Cambodian Independence Day

The next day we have another divine breakfast on the terrace and soon three large buses pull up in front of the hotel. They are loaded with all the children from Lidia's children's home. So many smiling faces greet us as we all board different buses. It is Cambodian Independence day and we are taking the children to Phnom Kulen, a popular place for local people. It's about a two hour ride and we laugh and sing all the way up the steep winding road.




There are many huts available for picnics on the riverside and we have reserved three of them. It is a beautiful and very sacred place for Hindus and Buddhists. In the river there are thousands of small carvings etched into the riverbed including a large one of Lord Vishnu. It is a place that represents fertility and is also the place where the king of Cambodia declared independence from Java in the year 804 - although this independence day is celebrated as the end of the terrible Khmer Rouge regime in which over two million Cambodians died or were murdered by the government. (see the movie The Killing Fields)

There is a very large Buddhist temple on the top of the mountain which was built in the 16th century. It holds an enormous reclining buddha, the largest in the country. The temple is our first stop. There are many stairs leading up to the temple and lots children begging for money, people selling trinkets, food and indigenous healing roots of some kind. Before we go up the steps, we stop at a money changer cart where I give them five US dollars and they give me a thick stack of Cambodian bills which I can hand out and use for offerings at the temple.

The temple is beautiful and I enjoy walking around looking at all the ornate carvings, ponds, small alters and all the nooks and crannies. There are many Cambodian people here receiving blessings from the monks and giving thanks. I walk to a smaller temple at the back and there is a beautiful old monk dressing in flowing orange robes giving blessings. I sit down near him and wait my turn. I sit in front of him and he sprinkles me with holy water, chants and prays for my good health and safe journey and then he ties a red string around my wrist. He is a very special creature and I feel like I'm in a happy trance as I sit in front of him. I place my hands together at my heart and give him my humble thanks and then join the rest of our group.

We walk down to the river and to the picnic area and enjoy a simple meal of rice and chicken that the cook at Lidia's school has prepared for everyone. There is definitely a feeling of celebration in the air. It's nice to see so many local people enjoying the day with their families. After lunch we go for a swim. Everyone is dressed very moderately, some women in long pants and t-shirts. I feel very underdressed in my swim suit top and shorts. But we have a great time in the cold water, everyone laughing and splashing and talking.

I get out of the river and take a walk along the opposite side, where I explore the ruins of a very old temple. It is all fallen down but there is a beautiful spirit as I linger there. I walk further down and come to an amazing water fall. I can see that further down the water is falling again but I don't want to go to close in the shallow river. One of the children invites me to follow her, and we cross the river and go down many steep steel steps. Down down down...suddenly we are in front of the river again and three glorious waterfalls. They must be 50 feet high and fall into a serene pool at the bottom where many people are swimming.  What fun! I love watching Dick with the kids. He's such a big kid himself and they adore him as much as he loves them. After a while in the water, we head back to the picnic area where we enjoy fresh fruit and we all have a rest on cool bamboo mats in the shade of the open air shelter.

Around 4 pm we load the buses and head back to Siem Reap. It is a much quieter ride on the way home. We are all tired and happy. 

Siem Reap, Cambodia - Temples and Bikes

We arrive in Siem Reap in the afternoon on January 4. Walking out of the airport we are all struck by the heat. We had to layer up while in Laos and now the sweat immediately begins to pour from our pores. We are met by two vans and a couple of guides. We put the luggage in one van and we are all stuffed into another. Luckily the hotel is not far from the airport.

Leaving Laos

Siem Reap is a booming metropolis compared to where we've been. Because of the Angkor Wat temples, millions of tourists come to Siem Reap each year. It's a smallish town that is totally focused on tourism. I wonder what it was like before the temples were re-discovered. We check into the lovely Kralanh Petite Villa, a lovely boutique hotel with six rooms, which we have taken over. It is a sweet place and I'm glad we will be here for 5 nights. Lidia from Together For Cambodia, an organization that Dick supports meets us there. We have a nice chat and plan to meet her for dinner. We have some nice time to relax and go for a swim until then.

Welcome drink at Kralanh Petite Villa

Carlo and darling Caitlin

Later in the evening we meet at a funny local restaurant where there is karaoke happening and beer flowing. There are about 15 of us and we have a nice time dancing, eating and singing. It's very festive. Until it comes time to pay the bill. The "drink girls" are notorious for adding extra drinks and beers that were never ordered. They begin to pull empty beer bottles from under the table that were probably there before we arrived. So there was a lot of back and forth until we finally came to an agreement on the bill.

