More from Cambodia

The entrance to the ancient walled city of Angkor Thom. We rode elephants for a couple of miles, through this entrance to the Bayon Temple.

The bridge to the Angkor Thom entrance.

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat

Detail at Angkor Wat

Student Monks playing outside of Angkor Wat

More Angkor Wat

It costed a dollar

Denise and Judy at the Raffles Hotel, Siem Reap.

Mark & Paula

Final thoughts about PNG and welcome to Cambodia.

One thing about PNG that I don't think I mentioned:
Port Moresby is the capital of PNG and is a more modern city. There are no roads out of the city. The only means to get to the rest of the country are by small plane or boat. All of the villages are extremely isolated. While most people now speak some English, there are over 800 native languages that are so different that none of them can communicate with one another. Port Moresby is a very dangerous place. The hotel that we stayed at was amazingly nice...one of the best on the trip. It was surrounded by zip-wire. When we arrived at the airport, our caravan had an armed police escort to a museum, and then to our hotel (We're talking automatic rifles here, not pistols.). It seems that life is harder for those people who have tried to adopt a more "advanced" way of life than it is for those still living as their ancestors did (except for eating people, of course).

We flew to Siem Reap, Cambodia from PNG. The hotel that we stayed at was incredible. We spent two very full days visiting various temples dating from around the 12th century. Also, we visited a floating city of illegal Vietnamese immigrants.

Banteay Srei Temple from the 10th century.

Banteay Srei.

Banteay Srei dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva.

Bayon Temple

Bayon Temple. It wouldn't look like Indiana Jones if you didn't have snakes!

Buddhist Monks.

Ta Prohm jungle temple.

Judy at Ta Prohm

More Ta Prohm

Ta Prohm temple

Ta Prohm temple

Some final images from Papua New Guinea

Judy in a typical home in the Sepik river valley. One must be very mindful of where one steps, as the flooring is very thin and it is 6-8 feet to the ground below.

Women displaying scarification.

Women cooking sago palm pudding and pancakes in their home.

Reflections on an amazing journey

It has been almost two weeks since our return from our expedition with the National Geographic Society. Still, I don't want to awaken from the most amazing of dreams. Experiencing so many diverse cultures in a relatively short period of time has tested my preconceptions of what is "civilization". I have always thought about our society as being the ideal that all cultures would naturally want to aspire to be. I no longer hold this opinion. For example, we would consider the people of Papua New Guinea as poor and primative. Yet, the people there have all the food they want or need which they obtain from the jungle and the river. Clothing is not a priority since it is the hottest and most humid place that I have ever experienced (I wish that I could have felt comfortable taking my clothes off.). They have no cars, no engines for their dugout canoes, no soda, television, telephone. What they do have is a very strong sense of family and community. Extended families live in the same large homes elevated on stilts. These consist of one large room that everyone shares. Even the cooking is done in this room. They have rituals that bind them together as a community. When the boys become men, they undergo a scarification ritual. The women are not required to do this, but many will volunteer for scarification when a brother is to undergo it as a show of support for their brother. They are very proud to do this. The villages that we visited were as neat as a pin. There is no garbage since they don't have packaging, etc. Everything gets used. The people are polite and friendly. They are skilled artisans. Their civilization meets their needs. They have no need for most of the things that we possess and hold dear.
This is just one example. I'll spare you the others until we meet and you decide that you want to discuss it further. Don't get me wrong, our society is the one that I know and want to live in, but it doesn't have to be this way in order to be happy.
More pictures to follow later today and tomorrow if I don't get called to work.

My favorite photo at Easter Island

More Papua New Guinea

Chris Ranier (National Geographic photographer) and Tim (not a Nat Geo photographer) photographing natives in costume.

A local band performing for us at the lodge. They were very good. The drums at the lower right consist of bamboo shafts that are played using flip-flops.

Yes, there actually is a person inside of this.

The Karawari Lodge where we were staying. This place was like a museum of Sepik River art.

School children.

More pudding.

Sago palm pudding being made by a member of the Girl Scouts of Papua New Guinea. They don't do cookies. It is absolutely flavorless. They mix it with other things to give it flavor.

Papua New Guinea continued

Our flight from Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea to the Karawari river in the Sepik river valley. I was fortunate to get the co-pilots seat on the plane.

The Karawari river, Sepik river valley, Papua New Guinea.

The airport terminal at the Karawari river.

This is what life must have been like in the garden of Eden.

No motors. No cars. No soda. No hint of the outside world except for some t-shirts and shorts. 

While "primative" by our standards, these people are happy, healthy and wanting for nothing. It is probably as close to paradise as one can get. Extended families live together in the same house and care for one another. It makes one think about our society. Are we really happier with all of our needs and desires for "things". Or, are we slaves of our lifestyle and possessions?

The blog resumes today

Well, we made it home safely. I apologize for having to interrupt the blog. The pace of our trip was frantic with no free time between excursions, lectures, meals, etc. Even on the plane, we had multiple lectures. I was trying to do the blog after midnight, but could not keep it going averaging only 4-5 hours of sleep each night. Then, we ran into the great wall called communism in China. The government controls the internet and does not allow social networking sites like Facebook, blogs, etc. Therefore, I could not access the blog. In Tanzania we were a one-hour bush plane ride and one hour jeep ride from any kind of civilization, i.e. no internet available. So, I gave up.
The good news is that I will now resume the blog and will be able to put extra time and effort into it to make it more informative. I hope to post another entry later today, once I finish downloading our final images from Istanbul.