pictures of elephants (and temples)

Laura · Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

Hi everyone,

I just got back from two weeks in South/Southeast Asia. I spent a week in Cambodia at the Angkor temple complex, and then a week in Sri Lanka. I should have captioned my pictures...

http://www.lagassa.com/bin/liveframe.cgi/srilanka05

The first group of temples, before the elephants, were from the Angkor complex. They are the so-called "Rolus Group," which were built about 400 years before the most famous Bayon Temple and Angkor Wat.

The next group, on the water, is a floating village on the Tonle Sap (lake). This is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. During the dry season it shrinks to about 1/4th the size it is in the wet season, so floating villages follow the fluctuating coast line.

The first group of elephants, before the ones in the river, are from a National Park in Sri Lanka. So, those elephants are wild. The next group of elephants, starting with the ones in the river, were raised at Sri Lanka's state-owned elephant orphanage. In between there are a few pictures of a swanky hotel room -- my friend and I splurged to stay at a luxe resort for a couple days because she needed a rest. She worked the whole time we were in Cambodia, speaking at a conference run by some UN agency, and she was going to be working the whole time in Colombo, so we took the weekend between the two as a "treat" and spoiled ourselves for two nights. The last few pictures at the end are of the famous "temple of the tooth" in Kandy, Sri Lanka. This temple was built to house a Buddhist relic -- one of his teeth.

Aside from temples and elephants, I also hung out in Colombo for a few days, the highlight of which was having tea with my Sri Lankan friend's mother-in-law. She was a very sweet, very proper lady who took me shopping and then for tea. The American friend I was travelling with was speaking at a conference in Colombo, and it turned out that while I was having tea with Dr. Manumarkus, my friend was suddenly asked to visit Arthur C. Clarke at his home! So I'm sorry I missed Clarke, but hanging out with Dr. Manumarkus for a few hours was also very special.

cocodrilo · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 494 Location: Western Japan

Cool! I'll be spending 2 weeks in Cambodia and Laos in December, with 4 days in Siem Reap. I definitely have the Rolos Group on my itinerary. Were you able to get off the beaten path to the further out places like Banteay Srei, Kbal Spean, Phnom Kulen or Beng Mealea?

Laura · Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

The last time I was there (2002) I went to Banteay Srei. I was supposed to go to Kbal Spean & Phenom Kulen on this trip, but I was too sick the morning I was supposed to go to be willing to commit to a 50km car trip. I'm really sorry I missed it...but then on the other hand that was almost two weeks ago and I'm still sick (although it might be a different thing now).

cocodrilo · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 494 Location: Western Japan

Laura wrote: The last time I was there (2002) I went to Banteay Srei. I was supposed to go to Kbal Spean & Phenom Kulen on this trip, but I was too sick the morning I was supposed to go to be willing to commit to a 50km car trip. I'm really sorry I missed it...but then on the other hand that was almost two weeks ago and I'm still sick (although it might be a different thing now).
What do you have? I plan on being loaded with anti-biotics during my trip. Also with DEET. Don't want to come back with malaria or dengue fever, or worse...

I am going to hire a moto one day and then a car the next. To get around town I plan to use the bikes at the guesthouse where I will be staying. It's supposed to be lovely for cycling and Angkor Wat, Thom, Ta Prohm, the Barays and Rolous Group are all within cycling distance.

Laura · Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

Cycling around the closer-in ruins definitely sounds like a great way to go. The Rolous Group are about 17km away, but it's a lovely flat ride so if you're already comfortable cycling those kinds of distances in that kind of heat and humidity, you'll have a great time. I think you've talked about the humidity in Japan before, so you should be used to it. As for me, I live in dry and cool Northern California and I just couldn't hack it. It was so hot and sticky in Siem Reap by 9am that my sunblock and DEET were sweating right off me. It's probably easier to wear lightweight long-sleeved shirts and hats than to feel and watch the sunblock and DEET slide off my skin!

I got sick in Siem Reap due to a combination of jet lag and heat exahaustion. It's funny, because I'm not a fat pig in bad shape, but I don't have good heat tolerance. The freshwater shrimp that I ate in my visit to the floating village on the Tonle Sap might have had something to do with it, too. It was so stupid of me -- I just wasn't thinking. Someone offered me shrimp so I tried one, and it was so tasty in its lemon-pepper dipping sauce that I had three more. My driver was eating them too and going on about how much his kids like them. He even bought a bag to take home for dinner. I suddenly realized what I was doing and stopped eating, and praised myself for getting a Hepatitus A + B shot a couple of years ago. By the middle of the night, though, I had cramps and diaharreah and was up all night. I laid around all the next day making sure I got enough fluids, napping, and visiting the bathroom.

It cleared up after a day of rest, and I really didn't have any major problems until during my trip home a week and a half later. I was so sick during my layover at Narita that I was afraid Japan Air Lines wouldn't let me fly. I think the problem then was exhaustion and dehydration -- to get home from Colombo I had to fly three red eyes in three nights: one from Colombo to Bangkok, one to Narita, and one back to San Francisco. When I was waiting at Narita for my connecting flight, I got a massage and suddenly my entire digestive system went crazy and I was ejecting fluids from both ends. I couldn't even keep water down. I was getting weaker and dizzier by the hour, but finally was able to keep down sips of flat Coca Cola taken a few minutes apart. Perhaps it was something I ate during my road trip to Kandy, perhaps it was the sushi Japan Air Lines served me the night before on the Bangkok-->Tokyo leg. I really don't know...I don't usually get too paranoid when I travel, but I do think I could be a little more careful. I mean really...freshwater shrimp from an area where there are floating pig pens and airline sushi, how stupid can I be? I'd certainly never been sick like this before. I think I'm finally over it, though. I drank a huge glass of water an hour ago and this is the first time in three days that it's not caused nausea.

There was an outbreak of dengue fever while I was in Siem Reap, but when I got home my travel doctor told me I definitely don't have it (I went as soon as I got back to my house from the airport).

To anyone reading this: don't let my story put you off! These areas are amazing to visit and well worth the trip! Keep an eye on things, and don't be paranoid. But also don't be complacent like I was.

cocodrilo · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 494 Location: Western Japan

That's good that you saw your doctor and had things checked out. I will also mention that I have gotten sick on/after several of my SE Asian trips, but it's just part of the experience and I would go there again, absolutely.

Starting a course of antibiotics before your trip has been recommended for staving off what they call "Traveller's diarrhea" and most definitely worked for my friend and I last year while in Vietnam.

Yeah, the heat. I am sweating in my camisole here and it's 8:00am! I am quite used to the humidity but it tends to debilitate some people(most, actually, who aren't used to this climate) and the only thing you can do is after your day tour go back to the hotel room and rest in the AC room while rehydrating yourself. If you are a normally helathy person, a good night's rest will be sufficient for another full day of sightseeing the next morning. I will be staying at modest guesthouses but I'm making sure there's AC in the rooms.
BTW, were you wearing a "salwar kameez" in the photo(that' s you in purple, right?)? It looks nice!

Laura · Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

That's my travelling buddy. I'm the chubby blonde in the bucket hat and t-shirt. I try to stay out of pictures (except when I'm ballroom dancing). She mostly wears Indian clothes, even in the US. Her favorite things to wear are Punjabi-style men's clothes, like kurtas and those pyjama style pants. She buys the men's stuff because the sizes run bigger and she just likes the colors and styles better. That beautiful shirt she's got on was actually from the "men's section" of the market in India she bought it at.

Our Sri Lankan friends all refuse to wear Sri Lankan clothes, and thought we were a bit crazy for going off shopping for sarongs, saris, locally-styled blouses, and the like. The Sri Lankan middle class (and the wealthy) have started looking down on the local fashions, which I think is a shame because the clothing is more suited to the climate and is beautiful. One man admitted to still sleeping in a sarong, though. Meanwhile, in India, there's not this strong rejection of the local dress traditions. In fact, the hip young uban Indians will mix and match: a kurta with jeans and sneakers, for example.

