Merry Xmas from Georgia

 

We are trying to turn a new leaf and work on our recycling for 2021. Hence the recycled Christmas card. Either way, it's the thought that counts and we wish you all a far superior 2021 (relative to 2020).

Fortunately Santa checked his list carefully and decided to visit us for Christmas on Rebak Island. As I understand it there has been some serious loosening of the good boy/good girlness required to get on the list this year due to the Covid restrictions. Santa stopped by after our Christmas dinner and dropped off a piece of candy for everybody. Hey, its better than a lump of coal or for that matter most of 2020.

Stay Healthy

Paul and Chris 

Quarantine Freedom

 

 

We've gotten a bit behind on blogging. The pictures above pretty much completely define our second and last week in quarantine. Anxiously awaiting the room doorbell so we could see what what our next meal would be. Except for usually being cold, the chef's at the Grand Millennium certainly tried. Being the picky eater that I am, there were a few days I went hungry. But that just made the next doorbell ring that much more exciting. If we really got bored we could look out the window at the pool. The Grand Millennium is listed as a five star hotel. Let's just say the stars are a little smaller than some five star hotels⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

On the thirteenth day we were escorted down he haul with a bunch of other PUSs (Person Under Surveillance) to a lobby at the end of the hall where we all got RTK tests. These are fast, finger stick tests or Covid. If you tested positive then you got a PCR swab up the nose. We were both negative. In addition to doing the tests, they let us know at quarantine is now 10 days and not 14. A little late for us, our flight out wasn't until the next day.

Next morning we checked out of the hotel with the KKM (health department), the hotel front desk and then the police. We were no longer officially a PUS. We grabbed a cab to the airport and lugged our 4 large bags in. In the picture above I am using the required app, My Sejahtera, to scan the QR code (square barcode) on the sign in front of an airport restaurant. This does three things. First it allows it to look like you are doing something before walking into the store or restaurant. You are also supposed to take your temperature, write it down on the provided sheet and then wash your hands with the alcohol provided. Second it tracks where you go in case a Covid case is later traced to that place and last it lets you quickly look up the risk of the place, eg how many cases have been detected within 1 km in the last 14 day. Remember this is all in a country that has between a fifth and tenth as many Covid19 cases as Washington State per capita.  

We landed in Langkawi and headed to ferry dock for Rebak Island. As you can see, its not a big ferry

After a few days of cleaning up Georgia and tracking down some parts and she was ready to launch.

The view from Georgia in the water - looking back on the TravelLift and the hardstand where she spent the last 7 months.

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Now I bet that our reader thinks that I as going to end this blog with a nice Christmas theme. You'll have to wait till tomorrow for your virtual holiday card. But now, for some important info:

Since there's been a lot of interest in vaccines lately, have you considered the fact that all of the people who had the smallpox vaccine in 1798 are now dead? Just something to think about.

Paul

  

Quarantine, Malaysia Style

 

The night view of Kuala Lumpur from our 18th story hotel room

The cold, morning view from our driveway in Bellingham (actually Ferndale) that we left behind. We rented a car and drove two hours to Seattle to spend the night in a hotel nearby the airport in order to catch our early morning flight. At the hotel I let Google guide me to the best Thai restaurant near our hotel for dinner. So I called Mango's to get some Phad Thai ordered for take out. I asked the lady if I could order beers to go with it. There was a long pause and then a very hesitant response, "We only have .......... Bud Light". It was clear that she knew that that isn't beer and was embarrassed to offer it. She quickly followed this up letting me know that there was a liquor store next door with all types of beer -- problem solved.

Next morning I dropped Chris off at the airport in the early dark with our 4 checked bags plus carry ons and then headed off to drop off the rental car. First hangup was checking into our United Airlines flight (Seattle to San Francisco to Narita to Kuala Lumpur). The check in agent said we had to produce Covid test results and some unknown paperwork. I quickly pushed back and pulled out my stack of official Malaysian stamped paperwork. She just as quickly decided that she didn't want to hassle with it so early in her shift and passed us through. 

We were pretty cautious about trying not to catch Covid and die. That included our KN-95 masks (made and tested in China) plus a clear face shield. The entire 25 hour travel time we felt pretty well socially distanced with perhaps the exception of the shuttle train that you have to take in Seatac airport to the international terminal. There was no apparent attempt to make this safe with the exception of asking for masks.

