The Muses of Veevek: Photos, photos and more photos!

Okay, as promised here are some photos from the past few months. There were many more that I wanted to put up but I didn't want to drown you in them.

When I went to Calgary, my brother and one of my cousins (who is now living in Toronto) was visiting. It's always nice to see siblings again, always. The other two my left are Bhavisha and Vinay. I still can't believe that Bhavisha will be staring uni in September! Also, before leaving Calgary, I was able to see Vinay at his basketball game. I was amazed! He definitely has talent - then again, he is a Thankey afterall. :)

Here are some photos from South East Asia - starting with Laos:

This was our first day in Vientiane and we were sitting beside the Mighty Mekong drinking, what is probably the best beer I've had, Beerlao. For one bottle (the large one) was about $0.80 USD, not bad for when you need some beer.

This is the most treasured national monument in Laos - it contains a relic of Buddha (a portion of his clavicle)

This is me in Luang Prabang - the old capital of Laos. I'm on the highest point of the city, which also has a beautiful park devoted to Buddha's life and teachings. The river on the left is the Mighty Mekong and the smaller river on the right is the Nam Kang.

This was definitely one of the coolest Buddha statues that I saw. It was tucked away behind one of the temple and monestary complexes near the guesthouse that we were staying at.

This was the temple that belonged to the Royal Family whilst Luang Prabang was the capital of Laos. The entire city of LP is considered a World Heritage City, which means that there are massive efforts to preserve the existing structures and to prevent any development that would be out of sync with the rest of the city's ambiance.

Vietnam:

Yes, this is a statue of Lenin in Hanoi. How the Vietnamese loved him. :)

This is the 2nd man that is most likely loved even more than Lenin - Ho Chi Minh. This was his 'final' place of rest. Even though, HCM wanted to be cremated. Alas, we were unable to see him because he was in Russia at the time. Every September - November, HCM goes to Moscow to get fixed up, as the embalming experts are there. HAHAHA.

Still in Hanoi, here's a photo of Claire with Bia Ha Noi. :) Not as good as Beerlao but still on the up and up.

This was a photo taken at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology (yes, that's the word). It's one of the houses of the ethic tribes within Vietnam.

This photo was taken on a restaurant boat in Hue en route to Hoi An. Once again, Claire testing the local beer. This time it's Bia BIVINA.

This is a photo of Claire, Diem, Annabelle, and Nabila in Hoi An. Diem is a very good friend of Lou's (and now ours!). She owns a cloth shop (amongst many others). Her family treated us like family - we enjoyed many meals, coffees, beers and conversations. Diem also made some clothes for us, which turned out to be absolutely fantastic!

Here's a photo of all of us. This was on our last night before we were heading south to Sai Gon by way of Nha Trang. She really did leave us with an indelible impression of Vietnam. If any of you are going, then get in touch with me. I can give you her contact details - she would love to meet you! (she's married...so don't get any ideas)

Here's me in the famous "SAME SAME...BUT DIFFERENT" shirt. This was taken along waterfront in Hoi An. Typhoon LingLing (an offshoot of Typhoon Durian) was hitting the coast of Vietnam. At night, the blocks off the waterfront were completely flooded!

Cambodia:

This is one of the main monuments at one of the Killing Fields just outside of Phnom Penh. It was such a somber experience. This temple houses over 8,000 skulls that were found in the immediate area. The majority of the surrounding area has yet to be excavated - you can only imagine how many more skeletal remains are present.

In Phnom Penh, we managed to meet up with Dave and Suz. We headed down to the Foreign Correspondence Club and enjoy very well made (and cheap) cocktails and drinks. We also were able to afford some nice Cubans!

This was taken outside the National Museum in PP. For those of you that can tell, it's Ganesh. Cambodia was ruled under a Hindu King from the 10th to 15th Century. Many of the folklore and mythology are borrowed from the Hindu pantheon. Even today, marriages, funerals, and births are done according to hindu customs.

Here's Annabelle and I sharing a moment at Elsewhere. This place had to have been the best bar/lounge I've been to in a very long time (including those in Australia). Such a chilled and relax environment, not to mention great drinks and fantastic company!

One cannot visit Cambodia and not see Angkor Wat. This photo was taken at sunset - but it just doesn't do it any justice. I've taken hundreds of photos of the different temples and ruins but I won't bore you with them all.

For those of you that are interested in real sets, then you will recognise this one. This is the tree that was filmed in Lara Craft: Tomb Raider. It was the scene where Angelina picks a jasmine flower, puts in her hair and then jumps into the hole.

T'was such a magical place...

This is considered to be the jewel of the crown for the Angkor complex. It was quite far away from the rest of the temple structures. Researchers and archeologists believe that this temple was carved by women, because of the intense level of detail and intricate work. This is also the only temple in the complex that is devoted to Shiva.

Here's a photo of me, Suz, Claire, Nabila, Annabelle, and Dave. It really was an awesome trip and I was so glad to have shared it with these people - some of my favourite people in the world. (Yeah, even you...)

Nabila, Claire and I thought that we would have a night on the town (Siem Reap) and we sure did! Here we are drinking out of a Mekong Bucket. What's in this thing? Half a bottle of Mekong Whisky, Vodka, Coke and Red Bull. Yeah...

Thailand: