Trooper. Not my most favorite Canadian band by any means but they're song "Here for a good time" seems to capture the sentiments of the trip for the past month and a half. All good things must come to an end I suppose and in doing so I think that we left a Canadian stamp on the people that we met as much as they did on us. After blandly saying that we were Canadian, Lannie and I would occassionally say when asked where we were from, "Canada; home of the timbit", "Canada; home of Alexander Graham Bell", "Canada; home of Wayne Gretzky", "Canada; home of Sir Tommy Douglas" etc etc etc. Most of which past Ca-Nah-Dah was lost on the locals. The image attached is of Lannie and Myself with both our ceremonial first drink and meal in Thailand [Pong Nam Ron], approx. 20 kms from the Cambodian Province on Pailin, and our ceremonial last meal together. It again was a nice intro to the country as it consisted of egg, rice, minced meat and a soup...........and a Chang Beer. Accompanied, as always, was the laughter at our attempts to speak the local flavour of language. Lannie and I were heading in opposite directions; Lannie down to Trat to get some R & R after a decade and a bit of continuous work to evolve his ear for the sound of waves, and myself up to Chian Mai to take a Thai Massage Course for a week. We parted ways with a handshake and the sentiment that we'd see eachother in the snow of Vancouver at some point, hopefully with skis pointed downward while crested on a beautifully snowy ridge.
We'd traveled in excess of 1000 km's and through five countries in total and had the opportunity to see some beautiful things in the landscapes of each country, or the intricacies of the architecture, both french colonial and endemic, and how they contrasted each other, or the detail and precision of the Angkor Wat area and perhaps more profoundly the people of each country. I'm still finding myself tracing thoughts back to some of the people that we met and how innately generous, curious and benevolent they were, in and of themselves, for some strangers, who it appeared, were symbolically more that just a dollar sign; which is sometimes how it can feel when in a bigger city. The trip has been good for the waistline and the heart, but more of that to follow I suppose over some beers and rich December meals. I'm sure Lannie will give some input to the trip as well but I read something recently from an author/speaker that both Lannie and I seemed to agree was an interesting dude in Alain De Botton. It seems that the following passage is not only relevant for myself but I'm sure, just as much for the people that we met and the communities that we saw when over here.
"We dont exist unless there is someone who can see us existing, what we say has no meaning until someone can understand, while to be surrounded by friends is constantly to have our identity confirmed; thier knowledge and care for us have the power to pull us from our numbness. In small comments, many of them teasing, they can reveal they know our foibles and accept them and so, in turn, accept that we have a place in this world. We can ask them 'Isnt it frightening?' or 'Do you ever feel that...?' and be understood, rather than encounter the puzzled, 'No, not particularly' - which can make us feel, even when in company, as lonely as polar explorers." A. De Botton
I'm somewhat saddened to end the trip in the sense that there is so much in each country to see, let alone the area of South East Asia and two months is just a small dent in the richness of culture over here. However I'm somewhat excited to be off the bike for a while and to be stationary for a while so as to observe the world as it goes by from a nucleur point of view as opposed to the opposite of spinning the world by one pedal revolution at a time. Its been amazing. Thanks Lannie for the good times and the argumentative [although not many it has to be said] and I'll likely see you in Vangroovy over a beer when the memories start to fade and I need a reminder.
Jason
