Having had so many visitors from Laos at the beginning of the year made me want to travel there. I’ve now just gotten a bunch of stories from Thailand. Plus, Alexis brought me a restocking of magazines by way of my parents to her parents back in New York, then from her parents to Alexis during their visit to Thailand last week, and then from Alexis to me during her visit here to Phnom Penh. All of them were much appreciated, but one of them was particularly worthwhile since it was the Asia issue of Conde Nast Traveler.
There are so many places to visit that I’ve reevaluated my plan for traveling during my year here. Although I originally had a wide range of countries that I potentially wanted to visit and figured I’d be happy to see as many of them as possible and would be happy if where I went was randomly determined by ease of getting there, the price of airfare, what other PiAers were doing, or interesting events occurring in certain places that might coincide with my longer breaks, I’ve decided to narrow my scope a bit. My scope is not exactly much narrower, as it still includes Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand and hopefully a trip to either Indonesia or Malaysia. But, at least for now, I think I’ve ruled out Japan, going back to China, etc. I’d really like to know the nearby countries of Southeast Asia really well.
When I came back from Laos, I realized that I had gotten a good sense of Vientiane while I was there for five days, but that I hadn’t even traveled to the mountainous regions of Laos, which is the landscape I had pictured when thinking about visiting. When I landed in Vientiane, I was actually very surprised that Vientiane had similar topography to Phnom Penh. It’s flatness and the fact that it hugged the Mekong actually made me think of it, in terms of looks, as a smaller Phnom Penh with a more rural character, lower buildings, and different sites. It wasn’t the capital tucked in the mountains that I had pictured, and because we occupied ourselves with interesting things to see and do within and around the city, we didn’t even venture North to Van Vieng as we had originally planned to an area of incredible mountains and outdoor activities, such as tubing and climbing. We didn’t make it to the temples, boat rides, and mountain vistas of Luang Prabang near the border with Thailand, the area that most people probably think of and visit when they come to Laos. We didn’t see the famous ancient urns scattered through the mountains of the Northeast. All in all, I felt like I got a really good sense for Vientiane but had just barely gotten a taste of Laos. In fact, I didn’t even have time to see the iconic Wat in Vientiane itself. By the end of the trip, Elena and me were already making plans for me to return and for us to travel to other parts of the country.
Something I was conscientious of before I even arrived was also making sure that I got to know Cambodia outside of Phnom Penh. Although I do feel like I have really taken advantage of being in the city and getting to know it, the rest of the country has its own unique characteristics that I want to explore. I haven’t been to Angkor Wat yet, and I was almost going to go with Alexis this weekend since they were continuing on there after Phnom Penh. Although the timing didn’t quite work out with me needing to be back on campus on Monday to teach, I’m now determined to go within the next two weeks. I realized in almost going with Alexis that it’s only a bus ride away (though a 6 hour one) and that I really want to go soon and see it. Even if I only get a weekend there, I’m sure I’ll be back again throughout the year, and I’d like to take advantage of living here for the year and therefore being able to go during the low tourist season, when I’ll have the site more to myself. Additionally, it’s the end of the rainy season, when the moats will be full and the site is supposed to be the most lush and the most spectacular before the cooler, dry season starts drying things out and bringing in the tourists. Mel’s here in Phnom Penh again for the weekend for the first time since when I arrived. By now, she’s settled into a house in a local village among the temples doing her research. Not only would it be great to visit her there, but I’d also have a place to stay, and living in a village set in the forest of the temple complex would probably be an experience in itself. I’ve become excited to realize that, if I want, I could make a weekend trip to Angkor Wat a fairly regular occurrence if that’s what I want to do. And I’m ready to start making trips up there.
Looking through the travel magazine, I saw a recommendation of a little visited Angkor temple complex in another part of Cambodia that has the feel of Angkor Wat before it was “discovered” on the travel map. Because I’m here, I can go to all of those other little sites. In the end, looking through the Asia issue made me remember how many places of interest there are to go even within a small radius from where I am. I’m excited to simply explore places that most people wouldn’t have time to see if they were here for a short period of time and excited to be able to travel to some of the bigger, very impressive sites on a regular basis and never have to feel rushed when seeing them. Even if I also read about other interesting far away sites, this week has made reinvigorated my desire to really get to know this and a couple of nearby countries really well rather than trying to see as many different countries as possible. I think that seeing certain aspects of these couple of countries will be equally different and exciting as traveling to see parts of further away places.