The End.

I'm writing this post from back home in London. My travels have come to an end - at least for now. I ended on a high note: I really enjoyed New York. I've been to the USA many times, but almost always to LA, where I have family. But I'm not a huge fan of LA, so it was good to see a side of America that is more 'me'.

So this is my final post. I feel that I should probably end with something inspiring or poetic but I can't think of anything so maybe I'll just

New York, New York (Da, Da, Da Da Da)

Just a quick update...

I'm in NY now, having spent a day in each of Boston and Washington DC. Both were cool. Boston was freezing (we caught the tail end of a storm), but it was amazing how architechturally (is that a word?) similar it was to England. We went to a comody show in the evening in an area that seemed almost identical to Covent Garden in London. The thing I liked most about DC was that there are no high rise buildings - no buildings are allowed to be talled than the Lincoln Memorial (or something like that) so it's got a really open and airy feel. The White House, however, was a huge disappointment. It looks much bigger on TV - in real life it seems tiny. We had to ask somebody if we were actually looking at the White House, we were in so much disbelief. Listening to other tyourists, we weren't alone. Oh well. I left quite quickly after noticing one of the snipers on the roof fixing his binoculars in my direction. It's not the best place to be a Persian...

I'm loving New York. Can't be bothered with the touristy stuff, but just bee chilling, taking in the atmosphere and meeting up with friends here. I love this city - definitely more than LA, which is the only other US city I've spent much time in - although I'm not sure whether I could live here. So I'll be home on Monday, less than a week! Looking forward to it, although I'm also having a good time here. I guess this'll be me second to last post!

Goin' East-side

Only in LA: a man on a skateboard, being walked by his dog. with a three foot parrot perched on his other shoulder. Not much to report from here, except that my sudden exposure to lots over kosher meat after 8 months' vegetarianism, and to home cooked Persian feasts, has resulted in a bit of a belly, for the first time in my (adult) life. This was helped along by every relative I saw telling me I'd lost weight and trying to remedy the situation.

Can't believe that the only thing I have to talk about is my weight. I've obviously been around Californians for too long. I'm waiting now to take a flight to Boston - I'm joining my cousin, and her dad, to see some universities and help her choose. We're going to Boston, Washington DC and New York, and then I'm staying on for a week after they return to LA. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the E Coast, although I'm gonna have to get some warm clothes!

OK, weight and clothes - this must be my most boring post yet. I'll leave you with the big news: I've finally booked my ticket home. I'll be arriving in London on the morning of the 30th April; 9 months to the day after I left.

California Dreaming

Once again - sorry it's been so long since my last post. The main reason is that most of that time has been spent in LA, which to be honest isn't quite as exciting as Cambodia or most of the other places I've been!

Back to Cambodia... after the temples at Angkor, I went to stay with Catrina in Sen Monorom, a sleepy jungle village in eastern Cambodia. On the way, the bus was struggling on the dusty, unsurfaced mountain roads in the jungle. It finally gave up, so we abandoned ship. After a while of sitting on the road, in the middle of nowhere with no phone reception, the driver decided it would be a good idea to try and start the bus with the passengers pushing it. Uphill. I think it went further backwards than forwards. We sat around playing cards in the middle of the road (no cars coming so didn't matter!), and the Cambodians were really generous with sharing food with the tourists - genuinely generous in a way I never see in England or any Western countries. Eventually a car came passed and a couple of the locals hitched a ride. They said they'd also take any foreigners... as long as they would stay in a certain guest house (for commission)! As night fell we were eventually saved by some pick up trucks, and I was perching on the back corner as we sped over bumps, fearing the next bump could be my last!

Sen Monorom itself was nice, a chilled town with great scenery. We went with some local guys to some waterfalls, and also to a 15 year old's birthday (quite a formal affair, with adults too) - it was good to do what the locals do, and also to catch up with Cat.

Went back to Pnomh Penh by luxury minibus, instead of the dodgy 'jungle bus'. The minibus broke down. Of course.

Overall, I really enjoyed Cambodia, I wish I had more time there and of all the places I've been it's the one that I'd like to go back to, to explore some more. An epic, almost 24 hour trip later, I got to LA (it doesn't look that far on the map, but apparently the Pacific is pretty big). It's been good seeing my family who live here, and also all the family who happen to be visiting from England for my cousin's Batmitzvah and Passover. It was all a bit overwhelming at first, but I'm getting used to it. Also had to get used to driving again, as I'm somehow the official family chauffeur in the rental car. Not doing badly - only 3 bumps and 2 near death experiences. The Batmitzvah was good fun, and we're staying in a pretty nice hotel for Passover. My days are mostly taken up with eating and seeing family, with some shopping in between. The most exiting event of yesterday was not being able to get back to the hotel because Sunset Boulevard (a major road) was totally closed for President Bush to drive through. Rather than wait in the car for an hour, I went for a drive. At one point I heard rumbling, and looked in the mirror for a motorbike. I couldn't see one, but as the rumbling got louder and the car started literally vibrating, I looked up to see 4 low-flying helicopter gunships. Later, on the motorway (sorry, freeway) I saw his heavily guarded motorcade going the other way.

