and the Steamwhistle Brewery beckoning us over for a tour. We couldn’t say no to that!

Epic action shot

Free samples

One tiny little taste of Toronto down, much more to go my next time through this city!

In the air & alliteration

I’m back in my natural habitat again – on an airplane at 37,000 feet above ground. It’s a red eye flight, overnight across the country, and despite the loss of sleep I love these flights when the cabin is all dark and cozy and quiet. Out the window on my left I have the most spectacular view of the Northern Lights, and I’ve been watching them dance across the sky parallel to this plane for more than an hour now. I wish I could show you the vibrant green lights bending and weaving through the glow and the tiny orange lights from the towns below glittering up. I tried to get some photos, but I only have my iPhone and not my real camera so the shots just ended up a blank black blur of nothing. It’s breathtaking, but you’ll just have to take my word for it…. So instead I took a selfie. I needed something to show!

The lady sitting beside me has a book of crossword puzzles and I’ve never witnessed anyone whiz through a crossword so quickly! I’m a little awestruck. This is going to sound pretty nerdy, but I’m an eensy-bit envious and wish I had my own book of crossword puzzles…. Back in my days as a full-time flight attendant I loved the moments after service was complete when I could sit with the newspaper and work on a crossword puzzle, between jumping back up to refill a coffee cup (generally a pilot’s). Not that it happened too often, but the times I was able to complete the crossword everyone would hear me crowing about it! And other days those spare moments after service were spent just gossiping over trashy tabloids; I liked to keep myself well rounded!! Ha….

My flight will be landing soon so I’m going to wrap this up. Short and sweet this time! I’ll have more from Ontario coming up next time.

Hometown Tourist

People looove to complain about social media these days. Have you noticed that? It almost seems like the trendy sport du jour, especially from people who are perhaps ‘recovering digital addicts’ themselves. I maybe have tiptoed on that bandwagon myself once or twice, fed up with all the angry/prejudice/ranting commonly found, but at the moment I am a staunch supporter. I’m thankful for the connection I get with people online, and that has been extra apparent to me this past week. Personally, it’s been a bit rocky for me but I have had so many comments of support via my social media outlets that have brightened my day and genuinely made me feel better. So thank you.

Speaking of great people, let’s segue in with some of them I spent my weekend with. If you’ve followed this blog before you might remember Jeff and Jeanette and my Warsaw adventures with them earlier this summer… Well those two beautiful love birds tied the knot on Saturday and I was fortunate enough to celebrate with them. With their wedding in my hometown, I feel qualified to announce their venue picks were pretty fantastic: What more could you want than to spend a day surrounded by indoor tropical gardens in the middle of downtown, and then (for us aviation geeks/travel addicts) party surrounded by old airplanes? Seriously, it was perfect.

Perfect for this gang of aviators (photo credits to Natasha and Dave – thanks guys!)

So that was a lot of fun….

I have been desperately missing my travel adventures for the past couple weeks I’ve been at home, and yesterday I finally decided to do something about it. I took my camera for a walk and played the role of tourist for a couple hours, and you know what I (re)discovered? I live in a beautiful city!! Here are a few of my favourite shots from one corner of Calgary:

Calgarians soaking up the summer-like Fall; still going at 6pm on a late September day!

And finally, because my walk took me here, a Calgary icon and home of all my best memories of milkshakes and burgers. Peter’s Drive In. I recommend the caramel coffee milkshake!

Hopefully in the next few days I’ll be free to get back on the road. Not sure yet where it will take me!

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: