Some of my most enduring travel memories are inextricably linked with music. As I trekked a jungle trail connecting temples at the Angkor Wat complex in Cambodia, I happened upon a group of musicians performing traditional Khmer wedding songs. They sat or squatted on a crude raised wooden platform in front of exotic instruments, producing an ethereal sound that stopped me in my tracks. So mesmerized was I by the haunting melodies that I almost missed the crudely lettered sign explaining that the musicians were victims of land mines. Startled, I looked more closely and spotted three prosthetic legs propped up against the stage; at least two of the musicians were amputees and two were blind. I later learned that thousands of land mines still lie undiscovered in Cambodia and that hundreds suffer severe injuries or are killed in land mine accidents each year.

Victims of land mines play in the jungles of Angkor Wat, Cambodia

In an area of central India so remote that locals had never before seen a white person, the young women of the tribe fitted my fingers with tiny cymbals and pulled me into their circle. To traditional music played on hand-carved flutes and rudimentary stringed instruments, we stomped out rhythmic steps – two steps forward, one back – while tribal elders looked on, pointing and gesticulating, as if to say, “look, she’s doing it!”

Dancing with tribal women in central India

Throughout much of history, the only way to experience the diversity of world music was to travel, but in recent years technology has made it possible to sample music from around the globe without leaving home. The new primetime PBS series, Sound Tracks: Music Without Borders, will take us on a musical odyssey that reveals how music is transforming Read the rest of this entry »

Between moving out of Sarasota and traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday, I have been somewhat silent for the past two weeks. But things are settling down now and I can’t think of a better reason to get back into the swing than to tell you about a wonderful charity effort being mounted by my fellow travel writers through Passports With Purpose.

This year, the Passports with Purpose fund raising effort is supporting American Assistance for Cambodia (AAfC), an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving opportunities for the youth and rural poor in Cambodia, with a goal of raising $13,000 to build a school. In order to achieve this goal, travel bloggers have either personally donated prizes or arranged for companies to donate prizes. These items are then raffled off online, with each $10 donation entering the donor into a drawing for the prize of his or her choice.

Smiling children like this little girl hawk merchandise on the streets all day rather than attending school

I know first hand how much this is needed in Cambodia. When I visited the country in 2007, I was particularly struck by droves of children who roamed the streets, carrying baskets heaped with hand-made jewelry or toting hand-woven mats twice their size. Without exception, they interspersed pesky sales pitches and arm tugs with the few words of English they knew:

“Hello, where you from?”

“U.S.A.”

“Oh, U.S.A., A-Number one. President George Bush; capitol Washington, D.C.”

These children, some of them barely old enough to be left alone, much less on the streets all day selling merchandise, seemed desperate to learn. I can think of no better way to celebrate the holidays than to help build a school for these lovely children.

If you wish to join me in supporting this worthy cause, check out the list of prizes being offered at Passports With Purpose. Select the drawings you’d like to enter and indicate how many $10 donations you want to make for each prize. For example, I entered “3″ in the box to the right of the $100 Amazon.com gift card donated by Read the rest of this entry »

This young boy peeked out at me with soulful eyes as I crossed a bridge at the Angkor Wat Complex in Siem Reap, Cambodia, on my way to to the Preah Khan Temple

Music is one of the joys of traveling. In SE Asia I discovered Cambodian wedding songs. Hindu legends set to music charmed me in Bali. And music in Tanzania and Zanzibar was an amazing melange of drums, rhythm, and harmonizing voices. In years past, the only way to sample music around the world was to travel to these places. Fortunately, this genre of music has become very popular over the past few years, thus collections are more readily available in the U.S.

One example is Sony’s new “A Night In” World Music Collection. Each of the collection’s ten CD’s features the music of a different country. “A Night in Cuba” features the outstanding singers and songwriters of Salsa, Son, and other Latin rhythms, while “A Night In Italy” presents the most exquisite voices of opera. Tango is the focus of “A Night In Argentina” and “A Night In Puerto Rico” encompasses the Afro-Carribbean rhythms of the Salsa, Plena, and Bomba styles. Romantic melodies and quirky jazz are the basis for “A Night In France” and “A Night In Spain” showcases artists who have Read the rest of this entry »

When I began this trip I decided I would select three words that best described each country I visited. Initially I was going to wait until the ed of the trip and compile them all into one post, but I have decided to do this immediately upon departing each country, as the reasons for selecting those particular words will be fresh in my mind. So, here goes for the countries I have visited to date:

VIETNAM

1. Industrious (With the possible exception of Hanoi, people were bustling about everywhere I went – busy selling, buying, doing. Not surprising, since Vietnam is currently the fastest growing economy in the world)
2. Emerging (rather than poor)
3. Stuck (There is severe mistrust between the multitude of ethnic groups that inhabit Vietnam and abiding oppression of the non-Viet peoples by the government; there is distinct dislike between North and South Vietnamese – I heard over and over again from northerners that they wouldn’t want their daughters to marry a slow, stupid southerner and from southerners I heard repeatedly how northerners couldn’t be trusted; and there is severe corruption in the country at the government level. The result is that Vietnam is identity-less – the people themselves do not yet have a feeling for who they are as a nationality, much less a national identity. They are well and truly stuck.)

