Wow… I've been in Delhi 5 hours, and this place is officially crazy. Walking through the Main Bazaar in Paharganj, I saw people, cars, bikes, rickshaws, scooters, tuk-tuks and even cows. There's garbage, spit, cow shit and all sorts of unidentifiable things strewn across the ground. I've been hit by rickshaws and bikes a couple of times, jostled by passers-by and stared at by the locals. The shopkeepers won't let you leave until you buy something. (and when you say "No thankyou" they think you're bartering!) The little of Delhi I've seen is so crazy and so ALIVE. I can feel that ball of fear rising up my throat, and growing bigger and bigger. It's the fear of something new, something different. I can't wait to explore more of Delhi tomorrow!
Monthly Archive for November, 2006
Over the past two days, Will, Sarah and I have developed a severe case of temple-itis. Since watching the sun rise behind Angkor Wat at 5.30 yesterday morning, we've looked at something around 15 temples in the surrounding area. Suffice to say, we're quite over it now!
However, I do have to say that Angkor Wat and the other temples are simply amazing. From the majesty of Angkor Wat, to the jungle-infested walls of Ta Prohm, and the sweeping views from the top of Phnom Bakheng, I am in awe of the sheer size, number and complexity of the architecture.
Angkor Wat was magical at sunrise. Very beautiful and serene. The only dampener was the hordes of tourists shouting and clambering to get photos, when all we wanted to do was sit and take in the sunrise. In fact, that's been my only major gripe with the whole Angkor Wat experience - busloads of tourists that are inconsiderate, loud and most of all, step in front of us when taking photos!
Tomorrow, Will and I are heading back to Phnom Penh, and then onto Bangkok early Tuesday morning. I'll be sad to leave Cambodia, but I'll definitely coming back!
I felt a little bit like that today. We hopped on a "speed" boat from Battambang to Siem Reap (which took around 6 hours). Along the way, someone brought a chicken on board! We couldn't help but laugh!
The boat trip was alright. It was quite pretty, and gave us an opportunity to relax (not that we haven't been relaxing, stuffing ourselves silly and drinking!). It was also a great opportunity to see how river people in Cambodia live.
Again, I was amazed at how friendly all of the people were at the places we passed. Tomorrow, we're waking up early to go to Angkor Wat, which I suspect will be amazing!
The past few days have been amazing. It feels like we've been here so much longer than three days, given all that we've seen an experienced. Stepping out of the terminal at Phnom Penh airport, we were met with sweltering heat and masses of drivers offering to take us to the city. We ended up speeding into the city on 'motos', weaving our way through the mass of motos, rickshaws, cars and trucks. It was incredibly freaky, yet so exhilarating!
We hung around in Phnom Penh for 1 1/2 days, seeing Choeung Ek, Tuol Sleng, the National Museum, Royal Palace and the silver pagoda. We even met a girl from the US, who we're now travelling around with. It's amazing how quickly and easily you meet new people while travelling.
We took a bus to Battambang (pronounced Battambong) yesterday, and took a look at some of the temples around the area and the bamboo train:
I'm amazed at how friendly the kids are. As we passed through the villages and fields on our motos, many came to wave at us and say hello. The smiles on their faces were incredible!
That's all for now. We're heading to Siem Reap by speedboat tomorrow, which will be pretty. Looking forward to seeing Angkor Wat!
Well that's it. In just over 8 hours I'll be on the first leg of my 2 month backpacking trip. This is me for the next two months:
(That photo was taken at 11.30pm this evening. My mum, being the most organised person I know, will have a fit when she sees this!)
I can't wait! This is going to be an awesome trip. If anyone needs to contact me, I'll be checking my email every now and then (jeremy _at_ hig _dot_ gs), otherwise wait for the photos to show up in Flickr. 
Saddam Hussein has been sentenced to death by an Iraqi court. I don't feel even he should suffer the death penalty, despite the atrocities he committed.
The burning question for me is, what will the Australian government's reaction be? Banning the death penalty locally is applaudable, but an acceptance of the practice internationally is pure hypocrisy, no matter who the victim is.
Two words: it's over!!! I handed in my honours thesis today, and it's such a relief. A burden has been lifted from my shoulders - a burden of intense work that has been there for 2 years now.
This also marks the end of my formal education (for now, at least). With that in mind, there are some big things happening in my life:
- I'm heading to South-East Asia in a little over a week, where I'll be backpacking with friends through Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos for 2 months. Words cannot describe how much I am looking forward to this.
- There will be a slight detour to India to attend the AIESEC 2006 International Development Congress. It will be great to meet and connect with people from around the world on development issues. I'm also relishing the chance to flesh out some ideas of my own… Of course, I'm also going to check out Delhi, Jaipur and Agra for 5 days after the conference, which will be amazing.
- A group of us have been discussing sustainability and what we can do about it. We had a great meeting last night, and have some exciting ideas in the pipeline, which I hope to give a lot of attention to next year.
- I'll be continuing work at TLAF to create great software that I'm passionate about. We've got some kick-ass ideas for Connoisseur, and other projects brewing…
That is all.
It's 2:40am on the day my thesis is due, and I've just realised that because I pasted the images into the Word (2004) document containing my thesis, they now won't show up in Word on Windows. You've got to be freakin' kidding me.
I now have to individually save the 40 images and re-import them into Word to get them to show up properly. So much for cross-platform compatibility.