In about a week, I'll be leaving LA, perhaps for Nashville (where I have family), then New York. I'm not taking to long over it - I'm ready to go home soon - so I'll probably be back by the beginning of May. The big news is that I'm going back into teaching. And by lucky coincidence, there's a space for a maths teacher opening at my old school from May, so I'll have a job there at least till the summer.

It's weird being so close to going home...

Indiana Jebreel

I've spent the past 3 days exploring the temples at Angkor, the ancient capital of the Khmer (Cambodian) empire. To be honest, I usually get bored by inanimate tourist attractions, and get 'templed out' very quickly. Plus after 7 and a half months, I've done enough sightseeing. So I was going to Angkor to tick a box more than anything, cos you can't come to Cambodia without seeing it (the main temple - Angkor Wat - is on the Cambodian flag, money, national beer...).

To say I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement - I was pleasantly blown away! There's something magical about the temples. They're huge, but intricately carved and well maintained/restored. They're in the middle of the jungle, and not as crowded as I'd feared (partially cos they're so big, so the tourists are spread out). After I did my meditation course, a friend who's been here suggested I meditate at Angkor Wat. At the time I privately dismissed the idea as a bit cheesy, but he was right - it's the perfect location. I sat on a ledge high up the outside of the 1000 year old temple, where noone else would go, with a view over the jungle and the jungle birds and insects almost the only sounds (apart from the occasional Korean and Japanese tour groups, who seemed to think that if anything's worth saying, it's worth shouting!). So I settled myself in the perfect surroundings, and promptly fell asleep. I still need to work on the early morning meditating - I'd gotten up for sunrise.

The next temple was Ta Prohm, which is apparently special because it's where Tomb Raider was filmed. But despite this stain on its history, it's still amazing. The jungle has fought back against the temple, and there are huge trees which have wrapped their roots around the rock. It's really incredible and beautiful, a conflict between the power of man and the power of nature.

My last temple on Monday was Bayon, which is again very different - there are 54 towers, each with 4 huge identical faces carved in them, facing the points of the compass. Apparently they are faces of a certain god, but bear an uncanny resemblance to the king who built the temple. The faces look cool from the bottom, then you enter the temple, go up, and come out on the next level, face to face with them, which is quite incredible.

Yesterday I took a 2 hour journey because I wanted to see Beng Melea. Like Ta Prohm, it has been attacked by nature - but until a few years ago the area was full of mines and rebels, and there was no proper road - so there has been minimal restoration and clearing. Thus the place is half ruined and totally overgrown, not jut the odd tree. So I was clambering over mounds of rubble and onto the roofs of the buildings, having a bit of an Indiana Jones experience. To be fair, I could have taken the wooden walkway, but what would be the fun in that? (had a lot of fun setting the timer for the next picture and getting across in 30secs. That's me in yellow)

Then I went to Banteay Srey, which is small but has incredibly well preserved intricate carvings, considering it's 1000 years old. Today I went back to Angkor Wat and Ta Prohm, to try meditating again (lasted half an hour this time, but too many tour groups), and take more pictures (300 wasn't enough...). Tomorrow I go back to Pnomh Penh, and onto Sen Monorom to visit Catrina, my friend who's working out here, for a few days. In a week I fly to L.A, and then by May I'll probably be home!

Running all over Pnomh Penh

I'm in Pnomh Penh at the moment, the capital of Cambodia. I've been here about 5 days now, but the first couple of days were spent mainly on the toilet with the runs or in bed, due to a nasty case of Delhi Belly that started on my last day in India - kind of a leaving present I guess. But with the help of some magic pills from the doc, all is now good.

I'm liking Cambodia. I realised in my last few days in India that it was a bit too 'in-your-face' for me (especially Varanasi and Delhi), and I was glad to arrive in a (relatively) calmer, more easygoing country. It's also a country with a tragic history, which I saw at the genocide museum (a former school that had been turned into a prison/torture centre by the Khmer Rouge) and the 'killing fields' (where people were sent from the prison to be systematically killed). The memorial at the killing fields was a tall glass column, with rows of skulls from the thousands of victims.