Lidia and Dick Grace

Urmi and Richard

The next day we go to Lidia's school for a tour. I was here last year when they had first broken ground and it's amazing to see it complete now. She's done a tremendous (and huge) job planning and working with the builders. There are separate boys and girls sleeping buildings, a school building with library and computer rooms and a kitchen with study hall/community room above. It warms my heart to see Lidia's dream a reality. I first met Lidia in 2014 when she was honored by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in an event that I had the honor of helping to produce, Unsung Heroes of Compassion. 

But the heat is getting to us and we are all a bit wilted by the time the tour ends....luckily we have the evening free and Urmi and I get a luxurious one hour foot massage followed by some divine noodles from a street cart (cost $1). We considered going to a place called Happy Pizza where they make pizza crust infused with ganja, but decided against it. For this time anyway....

Early the next day, after a delicious breakfast at the hotel (fresh fruit, banana pancake, hot coffee, and eggs) we load up in the vans and head to and Angkor Wat temple complex that spans more than 500 acres. We are met there by a company that provides bike rentals. Each mountain bike has our name on it and a helmet to match.

We get situated with seat heights, gears, helmets, etc and then we are off on a bike adventure. What an incredible experience, biking through these ancient cities. We bike around the moat that runs outside of the great Angkor Wat temple. We peddle past the city walls and gates, each gate with a special meaning according to the direction it faces, and each with the beautiful stone head in the likeness of King Jayavarman, who built this city over many years. Very beautiful, kind faces with huge entrances to bike through - although they were originally built to walk or push a small cart through. We stop along the way and our guide fills us in on the history of this amazing place. I love it here. I could stay for months just exploring the absolutely otherworldly temples that seem to go on and on.....

The bike trail is narrow and our group of 13 rides on for about 2 hours with many stops. We are all sweating and laughing and enjoying the day. I feel so  confidant on the bike - a surprise to me since I haven't been on a bike in at least a year. The breeze is caressing my face, I am balanced on two wheels and feeling so great to be outside and moving my body. Wow....

Richard, Merideth and Cait

78 years young

Richard, Urmi and Me

Lunch - Amok curry in coconut shell

Laos - Nong Kiau River

On January 2 we check out of the hotel in Luang Prabang, board the vans early and head north toward Nong Kiau. Along the way we stop at a small village (so many small, cool villages). Laos seems to be doing a good job of keeping their country as authentic as possible against the influx of tourists and the huge temptation of money. So many places in the world give in to $$ from corporations (McDonald's, Starbucks) and big hotel chains. I didn't see any of that in the small part of Laos we visited. It may be different in the capital city of Vientiene...


In this village they have many woven scarves and trinkets for sale. One interesting thing I see is an old vintage looking opium pipe. Very cool.

There are some sweet teen girls running a shop and braiding each others hair. Dick asks them to braid our hair which they love. We joke and talk as the girls work on our strange, foreign hair with their combs that look like they've been used for 20 years. It is a wonderful way to connect other than the usual tourist participation. Dick Grace has a pretty amazing way of connecting with people. He is always doing little magic tricks and talking with people to find out who they are. He definitely lives from his heart and he inspires me every day.


We drive for a bit in the vans and then jump on a boat to head upriver. Our next stop is a village where they make local whiskey. A beautiful Lao woman of around 60 years old shows us her process and lets us taste the results. To me it's like fire and gasoline running down my throat and into my belly, but I guess some people really like it. It's very interesting to see how the whiskey is made and distilled using only an open fire.  I love hearing and watching this woman, even though she speaks a different language - but she doesn't speak much. She doesn't have to. She is so elegant and graceful We were all very entranced by her.

We walk around the village for a while, purchase some beautiful scarves, talk with the children and visit the small village Buddhist temple.  It is a beautiful day so far.

We take the boat back to the vans, and head toward the mountain village of Nong Kiau and drive for more than three hours, through many small roadside villages. People and families all sitting together talking or cleaning their small shack homes. No one on cell phones or watching tv. Very nice to see that some parts of the world are still unaffected by technology. I am sitting up front with the driver who is very sweet but doesn't speak english, so we aren't making any small talk. Besides, he needs to concentrate on the twisting, turning road and the hazards of chickens, dogs, children, motorbikes and falling coconuts. I have hours to just think and process all that I'm seeing and experiencing. It's sort of mind blowing, these last few days. I feel greatly honored to be a part of this group and looking forward to the coming days.



We arrive at the Nong Kiau Riverside resort after dark and we and our bags are taken to our rooms - more like a bamboo hut but with everything we need inside. We are all pretty exhausted and we put down our bags and quickly freshen up for dinner in the small open air dining room at the hotel. We remove our shoes when we enter and they kindly have semi-warm slippers to wear on the chilly wood floor. The food is delicious and the beer Lao is nice and cold. We talk about our day over rice and vegetables, pumpkin soup, spring rolls and curry. We make our way back down the small path toward our hut and tuck into bed with a big down comforter for warmth. It's a bit nippy up here in the mountains. I can't wait to see what it all looks like in the morning.