In San Francisco we were called up to the ANA airlines desk (Japanese) and asked for our Malaysian entry paperwork. They carefully went through it all and seemed to know what was needed. Then after two ANA flights and6 movies we landed in Kuala Lumpur at midnight. We both got PCR tests with deep nostril and throat swabs, filled out paperwork, paid for our quarantine time, got our passport stamped for a 90 day visit and then sat and waited for our Premium Package quarantine driver to show up. You can can choose between a Standard Package and a Quarantine Package. With the standard package the officials place you in a hotel. This is based on which of the quarantine approved hotels has room. Sometimes it will be one of the "5 star" Premium Package hotels. In theory you get a food upgrade with the Premium Package and a nicer room. I'll comment more when we get out of jail. After an hour our driver showed up. We grabbed our bags from the carousel storage area, our escort took us through customs who didn't look up and then onto the pickup area. Here the bags go on the ground and get sprayed down with disinfectant. 

We arrived at the Grand Millenium hotel at 4am. They took us in through a side door to a side lobby and did a very brief check in. They gave us a hotel key card that is only good for one time use --- you can check-in but you can't check-out. Escorted us while in full hazmat dress to a utility elevator and told us to go to our room on the 18th floor.  

Speaking of food, we get 3 deliveries a day like this plate plus a late afternoon tea with cakes. The hungrier I get, the better the food tastes. You aren't allowed knives, alcohol or smoking while being a PUS - Person Under Surveillance. As I understand it the no knives rule is to discourage suicide.

Our "5-star" hotel is a little tired. The toilet didn't flush well, so after a couple of calls to the front desk they sent up the maintenance man. Like everyone we deal with here, he was dressed in a hazmat suit including face shield.

Our days are packed with watching CNN, BBC and a few movie channels -- while eagerly awaiting the next meal. We get up in the morning and after tea and coffee, we carefully make a schedule for the day. So far there hasn't been anything on the schedule yet, but I think the discipline is good for us. We also grab our phones and go into the tracking app for Malaysia and answer a brief, daily health questionnaire. 

In the day view from room (above) you can see the nice rooftop pool on the right. That's all we can do to -- see it.

Paul

  

President Elect J'Biden

 

OK, we knocked off another presidential race prediction. Running two for two for the last couple of elections. It's nice to see how graceful and cooperative the looser has been.  It is even nicer that he is no longer dominating the airwaves. Its a slow reduction of chaos.

I've noticed that a number of the conservative media hosts have had trouble pronoucing the first name of Vice President elect Harris. - Kamala. At the same time seems like all tbe talking heads are getting the pronunciation of President elect Biden correct - J'Biden.

I was planning on going into a deep analyses of how the country ended up voting roughing 80 million to 74 million, and how close 3/4 of the country didn't  vote with the left progressive side of the Democratic party. But if I did that then this wouldn't be a cruising blog and I'd risk loosing my reader. It's pretty easy to loose your single reader if you come down on both sides of an issue.

Back to actual cruising plans, we fly to Kuala Lumpur on 11/30. We'll spend 14 days locked up in hotel. Should be out of quarantine and back to Langkawi around Dec 16, if all goes well.  Our current plan is to launch Georgia and repair all the things that broke cause they didn't get used for the last 6 months. Then we'll  head across the Indian Ocean in late Jan. Hopefully with a stopover in Chagos and then on to the Seychelles. Might add the Maldives to the list. At least that is 2021 Plan A. Given that we had to go to the Greek letters for Plan id's in 2020 in a similar pattern as the Atlantic hurricane season naming did, I'm not holding out for much in Plan A to actually make it to execution.

We had a fleeting thought about changing plans when we heard all of tbe good news on vaccines. Maybe we should stay put and wait for a Covid vaccine. On second thought ---------- that would put us sitting out what looks to be the worst of the infections peaking over the next few months. We might as well spend that time in a place with a far lower infection rate.

Next up, a blog from our quarantine hotel.

A reminder for the holidays

A Zoom Thanksgiving

Is better than an ICU Christmas

Bye Oldman

 

Sherman, Paul, Chris, Judy and unnamed Komodo dragon

Sherman - Fairwinds I

You sailed over the horizon

And now you've crossed the bar

RIP friend

Octember Weather

 

Summer is good and over here in the Pacific Northwest. Local berries are no longer in the grocery stores. It's cold with spells of rain. Typical for when October blends into November: Octember. Now that our mail-in ballots are here we can plan to return to the boat in Malaysia. That is after we resolve the debate on who to vote for. Many of our international cruising friends look at us and want to know how could the US elect a president like the one we have. That is the international cruising crowd with the possible exception of male Australians, who seem to often have a penchant for the orange-haired leader.
The best explanation I've seen for the Trump phenomenon is that 80% of the country knows he is an asshole. 40%, or half, love him because of it and the other half hate him for it. In 2016 I predicted Trump would win. In 2020 I predict he is going to get his ass handed to him. We'll see.
The other day we were shopping in the local Costco. We both slipped into daydreams about how easy it would be to provision the boat if we could do it here. The shelves are stocked high here. About the only thing in short supply is ammunition at the gun shops. Want to get ammo for your newly acquired Glock? Limit 5 boxes per customer. Even Costco is now carrying the old military style ammo boxes. If you have been collecting guns over the years here, then now’s a nice time to list them online so you can get 4 or 5x return on your investment. It’s reported that 40% of gun purchases are first time buyers this year. Pretty crazy situation. 

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It has been a journey trying to figure out how we can be reunited with Georgia.  The Malaysian borders are closed to tourists and the US is on the high risk list of countries. Malaysia is seeing a new wave of Covid cases like much of the rest of the world. Compared to Washington state they are at about 1/5  to 1/10 the infection rate per capita (depending on when and what you compare). And Washington is one of the better states in the US for Covid-19 control.
The first plan to reunite with Georgia was to have her delivered to Singapore and then do a "crew transfer" where we would fly into Singapore and the delivery crew would fly back to Malaysia. Singapore is one of the worlds largest shipping ports. They have a very detailed procedure for crew transfers on and off these ships. We had hoped to sneak into this procedure. In the end it seemed like it might be possible, but expensive. We would be paying a delivery crew for close to a month as they had to deal with multiple country quarantines.
Then we got wind of a couple of UK cruisers who got permission to reunite with their boat.  We headed up to the Malaysian immigration site and applied online for special permission to reunite with Georgia. We explained that she is our only home, that we will be spending significant money readying her to cross the Indian Ocean with the local establishments, etc. They quickly responded with a single entry permission beginning Dec. 1. We are allowed to fly to Kuala Lumpur. We will be met at the airport and transferred to a local hotel for a 14 day quarantine stay. Then a Covid test and we are free to continue on to Langkawi.  At least that's the current plan.

_________________________________________

To keep myself busy and stave off additional mental decline, I needed a project. I found this 1955 Shopsmith woodworking tool in a barn near here. The owner wanted it to go to a good home and offered it for $100. What a steal. They still make these machines and the new parts fit the old system.

Pulled the thing entirely apart, found the original paint color and got her looking pretty, This thing is a drill press, table saw, lathe, jointer, planer and boring machine, all in one.

Till we make it to quarantine.

Paul

A Differnt World of Coronavirus

We spent two nights in the Sama Sama airport hotel in Kuala Lumpur so we could pickup the early morning All Nippon Airways flight to Narita airport in Japan. Total travel time from leaving the boat in Rebak island to landing in Seattle was four and half days. Fortunately we got one day back when we crossed the International Dateline. 4 flights, 5 airports and 2 hotels. The Kuala Lumpur airport was basically empty when we arrived at about 5:30am. This airport handled 62 million passengers last year. It was a ghost town now as we started the international portion of our travels.

Normally I wouldn't bother to comment much on the public health safety precautions being taken at the airport because they are just plain common place in Malaysia now. Before you enter the airport you have your temperature checked with an infra-red imager. You have to show tickets for a flight that day and you must be wearing a face mask. Before you enter the hotel, a non-contact forehead temperature check. Everyone is wearing a mask. At this point I might as well mention shopping in Malaysia. Outside a store will be an area marked off with 2m (6 feet) taped off zones for waiting your turn to enter. Busy stores will have spaced seats. At the door there is a log to write your name and phone number. The phone number is to assist in contact tracing should someone latter show exposure. There's a spot on the log to note your temperature taken by the attendant. A bottle of hand sanitizer to use once your done with the pen going in, and another bottle at the checkout.  Stores limit the number of people inside based on square footage, actually square meterage.