One night I put on my colorful new Sri Lankan threads, and went out to dinner with our friends. It was a little embarassing when I got to the restaurant, because I was dressed almost exactly like the waiters: green blouse, plaid sarong, oh well!

cocodrilo · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 494 Location: Western Japan

I love all of those fashions but it is much too hot for me to wear that stuff in the summer in Asia. I wore a lovely chiffon salwar-kameez to a wedding while in India and I was pretty much soaked in sweat underneath(still not as hot as & humid as Japan, though!). Traveling in SE Asia I usually opt for simple tank tops(not revealing too much chest) and black dance pants. I'm a bit worried about when I visit the jungle temples in Cambodia as mosquitos are attracted to dark colors. (Dark doesn't show dirt and the dance pants launder well and dry out within hours.) Guess I'll have to go heavy on the DEET and avoid early mornings and sunsets when the 'skeeters are around.

Laura · Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

Wow, I didn't know that mosquitos were attracted to dark colors! I guess they see it as being damp or watery?

One thing you can do is pick one or two pairs of pants and spray them with Permethrin bug repellant. It lasts up to two weeks, even with laundering. These can be your "temple touring" pants that you wear if you're out during the dangerous skeeter hours.

I also got bitten by fleas in Siem Reap. This weirded me out a bit because I was simultaneously reading a novel set during the Plague Years in England, and I think the Bubonic Plague was spread via bites from fleas that were infesting infected rats. But there's no Plague in Cambodia, so that was just my mind running away with me!

The kurtas etc. that my friend buys are silk or cotton. She claims they're very cool. But then, she also claims that people these days don't keep their core temperatures high enough, which she says causes more sickness, and so she prefers to be hot. She was going around Sri Lanka wrapped in a huge pashmina shawl half the time while I was melting in the heat. I like my core temperature right where it is, and prefer not to be drenched in sweat :-)

cocodrilo · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 494 Location: Western Japan

Yeah, the skeeters tend to go for dark colors and flowery stuff. They also go for sweet-smelling perfumes, hair sprays and deodorants, so I will choose my toiletries carefully for that trip. Do you spray your garments AND body with DEET? I thought a good all-over dousing would be sufficient. I don't know about spraying it on my synthetic fabrics as I 've seen the stuff melt plastic before! I don't wear cotton in Asia as I soak it in sweat and it doesn't dry...

I am generally a very hot person, so I don't need to wear more than one skivvy camisole in hot weather. (Gotta cover up in some of the temples when I visit Phnom Penh, though) I sweat a lot regardless as I have a pretty high metabolism rate. This is another attraction to mosquitos. That, along with the beers I will be no doubt consuming the night before I head out to Angkor Wat is all the more reason to be liberal with the DEET...

Laura · Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

Not DEET on the clothes, but Permethrin. It's a different chemical, designed to be sprayed on clothes, tents, mosquito nets, etc, but not directly on the skin. I've used it before and it didn't do anything to my cottons, synthetics (nylon, polyester, microfiber, CoolMax), or rayons. The great thing is that you spray it on once, and it is effective for about two weeks -- even if you wash the clothes.

cocodrilo · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 494 Location: Western Japan

Actually I heard that soem bug repellents were sprayed directly on the clothes which is why I asked about the DEET. Thanks for the advice regarding Permethrin. I could probably find it at a mountaineering store here in Japan.
Just got my flight booked from Phnom Penh to Vientiane so I'm getting pretty excited. I am doing this trip solo so I will go at my own pace, but I am still planning on doing quite a bit in 15 days...

cocodrilo · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 494 Location: Western Japan

Wow! I was just doing some searches and that Permethrin is some pretty heavy toxic $hit! The info said it was for ticks and that it goes on garments, as you said. If it'll keep the critters off me, I might go for a bottle.

Laura · Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

Yeah, you don't want to get it on your skin while it's wet :-) It's not something I'd use on a casual camping trip at home, but to keep malaria- and/or dengue fever-carrying mosquitos off me for a few days every couple of years, then I'm all for it.

cocodrilo · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 494 Location: Western Japan

Absolutely! Couldn't find the stuff at a local hardware store that sells camping/outdoor stuff so I may have to order it online. (Japan has sone draconian laws about certain chemicals and supplements) Picked upa very cool super lightweight German-made flashlight, though. Recommended for if you are staying in guesthouses where power outages are the norm. Will also use it for caving in Laos and temple exploration.