I wake up with the sun and go outside to our little deck over looking the Nong Kiau river.
Everything is so green and lush. There are little boats going up and down the river, men fishing for their breakfast and it's all so quiet. Am I still sleeping/dreaming? Pure peace. I stretch my tired body and practice some breathing and yoga poses to get myself going. It feels so good and is such a gift to wake up in this magical place. Birds and butterflies dance around me as the morning fog lifts from the river and from my brain.

We meet for a delicious breakfast of eggs, warm bread, various mystery meats, some fresh cucumbers and honey crepes. Along with hot coffee, it's the perfect meal.

When we finish, we walk together across a long bridge over the river and through the small village. Everyone is starting their day, opening shops, brushing sidewalks clean, hauling vegetables to the market. We meet up at the boat dock and we board two long tail boats for a trek upriver. The views are stunning and I feel like I'm in a magic fairy land of green hills, tall mountains, strange looking cows drinking from the edge of the river....it's all so cool.







After about an hour and a half, we stop near a village and wait for our other boat but it's not arriving. We begin to worry and our empty boat is sent to look for them while we wait on the shore in a beautiful spot. It seems that they had an engine failure and then the boat started to take on water so they had to pull to a small island in the middle of the river. When one of the girls said she needed to pee and walked toward some small brush in which to be discreet, she was told to not go to far - there could be landmines. What a sobering thought. We learned that millions of landmines are sill hidden all over Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. People inadvertently walk on them all the time and get blown up or body parts blown off. There are several organizations worldwide who are working to find and detonate these terrible weapons of destruction.

The boat is finally repaired and joins us where we have stopped. We walk up a steep path towards a weaving village. All of the ladies are out with their wares. Beautiful scarves of every different color. I want to buy one of everything, but I choose a beautiful black and white almost tribal design that I love. The material is a heavy cotton and I know I will love it for many years. After a couple of hours, we go back down to the boats and head down river towards a small cafe and walk up to a beautiful spot overlooking the river on this glorious warm day. We have a simple meal of rice, spring rolls, vegetables and cold beer. It feels so nice to relax in the sun and talk with everyone. We are still getting to know each other....

We have another hour on the river to get back to our village so we relax and enjoy the ride. When we return we all rest for a while and some go out for dinner in the village and some stay at the hotel restaurant for hot soup and red wine.

The next morning we have an early departure, as we have to drive about four hours back to Luang Prabang to catch our 1 pm flight to Cambodia. We have another wonderful, but quick breakfast and hit the road. We get to the airport in plenty of time to catch our flight, which lasts about 45 minutes until we reach Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Laos - Part Two - The Longest Day

After breakfast and before we know it, we are on a long tailed boat on the Mekong river. We travel up river on a gorgeous January day and I feel like I must be dreaming. But I'm just getting started with this luscious dream....

The boat pulls up near a village and we walk up a steep path and along a narrower one at the top and arrive in a neat clean village where we first watch a man at work making woven baskets. We saunder along for some time, stopping to chat with people along the way and watching children ride by on bicycles. It is new years day and people seem to be enjoying a day of no work and there is a lightness in the air and many smiles we encounter.

After about an hour we come to another path near a temple that leads back down to the river where the boats are waiting for us. Sanjay is very popular with the children as they watch him make colorful balloon animals for them. What beautiful smiles on their faces. Such joy to have a simple piece of rubber. Something we would certainly take foregranted.

We board the boat and head back towards Luang Prabang and disembark at the city's main temple. Very ornate and beautiful with many buildings to explore. Some of us decide to sit in the shade and rest with a cold drink. It's been an incredible day already.

We head back to the boat once again and visit another small village where we have lunch with the village chief and his wife. A simple meal of rice, morning glory (similar to spinach), omelet and chicken. They are very kind people and seem so happy to have us share a meal with them. On the way out of the village, many children surround us as we take our leave. They all smile and play games with each other using stones and sticks.

There is one girl who seems very shy and stays back from the crowd. After some coaxing, she comes toward Urmi and they share a hug. She has one eye that is mishapen and it occurs to me that this could by why she is shy. She gets a lot of attention from our group and we are all thinking about her as the boat pulls away...

Back on the boat, we are all lulled by the soft sound of the motor and the silky waves lapping the sides. Eyes grow heavy and bellies are full. The lush green trees and tall mountains surrounding us are pure beauty and peace. I love this time on the Mekong river and feel very grateful that I am experiencing it.