The photo above might look like I stole it from the HBO Chernobyl special, but its not. These guys are just the hotel staff cleaning the halls on our floor. If you are one of the few traveling now, social distancing hint: one couple per hotel is pretty safe.

The ANA 787  Dreamliner flight out of Malaysia to Japan was basically empty. We each had a row to ourselves with no one seated within a row of us. Friendly crew and decent food. We only had 45 minutes scheduled between our flights in Narita. It was an easy connection, being routed directly from our landing gate to takeoff gate with minimal interaction with anything or anybody. This next flight was also a 787 but operated by United. Not sure the flight attendants were happy to be on this flight based on their attitude. And United has decided for our safety onboard during these stressful times there is no coffee or hot tea, nor any beer or wine. I had about 10 hours on the flight to think about this situation.

Landing in San Francisco at SFO airport was pretty surprising, it being our gateway to the country with the most covid-sars-2 infections in the world. SFO requires face masks, but it's not strictly enforced. Turns out that is the limit of any pretense of protecting the country. No temperature checks on incoming passengers. No one asked us where our travels originated. No suggestions of self-isolation or quarantine. Show your passport and come on in. To be a little more thorough in my story I should also note that we were asked if we had any fresh fruit such as an apple, orange or banana. Hopefully this will protect our indigenous banana plantations from catching the coronavirus. 

We are doing some self isolation in a Holiday Inn in Bellingham right now. It is similar to self isolation on the boat in Rebak except you don't have to march 15 minutes in the scalding heat to the toilet. But, you don't have the beach either. To test the precautions in practice in the US we decided to go to Walmart. We also needed a water filter for our trailer, as the last one broke in the hard freeze we had just before left last time we were here, along with some new cell phone SIM cards. If a good percentage of the customers and staff are being careful at Walmart, you can safely say the country is on a good path to getting over this pandemic. The country isn't on a good path.

Paul

Plan I (eye)

It was finally time to make a decision - a decision among the fog of fluid data, The Movement Control Order in Malaysia has lightened up enough to allow most businesses to operate provided they apply for a permit and follow the Covid-19 Standard Operating Procedures for their industry. For a typical shop the SOP includes waiting chairs spaced appropriately outside the door for the mask-wearing clients, a log at the door to record your name and phone number, an employee to take your forehead temperature and write it on the log and, finally, some alcohol to wash your hands. I suppose we could follow a similar SOP in the US along with adding a bottle of Lysol or Clorox to take a swig from before entering the store.

The haul out yard at the Rebak Marina started operating late last week, so we decided to haul Georgia. After hauling her put we spent a day and half wrapping her in landscape fabric to give some protection from the scorching heat in the yard.

Now I'm not saying this is a calibrated thermometer, but it sure is representative of how hot it gets here. The remote sensor for this display is in a line-bag in our cockpit. For those more metrically inclined 126*F is about 52*C.

Along with hauling Georgia we purchased flights back to the US of A. We decided that we weren't going to see an opening to move the boat to another country for the next couple of months, at least-- but that's anyone's guess. Top on our list would be the opening of countries across the Indian Ocean on the way to South Africa. We still have a valid permit to stop for awhile in the Chagos Islands in mid-ocean. But we would also need Madagascar or Mayotte to open for foreign yachts to stop, at least to wait for weather and/or to get supplies, and South Africa to open as our final destination. It's not clear these will occur anytime soon.

In addition to checking country closure rules and rumors daily, we looked into shipping Georgia to the Mediterranean. The most cost-effective port and passage would be Thailand to Genoa, Italy. Both of which are currently closed to us. Shipping is very expensive, but it has some appeal as leaving the boat for a year or more in SE Asia isn't cheap or desirable.

Adding to our decision making process was weighing the visa situation in Malaysia. Our visas are up on June 4th and the MCO is up on June 9th. The current understanding of the rules is that we have 14 days after the MCO to leave the country (or possibly 30 days after our visa expiration). You can apply for an in-person meeting with Immigration and ask for an extension with extenuating circumstances -- but no one knows how these are going to go. So we figured we might as well get out early instead of blow another month in lockdown in Malaysia. As much as Rebak Island was a good choice for being locked-down, it's a part of our life we are never going to get back. The big risk for us is that we will not be able to re-enter Malaysia until they ease the entry requirements, which may not be for a long time. Especially if you are coming from a country whose new daily coronavirus cases are 8 to 10 times higher per capita than Malaysia's (that would be the USA).