Some people I spoke to before coming here, who'd been here before, found it a really sad place - for obvious reasons. There are lots of beggars, often amputees as a result of landmines, and a real lack of middle aged and old people - because so many were killed in the 70s. But I feel quite positive about the place. Maybe I'm desensitised as a result of 2 months in a refugee camp and a month in the craziness of India (which also has lots of poverty). Maybe it's partly because I've not ventured far out of the tourist bubble (running out of steam to be honest; illness didn't help). But I also see lots of positive work being done, by NGOs but even more so by private social entrepreneurs (who don't waste money like NGOs here do). In the past few days I've bought clothes in a shop that trains former street kids as tailors, eaten in a restaurant where the owner puts all the profits into the orphanage he runs, got a massage in a shop that only trains blind people as it's masseurs; and from tomorrow I'm staying in a hotel that gives free English lessons to poor local teens.

Not sure the government can match the work of its citizens. I saw a group of about 100 Cambodians sitting on the pavement opposite the Royal Palace a few days ago, being watched over by a group of policemen. It turns out they were peacefully protesting against illegal seizures of their land. But the government doesn't really like protests, so the protest was stopped and they were being made to sit on the pavement for hours (as a punishment?). What amused me though, was the police's official reason for stopping the protest, and holding them (opposite one of Pnomh Penh's main tourist attractions): apparently, a protest would have "looked bad in front of all the foreigners".

Going to Siem Reap tomorrow to see Angkor Wat, some impressive temples about 1000 years old, then after a few days I go to Sen Monorom to stay with Catrina in a less touristy area. Then on to the States on the 22nd.

Holi Cow!

I'm in Delhi now, waiting to fly to Cambodia tonight. Spent the last few days in Varanasi, which is one of the holiest places for Hindus, who go there to bathe and worship at the River Ganges (the 'mother goddess'). The main event was yesterday's Holi Festival, which is a celebration of the Hindu New Year, and of the triumph of good over evil. Bonfires are lit the night before, and the day is spent getting merry and throwing paint at each other. This being Varanasi, I was expecting some hardcore spiritual paint throwing - maybe something like 'le tomatina'.

Not quite what I got. The first sign that all was not as expected was when the locals rigged up some HUGE speakers across the road from the guest house, and proceeded to pump out indian techno until late at night and again the next morning - so loud that it sounded like a nightclub inside my room (memories of Buduburum, except even worse)! Although there was some traditional celebrating going on behind closed doors (which I'll describe later), and some kids out and about thrwing buckets of coloured water at people, the streets during the day mainly belonged to the lads.

They hung around in groups, and as well as being painted they were also plastered - this being Varanasi, where cannabis adds to the spiritualism, on both weed and alcohol. It was mostly good natured dancing, hanging around, hugging people (I narrowly avoided getting a full on kiss on the lips by a guy reeking of liquor) and smearing paint. But it regularly spilled over into people literally ripping each others clothes off (why??), and even getting into fights - although these were quickly broken up. Basically an excuse to get hammered and let loose. Women stayed strictly indoors - and unfortunately it doesn't take too much imagination to think what would happen if they were foolish enough to venture outside.

I went round with a member of the family running the guest house and some of his friends. We stopped at a few groups of guys for some hugging and paint smearing, but mostly went visiting friends and family, where at each house we sat around having nibbles and polite chatter, along with a smear of paint on each others' foreheads and a hug. Apparently this is what the families do in thew evening - obviously once the yobs have fallen into a drunken sleep. I'm glad I saw this side of it. Many travellers - and especially girls - came with a romanticised picture and then indoors out of fear once they'd heard what it was really like.

Varanasi itself before the festival was quite nice (except probably the most touristy place i've been yet, and scam central). These are the most memorable bits:

• Seeing cremations - they happen publicly all the time along the Ganges as it ensures better karma. The ashes then go into the river - along with the corpses of people not eligible for cremation, and lots of sewage - in which locals do laundry, bathe, and even drink for good health!
• Seeing an untouchable (the lowest caste), who deal with cremations, sifting ashes through a sieve into the water - looking for jewelry to keep. In front of a sign proclaiming "Fortunate are those who live beside the Ganges"
• Seeing some Naked Monks - apparently a privilege that they were in town, as they only emerge from their homes in the jungles & mountains every 6 or 12 years
• Having my 15 year old auto rickshaw driver bribe a police officer to let us down a closed road, then upon breaking down, taking apart the engine to stick his finger into holes and rev the engine
• Seeing a dog feeding on a human corpse
• Getting an outdoor shave, beside the river