After 30 minutes we pull up to another village entrance. All entrances are an uphill climb and I'm feeling the burn by this time. We climb up and are greeted by the village priest and his family who invite us into their simple home. We are told that they will be performing a Bacci ceremony with us today. A ceremony to give us blessings for a happy journey and to bring in good luck with the new year. 

There are five men and four women in the room. They invite us to sit in a circle with them and in the center there are food offerings of fruit, rice crackers, sweets, a boiled chicken, incense burning and sticks holding many white cords. The men are all very happy and boisterous as they begin to chant and sing. This day just got even more dream like....

As they all chant, each person moves around the room tying a white cord on our wrist, looking us in the eye and giving us good blessings and lots of love. By the time we were finished we all had at least 10 thick white cords on each wrist, the ends hanging down in a tribal like bracelet. After the blessings and prayers, the now blessed food is passed around for everyone to share along with a little bit of homemade whiskey. That's the way they roll in Laos. No wonder everyone was so boisterous and happy! It is a beautiful and touching time with this family. I feel love and good will from every person there, even though we don't speak the same language. It doesn't matter. Words are just that. Actions and emotions are how we truly communicate. We all speak the same language of the heart.

We chat with a few more people in the village as we make our way back to the boat, now heated up and happy from the "whiskey Lao" as they call it there.

Down to the boat yet again and back towards town. We jump into our vans and head back to the resort, where we have time to rest for a short while before getting ready for dinner at a restaurant in town, The Blue Lagoon. We have a lovely meal of rice, fish, curries and local specialties along with some nice wine that Chef Richard chooses.

It was about the most action packed, special and heart warming new years day I've had in many years. Not to mention getting lots of good exercise up and down the village paths. I loved it.

When we finally get back to our beautiful room at the Luang Prabong View Resort, it's time to pack and get some shut eye after this 18 hour day of adventure. Tomorrow we travel by van four hours up to the Nong Khiaw River where will spend a few days exploring around this mountain village on the Pak Ou River.

And on to Laos - part one

On the morning of December 31, I take a cab to the airport to meet up with the group that I will be traveling with for the next 10 days. Dick Grace and his beautiful wife Ann, both 78 years young, will be our leading us. I have had the incredible gift of traveling with them many times in the past, but the rest of the group (excluding Sanjay) have never traveled with them and none have been to Laos or Cambodia before.

I meet 30 something Caitlin, a sassy tattooed korean bar tender, Meredith who teaches art and photography to mentally handicapped adults, Chef Richard, Jennifer and Nino, a couple who are in the wine business, and high school senior Carlo - all from the Napa Valley area and my friend Urmi from India who I haven't seen in over 7 years since I visited her there. And our wonderful tour guide is Sanjay who I have met and worked with in past. He has organized countless trips for Dick and Ann, and this one is sure to be special.  We all introduce ourselves and tell each other how we came to be on this trip and what our connection is to Dick and Ann and the amazing work they do.

We board our flight together and are landing in Luang Prabang, Laos in about an hour. We are met at the airport by our local guide, Pong and his helpers in two vans. We are taken to the beautiful Luang Prabang View Resort where we have just enough time to check into our rooms and change for New Year's Eve dinner at the hotel.

The dinner is a lovely affair, a giant buffet of every imaginable food served on the large patio surrounding the pool. Red wine is flowing and many guests are there with Lao singers and dancers to entertain. A bit cheesy but very fun. Until the rain started to come down. We are ushered inside until the rain subsided and then back out to the pool area. By this time the magic spell had been broken and Urmi and I decide to turn in. Especially since we have a 4 am wakeup call.

After a good sleep, we bundle up for the chilly morning and meet in the lobby. We are driven to the center of Luang Prabang so that we can take part in a wonderful, years old tradition of giving offerings to the monks from a nearby monastery. We sit on little plastic stools and purchase big bowls of rice and packaged snacks. Soon they coming down the lane in a silent, bright orange line. They are mostly younger, heads shaven, orange robes flowing and each with a begging bowl in hand. We put little balls of rice and a snack in each bowl. I try and make eye contact with each but some keep their eyes toward the ground. One young monk surprised me with the sound of his voice as he says "good morning" with a big smile. It reminded me of handing out halloween candy but with a much more calm, beautiful spirit.

Such a special way to begin the new year.

By this time it is light outside and we walk to the morning market where my eyes and senses are dazzled by every fruit and vegetable of every color of the rainbow. There are birds and mice and bats for sale - not sure if they will become a meal for someone....there are baskets and bags, spices and crackers, deep fried goodies, incense, dresses, rice and drinks. A feast for the eyes.












We all end up at a tea stall where we have hot chai and goodies bought from the market. A sweet time as we get to know each other better on this first day of the new year and first day of what is sure to be an incredible adventure together.