One reason we decided to haul in Rebak was because they recently have increased the hardstand security by hiring more Security Monitors (Lizards).

Langkawi is located in Kedah state while Kuala Lumpur and the international airport is in Selangor state. Interstate transport is not allowed during the MCO without police permission. Since we are flying through five airports on four flights (Langkawi and Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, Narita Japan, San Francisco and Seattle US) we decided to get some we are healthy paperwork. Above is the results of our 15 minute antibody test: NEGATIVE. The doctor who gave us the test was well gowned in his PPE gear. As I watched the results of the blood sample work its way up the test strip the doctor explained to me how it works. If at the end of the strip there is a single dark line, I'm negative. If the there are two dark lines then we sit there till the ambulance arrives to take me and the doctor to the hospital for a PCR test. (The antibody test was 250 ringgits, usd$57 including office visit and letters at Global Doctors, Cenang.)  

Along with the test paperwork the doctor threw in a Fit to Fly letter with his stamp. We took this letter, along with the letter we received from the US Embassy Kuala Lumpur to the main police station in Kuah, Langkawi (3rd floor on the left). There we got the police travel stamp on the paperwork too.

Masked, Documented and Ready to Fly.

It's the rainy season, or at least one of the rainy seasons, in this part of Asia now. Brings out lots of flowers.

Paul

I Got the All Day Quarantine Blues

I got the all day quarantine blues

Been reading all the daily news

If you gonna avoid the Covid flu

You gotta pay your dues

Malaysian Search and Rescue helicopter flying over a mothballed cruise-ship and while keeping the sea border shut.

Last night the Malaysian Prime Minister announced the extension of the Movement Control Order (MCO) for another two weeks till May 12th. I really expected the extension would come with some relaxation of rules, but so far I haven't heard of any lightening up. Malaysia has been very aggressive in tamping down their new Covid-19 cases.

This graph is the daily new cases of Covid-19 in Malaysia, a not small country of 31 million, showing a clear decline. The MCO restricts movement beyond 10km  of your residence, and only for essentials. It is enforced using police roadblocks and gentle evening text messages to everyone's phone. While most everyone has a cell phone here, they are typically on prepaid plans or limited data plans. The government has setup so all cell companies automatically give each cell phone 1 GB of extra free data each day from 8am to 6pm as an inspiration to stay at home. Compliance to the MCO is generally very good. They do arrest a few scofflaws and place them in a separate detention home to drive the point home in the media. The stories make a big splash when the evil doers are ex-pats.

The testing coverage rate in Malaysia is fairly high. The positive test rate is 4.7%, a strong indication that they are doing significant testing coverage.  WHO recommends a 10% or less rate. The US is at about 20% and South Korea at 3%. Washington state is at 8.3%. Malaysia recently ordered one million rapid test kits from South Korea in the competitive international testing supplies market. Like most other countries, Malaysian health workers have suffered from the pandemic, with a 32 year old nurse dying yesterday from Covid-19.

I am pretty proud to publicly announce that other than in our dreams neither Chris nor I have inflicted anything close to permanent damage on each other. I'm hoping other couples aspire to such lofty goals. 

The next big issue for cruisers here will be expiring visas. During the MCO all of our visas are being automatically extended. The current understanding of the rules is that when the MCO is lifted we will have 14 days to leave the country. Unfortunately there is nowhere open to take our boat to, other than the US, and it isn't clear we will be allowed back in if we fly out, leaving the boat behind.

Cruisers here in Langkawi certainly have it far better than our friends who are a third of the way across the Indian Ocean in The Maldives. The densely populated main city, Male, has had a rapid increase in Covid-19 cases. The islands have been shut to the country's primary industry, tourism, for months and they recently had a terrorist attack that burned down official boats near Male. The agent that is dealing with the 15 cruising boats recently sent a long message to them that included this note from the Coast Guard:

The coastguard commander asked me to inform you that he is suggesting to all the yachts to be prepared to leave the country in case the situation gets out of control. Which means in case of emergency you must all make back up plan about your next destination from Maldives. Of course they will not ask you or command you to leave the country without sufficient food supplies and water and fuel. They are not heartless. They completely understand the gravity of the situation. They assured us in a case like that they will facilitate the necessary means to provide sufficient food supplies and fuel, water and make arrangements. 

