Have finally got to the bottom of my to-do list so spent a very nice warm and sunny afternoon in Birmingham Botanical Gardens listening to a brass band playing in the Victorian Bandstand. It looks as if you will all have a beautiful autumn ... I quite envy you the activities around the new Library of Birmingham too but ho hum ... it's going to be 30 degrees and raining when I get to Siem Reap but will drop to a balmy 25 in the afternoon. I have a few days of acclimatization before I start work on 7 October. So goodbye for now and I'll be in touch soon.
Sunday, 29 September 2013
Monday, 23 September 2013
Royal Cambodian Ballet
I thought I would share information about the Royal Cambodian Ballet from the Thomas Cooke Traveller Guide:
"The beauty and elegance of the Cambodian Royal Ballet is legendary. British novelist Somerset Maugham witnessed a performance at Angkor in the 1920s and wrote that 'the beauty of these dances against the dark mystery of the temple made it the most beautiful and unearthly sight imaginable'.
"The dancers had an even greater impact on Auguste Rodin, who exclaimed on seeing a performance in Paris in 1906: 'These Cambodian women have given us everything antiquity could hold. It's impossible to see human nature reaching such perfection. There is only this and the Greeks'."
"The beauty and elegance of the Cambodian Royal Ballet is legendary. British novelist Somerset Maugham witnessed a performance at Angkor in the 1920s and wrote that 'the beauty of these dances against the dark mystery of the temple made it the most beautiful and unearthly sight imaginable'.
"The dancers had an even greater impact on Auguste Rodin, who exclaimed on seeing a performance in Paris in 1906: 'These Cambodian women have given us everything antiquity could hold. It's impossible to see human nature reaching such perfection. There is only this and the Greeks'."
I do hope I can see some ballet whilst I am in Siem Reap - apparently there are performances at Raffles so fingers xxxed.
One week to go!
I've been having a great time over the past week or so, catching up with family and friends. I received a couple of Bon Voyage cards (one from the BIAD art group and the other from Gail and Peter - thank you very much). And ....
Thank you Hayley and David - it was indeed the earliest Christmas card ever!
I have been exceptionally fortunate in that Real Gap have linked me with Jane from Nottingham a fellow traveller who arrived in Cambodia this week so she is emailing me with the lowdown on the project, Siem Reap etc. She's even invited me to travel with her the weekend I arrive to a town called Battambang which is south of the big lake Tonle Sap. The guidebook says "With 800 historic buildings still standing, Battambang has some of the best preserved architecture of any city in Southeast Asia". I am sure that we will both enjoy this. Jane is only in Cambodia for a three week project but this cross-over will, I'm sure be most beneficial.
She has told me that it's 29 degrees, humid and showery as it's the end of the monsoon season. The coordinator of the project met her at the airport and has given her a day's orientation including basic Khmer words. She has been assigned a tuk tuk driver who seems available to take you to other places besides the school so Jane has been to a local pagoda and also to a Khmer show in the evening. She says that people are helpful and calm, and that it is easy to be on your own. The accommodation is student basic (shades of our art trips to Paris, Berlin and Barcelona) with a cooling fan and has other volunteers from different countries staying there.
My project is reasonably near to Siem Reap - hers is further away and she says "The children are lovely and could not be more grateful".
As you can imagine having this insight has been a real bonus.
Thank you Hayley and David - it was indeed the earliest Christmas card ever!
I have been exceptionally fortunate in that Real Gap have linked me with Jane from Nottingham a fellow traveller who arrived in Cambodia this week so she is emailing me with the lowdown on the project, Siem Reap etc. She's even invited me to travel with her the weekend I arrive to a town called Battambang which is south of the big lake Tonle Sap. The guidebook says "With 800 historic buildings still standing, Battambang has some of the best preserved architecture of any city in Southeast Asia". I am sure that we will both enjoy this. Jane is only in Cambodia for a three week project but this cross-over will, I'm sure be most beneficial.
She has told me that it's 29 degrees, humid and showery as it's the end of the monsoon season. The coordinator of the project met her at the airport and has given her a day's orientation including basic Khmer words. She has been assigned a tuk tuk driver who seems available to take you to other places besides the school so Jane has been to a local pagoda and also to a Khmer show in the evening. She says that people are helpful and calm, and that it is easy to be on your own. The accommodation is student basic (shades of our art trips to Paris, Berlin and Barcelona) with a cooling fan and has other volunteers from different countries staying there.
My project is reasonably near to Siem Reap - hers is further away and she says "The children are lovely and could not be more grateful".
As you can imagine having this insight has been a real bonus.
Friday, 6 September 2013
Destination Siem Reap Cambodia
I thought I would give a bit more information on where I am going .... I will be flying to Siem Reap (just above the Tonle Sap lake) in the centre of Cambodia.
Siem Reap (in the centre of the map below) is the 'gateway' town to the Angkor Temples. I will be working in a school attached to a pagoda each day from 8-11 and 2-5 but will have the weekends free to explore. With all this on the doorstep - I don't think I will be bored!
This is a picture of part of the old French quarter of Siem Reap. My hotel is called the Victory Guest House which is similar in style to these buildings. I'll be travelling to school via tuk tuk (a motorized rickshaw) so no need for my bike.
These two pictures are guidebook views of the Angkor Temples.
They are amazing aren't they?
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)