Today I went to the mountain that contained the waterfall that is used by the Hindu religion for healing and to the temples of Banteay Srey. The hike on the mountain was only 1500m and the waterfall and nature was just what I needed. It’s hard…impossible to find quiet areas and peaceful areas in Shanghai. It was a huge thing for me to be completely alone in nature and to just listen to the water flowing and the birds chirping. The temples of Banteay Srey were by far my favorite. In my opinion, these temples and this site was more impressive than Angkor Wat and co. Angkor Wat and Co. were amazing because of their hugeness, but Banteay Srey was breathtaking due to the level of detail. I sat in my spot and just marveled at these temples and all I could do was hope to capture what I saw in the photos. This was by far a great day because I saw a level of craft that I have never seen before and was inspired, and then when I returned back to the guesthouse I brought out my Frisbee and just started to play with the kids. I must say that there was some good talent and great promise. The kids here are amazing, the have the ability to play with the simplest of things forever. They play with balloons for hours, then have a game where they kick their sandals in the dirt, they are always smiling, always curious and always ALIVE! It is really inspiring too to just see their spirit and to remember times when there wasn’t the distractions that we have today of internet and TV. I gave my Frisbee to one of the locals because he wanted to buy it from me. Ultimate isn’t like most sports/games, it is a community and it’s about spirit. I was more than happy to give my YUC Cincinnati disc to him and I hope that it can help start something big in the ultimate world. Look out cuz here come Cambodia.
It was a great day, until it took a turn for the worst. I took a bike into town again to get some dinner and after riding around for a bit, looking at the restaurants that were around, I saw a BBQ place that caught my eye. I looped around the market again, crossed the bridge and only had to go straight to reach the restaurant. As I was approaching the BBQ I could start to smell the awesome aroma of food and came to a sorta 4 way intersection. In Cambodia, there aren’t really any stop signs or yield. I was riding towards this intersection, looking back and forth looking to see if there was any cross traffic and saw to my left there was a van slowly approaching with a caravan of other cars and motobikes. I sped up on my bike so that I wouldn’t have to stop and wait to cross the right of way. I cut in front of the van and see that I’m in the clear until I see a “gang” of 5 motobikes turning left from the oncoming traffic. They start to turn and start to cut me off. I look at my choices: stop in the middle of the road, crash into them, or avoid them by turning left and go behind them. I chose to avoid. As I start to turn left I hear one of the worst sounds known to my life, the sliding of tire on dirt. My bike falls over and I am thrown to the ground. I bounce up like a ball to see onlookers and people coming to help me. I am too shocked and too flustered to do anything but just leave. I pick up my book and look down to see my Nikon D40 SLR digital camera on the floor…with the lens separated from its body. I grab everything and rush away on my bike towards the restaurant.
I got a few bumps, bruises, cuts and scrapes, nothing I haven’t had before; but I was more bummed and sad about my camera than anything else. The lens is broken, it is stuck on one setting and can only focus to a certain point. The focus of the lens: zoomed to the max. Say goodbye to broad pictures and I could see my arsenal take a dramatic turn for the worse. Dinner was good, but I couldn’t help but try to forget about the death of my camera lens.
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