BALI:

1. Lush (Greenery and lush jungle was everywhere)
2. Spiritual (The most beautiful temples I have seen anywhere in the world)
3. Beautiful (A feast for the eyes in a small island that has such diversity – dense jungle, towering active volcanoes, colorful offshore reefs, and lovely beaches)

CAMBODIA: Read the rest of this entry »

My driver insisted that I do something special during the three-day Khmer New Year and suggested that I attend a performance of the traditional Khmer Apsara dance before leaving Cambodia. One of the mini themes developing during this journey is that I find myself attending cultural performances unique to each country. In Vietnam it was water puppetry; in Bali it was Balinese dance. I saw no reason to buck the trend, so yesterday evening I went to a local restaurant that features a stage performance of Apsara every night.

Traditional Cambodian Aspara dancers

Unlike Balinese dance, which focuses solely on religion, Apsara depicts both religious legends and scenes from everyday life. I especially enjoyed the coconut dance, where young men and women weave around each other in seductive courtship moves while clacking together dried coconut shell in rhythm to the music. Another one that delighted me was the cock fight dance. In every Asian country I’ve seen roosters, caged in loosely woven wicker baskets that have been turned upside-down and set along the edge of the road. In Bali I asked my guide about this custom. He explained that cock fighting is a huge sport in Asia and the caged roosters are being trained to fight. The baskets are placed by the side of the road so that the roosters become accustomed to people and noise. The cock fight dancers, with the aid of wicker basket props, were so convincing that I could almost believe they were roosters when they placed the baskets over their heads.

Cock fight dance

Read the rest of this entry »

To my surprise I have discovered that Cambodia is very westernized, with many people speaking excellent English. Other than the occasional country person who still wears a traditional headdress, the clothing of the Khmer (Cambodians) is mostly western. The traffic is civilized. They have a good infrastructure, many modern conveniences, and their construction techniques are much more modern than I have seen elsewhere in Asia.

What Cambodia does have are the ubiquitous touts, scams, and pushy vendors that are so prevalent in other parts of Asia. They descend upon you like a cloud of hornets the moment you arrive at a tourist site. I have heard many people lament over this fact and indeed, it can be frustrating. When you have said no twenty times and they continue to dog your footsteps, insisting that you buy what they are selling, the temptation is to be rude, ignore them entirely, or raise your voice. However, when the vendors are children of seven or eight years old, I find it impossible to ignore them, much less yell at them or be rude. Perhaps I realize that selling something may be the difference between eating dinner that night or starving. Or maybe it’s because they are all so darned cute. Whatever the reason, I had to find a different way to deal with this dilemma.

These kids all have the same spiel to get your attention and rope you into buying something:

“Hello. Where you from?” they call out.

“The US. You know the US?” I replied each time.

Every child replied: “Oh, US very good. Washington, DC, capitol.” In some cases, they added the fact that the US has 50 states – except for one little boy who insisted that the US had 52 states.

That’s when the pressure starts. Read the rest of this entry »

Little did I know when I arranged to visit Cambodia that I would be doing so during the Khmer New Year celebration. While the crowds at the temple ruins are bad on any day, the traffic during the New Year is truly horrendous, so I have concocted a plan to avoid the worst of the crowds. I will rise at dawn and be at the site by 6AM, investigate the temples until 10:30 or 11 AM when the tour buses start arriving, then escape to my hotel and lay around the pool until late afternoon. Around 4:30 PM I will return to Angkor Wat to (hopefully) see the temple bathed in the golden light of sunset. This plan also has the benefit of keeping me out of the worst of the midday heat.

Bayon temple at the Angkor Wat complex

I began the day with a visit to the enigmatic Bayon ruin within the ancient walled city of Angkor Thom. Into each of the mythic towers of the Bayon four Buddha heads have been carved, one facing in each of the cardinal directions. The effect, unsettling at any time of day, is even more so at dawn, with mists rising and curling up into the towers, alternately hiding and revealing the 356 eyes that watch from the 178 giant carved heads. Read the rest of this entry »

For a total of $34 US, I hired a tuk-tuk driver, who will be at my disposal for the next three days, carrying me back and forth between my modern, elegant hotel and the ancient temple ruins, located six kilometers north of town. Initially I thought the entire ruin complex was named Angkor Wat but I have discovered that Angkor Wat is the name of just one of the temples – perhaps the most famous one – in this massive city that was built beginning in 889 AD. The complex is so large that it requires a minimum of three days to see just the most important structures (frankly, a person could spend a year investigating these ruins, visiting a different site each day, and still not see them all). I have been told that there are countless sites yet to be excavated and, indeed, I did see numerous unexcavated mounds with carved blocks poking out from the surrounding dirt.

Motorcycle driven tuk-tuk carried me between the hotel and the ruins each day

First view of Angkor Wat through an ancient stone doorway

Because Angkor Wat is the best known among the temples, it was my first stop. My initial view of it was through the stone doorway of the wall surrounding the temple, its three signature spires punctuating the morning haze. It took my breath away. I stood stunned, unable to move, as I took in its beauty. When I finally got my senses back I stepped over the stone portico and onto the long stone walkway leading to the temple itself. Built between 1113 and 1150 AD, Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument in the world and it is truly extraordinary. Although volcanic laterite blocks were used as underlayment to provide structural strength, the majority of Angkor Wat was constructed of sandstone blocks that were intricately fitted together to form the scalloped, pointed towers for which it is so famous. The sandstone, being relatively soft, proved the perfect material for the artisans of the time, who decorated the walls, ceilings, pillars – practically every available space – with breathtaking carvings of geometric designs, gods and goddesses, scenes from everyday life and scenes from both Hindu and Buddhist religious legends, such as this long stone mural (below) depicting the ancient Hindu legend of the Mahabharata.

Carved stone mural depicting the ancient Hindu legend of the Mahabharata

Read the rest of this entry »