Tin’s Grandfather Passing Away

Last year a friend of mine, Tin sadly saw his Grandfather pass away. Three months after the cremation they do prayers with bhuddist monks and have a family get together over a whole day. This was near Battambang which is 170km from Siem Reap.

The following posts are the pictures of this. To start with – The Journey!!

I’m up and running again!!

For the last 5-6 days to accompany my relentless evenings out drinking I’ve started running again after a month or more of not being physically able to. The usual 5+ kilometres everyday. I’ve taken my camera with me again. Such a pain even though it’s small. I don’t like having anything in my hand when I run. I don’t run with a bottle of water (or god forbid all that artificial  energy active bulls***  – just my opinion) like many runners. I make sure I drink lots before and after.

I often run in different directions and hate to have to think about how to get back-so I don’t! I just run and run until I’ve had enough. Gotten hopelessly lost in many places many times. But I always find my way back. I also hate running the same way back as I started out. Bit like my view on life really!

View from a CNG (what the fuck’s a CNG?) – more pics from Dhaka

This is called a CNG (or vostok) in Bangladesh. In English it’s called an auto-rickshaw. They are imported from India, and are by far my favourite mode of transport in Bangladesh. The feeling of freedom cos there’re no doors and I still never fell out; the capacity to fit in more than 8 grown ups plus chickens, children and babies. And sometimes even motorcycles…..I love it!!

Expat Dhaka – still a dump!! Me ‘n my big city life…..

Most of my life I’ve spent in sprawling mega cities and thought that anything less would drive me to a creative suicide out of shear boredom from the cows, trees and endless untouched nature. But after more than 18 months here in Asia, I’ve spent almost a year in a very small village (my birthplace) in Bangladesh.  And some of the time in a small city (that resembles a large village) namely Siem Reap, Cambodia where I am now. In between I’ve travelled through Malaysia over a month, spent many weeks in Kuala Lumpur, and then a month in Bangkok. Big Asian cities. I’m sure they’re nothing compared to Bombay or Delhi in India or even many of the smaller 10 million plus population cities in China. Both of these countries remain a part of my future travel plans.

And my analysis of my short travels-I’m sick of big cities. I never have to be stuck in a traffic jam, parking is always a piece of cake, the air is so clean I feel dirty from my thoughts alone…..I must admit it does get (a little :-)) boring at times! Not so many places to go out, not that much on offer in terms of entertainment-in Siem Reap they don’t even have a cinema. But am I complaining?? I’ve been stressed approximately 3 times in the last 4 months (for some silly reasons I can’t even remember)…… in total!! That’s compared to 3 times in 3 minutes in Berlin or 3 times in 3 seconds in London! So is this it for me?? Life in the slow lane?? Naah!! I’ll get ants in my pants again sooner or later and then big cities will once again have  their opportunities to get me stressed and angry about something so mundane as the old woman who’s walking too slow in front of me…..or swearing all sorts because I’ve just missed the train and don’t have the 2 minutes to spare to wait for the next one….! This life I’ve left behind and will surely go back to (at least for brief reminders that I don’t want it anymore).

Anyway here are some more picks from my time in Dhaka. I’ve actually got thousands and thousands of pictures from everywhere I’ve been in the last 18 months. Sooner or later I’ll be posting brief glimpses of my life here in Asia.

 

Baridhara – the expat rich area of Dhaka, Bangladesh