Most all of these boats would like to sail off, the problem is there are few, if any, places that will allow them in. Hopefully they will work out a decent plan in the next week or so.

Stay healthy and hang in there

Paul

Days into the MCO

Seattle isn't new to pandemic lock-downs. This is the Green Lake street car that ran between Seattle and Green Lake. The conductor is stopping the man on the right from boarding the trolley because he has no face mask. In those days the leaders didn't announce public health recommendations for the people while saying they weren't going to follow the recommendations themselves. The naming of pandemics for political purposes is not new either. The pandemic above is the 1918 Spanish Flu. The flu was extensive in the United Kingdom, France, the US and Spain. The allies were gearing up for war and wanted to control the message to avoid any thoughts that they were anything but strong and not to interrupt the troop recruiting.  Spain was a neutral country, so they got labeled with the flu.

Here, the Malaysian authorities are now doing an admirable job of enforcing social distancing. The Malaysian Movement Control Order (MCO), enacted March 18th, has been extended till April 14th. It is fairly strictly enforced with numerous roadblocks manned by the police and army. It is pretty likely that it will be extended again, perhaps in a modified fashion. Ramadan, the month long Islamic celebration, is coming up on April 23rd. It will be important that the social distancing is managed during this time or Malaysia will have another flare up of cases. About 60% of the covid19 cases in Malaysia can be traced back to a local "tabligh", a multi-day religious gathering, that occurred in late February.

Above is the Rebak Resort pool when it was still full, before the last resort guests got out. The water's been emptied now, making it less tempting to violate the MCO and go swimming in it.

The island has some nice wild life. Lots of Rhinoceros Hornbills. The ones on the bottom are doing synchronized feather cleaning.

With the resort closed the monkeys are taking advantage of the empty room balconies. Not sure if this is a little foreshadowing of the outcome from the pandemic, Planet of the Apes style. 

What's she thinking?

Not all monkeys are good monkeys. These are the bad monkeys getting into the trash.

The island supports some serious lizards. This Asian water monitor lizard has a pretty impressive forked tongue. She's big girl, at  least 6-7 feet long.

The island has about a 104 people on it now. Probably 75 cruisers and the rest are the skeleton resort staff. Most of the boats are empty, with their owners hunkered down in their respective home countries around the world. For those of us left here, we have lots of time to contemplate the outcome of the pandemic and think about when, and if, we will be able to move on. Now, on occasion, people have said I am a pessimist. When it comes to survival situations, I've always believed in the Stockdale Paradox. Admiral Stockdale was the most senior officer incarcerated in the 'Hanoi Hilton', the infamous North Vietnamese prison for US prisoners of war during the Vietnam War.  As explained by Stockdale to an interviewer the paradox goes like this:

I never lost faith in the end of the story, I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade.^[21]

When Collins asked who didn't make it out of Vietnam, Stockdale replied:

Oh, that's easy, the optimists. Oh, they were the ones who said, 'We're going to be out by Christmas.' And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they'd say, 'We're going to be out by Easter.' And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart.^[21]

Stockdale then added:

This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.^[21]

We've been singing Happy Birthday multiple times in a row. Not just to time how long we wash our hands, but also to celebrate Chris' and my birthdays over the lat few weeks. Our new philosophy:  Getting old isn't for sissies.
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Our current leaders respond to disasters in the same way as the prehistoric ones:

Paul

Anchor What?

If you spend anytime on the online sailors forums you'll know of the volatility of discussions about boat anchors. Armchair sailors and experienced cruisers alike manage to go over the top for thousands of posts about the relative value of a style of one anchor over another. Often to the point of abject uncivil behavior. 

Well this post has nothing to do with anchors. It is about our trip to the ancient temples of Angkor Wat a few weeks ago (I believe Angkor Wat means Anchor What in the Khmer language). The post has a ton pictures, but you've probably got nothing else to do while in lock-down now that you've almost finished Netflix. We traveled to Siem Reap, the city next to the Wats, in the early coronovirus season which this year coincided with the dry season. This meant that there were very few visitors, no Chinese, Japanese or Korean tour buses and the 5-star hotel available for usd$195 for three days total. In retrospect we were probably pushing the coronovirus season with the exposure from airports and airplanes. Since we are well past our 14-day quarantine from being in Cambodia and Bangkok I'll share some temple pictures. 

Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument in the world covering more than 400 acres. It dates back to the 12 century. Over its life it has been a Hindu and a Buddhist temple, sometimes simultaneously. 

There are a group Wats in the area, each built at slightly different times. The local kings typically built the temples to improve their standing with the populace and with a selected god. Think along the lines of a Trump Tower.

 The stones were put in place rough. Then the surfaces smoothed. In this picture you can see an unfinished outline of a decorative carving.

And a finished stone carving.

The smaller temples in the surrounding area are just as fascinating asAngkor.

The temples were placed in the heart of solid jungle. Moats were built around them and the near by river was used to transport quarry stone from far away.

Gotta have the required temple monkeys.

A tuk-tuk, the local transportation, heading along the road and through the old temple gate.

Smiling faces temple.

Elephant temple.

Young, probably early teenage or younger, monks hanging under the tree

The jungle hardwood trees just take over the temples. Sometimes they are removed during restoration, but not always, as the tree becomes a key structural part of the walls. In some attempted restorations the tree has been removed and the building has collapsed.

This is the inside walls of one the temple chambers. All those round marks in the wall would have been filled with glittering jewels and semi-precious stones before the treasure hunter, come looters, arrived. They would typically go into the abandoned temples and cut off the heads from the stone statutes to make them easier to transport for sale. They would smash open the rectangular platforms that the shrines were mounted on, sometimes using dynamite, to look for jewels inside.

Tomb raiders of the Wats.

On the entryway walks to the temples you often here music being played under a canopy. The musicians are all disabled, some blind, most with missing limbs. These are the results of landmines. Estimates as high as 10 million landmines having been placed in Cambodia during the civil war in the 1970's and '80s has left Cambodia with the highest amputee population in the world. The musician on the right is thanking Chris for leaving a donation with the traditional hands clasp namiste.

Another smiling god in the temple gate.

A Khmer girl getting her wedding pictures taken by the temple.

The kids would take one look at Chris and know they had a mark. It was probably a good 3 dollar investment.

Trees growing into the moat. 

A small column with a missing figure, either removed by looters for sale or it was a Buddha head that was removed during a period that the temples were primarily Hindu. There is a lot of interaction between Hinduism and Buddhism, with the temples often being repurposed back and forth over the centuries.

A water buffalo taking a little time off work.

We took a boat trip to the floating city of Chong Kneas. Which is on a lake that is part of the Tanle Sap River (at least as best as I can tell). River levels change over 30ft over the year, with the floating city residents moving their floating houses to the new shallows as depths change. Note the propeller on the river boat above. The whole mechanism raises and lowers to get through the shallows.

  

Pretty select steering wheel and old truck transmission in the river boat.

Leaving the front deck of their floating house to go to work.

Checking in with the neighbors.

This is the hardware store for the village.

And the lumber store and restaurant with a couple of Vietnamese kids playing in half, plastic barrels. The Vietnamese have been here on this Cambodian lake for many decades, some as war refugees. There was also a mother in a canoe with a young daughter in the bow. The girl had a large python wrapped around her body and neck. She was tightly holding onto the snakes neck with her left hand. Both the girl and the snake had a less than happy expression on their faces. The mother wanted a dollar for a picture, but I just didn't feel right about contributing to the snake and child abuse.

Crocs waiting to be turned into handbags.

This is a modern day Buddhist monastery, a wat. These are the primary teaching places for monks. They also act as a sort of orphanage, where young men can enter and begin studying to become monks. Note the key architectural features. It is built on very long stilts so it can function in both the low and high water seasons. Even more important it is located right next to the cell tower for good 4G connectivity.

We didn't just stay in our hotel in the off temple touring time. So we had the valet call us a Tuk Tuk. Tuk Tuks are dominate local transportation. We loaded up and headed into town for dinner.

Tuk Tuks are not only good for transportation, they make a good advertising platform too. The locals would address me as Papa - supposedly a sign of respect.

The view into town on the Tuk Tuk.

And the restaurant section where you get a couple of cold beers and two main meals for usd$8.

Early morning view out of he hotel room in a typical SE Asian haze

Paul