Comments on: Cambodia Highlights – The Capital, The Countryside and Mystical Places https://gypsycafe.org/2025/07/12/cambodia-2024-phnom-penh-to-battambang/ The Travelosopher's Home Wed, 20 Aug 2025 02:20:29 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Randall https://gypsycafe.org/2025/07/12/cambodia-2024-phnom-penh-to-battambang/#comment-130938 Wed, 20 Aug 2025 02:20:29 +0000 https://gypsycafe.org/?p=9896#comment-130938 Jean-Jacques, it is great to revisit this one because Cambodia is such a beautiful country, and secondly, because you write so well. A mix of vibrant city life, tranquil countryside (which are my favorite places anywhere), and then those mystical sites. It is also a mix of your photography that pushes your storytelling (and vice-versa). I especially appreciated your insights about the transitions from city to countryside. You honor the sense of history and spirituality at each stop, and travelers rarely do this, in my mind. It’s inspiring to look beneath the surface when exploring new places, and you do this well. Cheers, and safe travels!

]]> By: Debra Malmos https://gypsycafe.org/2025/07/12/cambodia-2024-phnom-penh-to-battambang/#comment-109490 Sun, 13 Jul 2025 08:53:32 +0000 https://gypsycafe.org/?p=9896#comment-109490 In reply to Jean-Jacques.

Yes – there are things I may never write about from Ek’ Balam… you prompt me to revisit the memories.

]]> By: Jean-Jacques https://gypsycafe.org/2025/07/12/cambodia-2024-phnom-penh-to-battambang/#comment-109476 Sun, 13 Jul 2025 08:23:06 +0000 https://gypsycafe.org/?p=9896#comment-109476 In reply to Debra Malmos.

Yes, likewise. Ancient sites prove time and again that humans went through past eras hundreds or even thousands of years ago when they were innovative, creative, advanced or even highly advanced (Egyptian pyramids still unexplained, for example) which is one of the reasons I keep on visiting such places. It confirms the reality for me that we live in a cyclic reality – cycles of higher ages and lower ages – and that we are presently not as advance as we may think … 🙂

]]> By: Jean-Jacques https://gypsycafe.org/2025/07/12/cambodia-2024-phnom-penh-to-battambang/#comment-109475 Sun, 13 Jul 2025 08:14:14 +0000 https://gypsycafe.org/?p=9896#comment-109475 In reply to Debra Malmos.

Debra, thank you for your reflective reply and you touched on a couple of less spoken about points. I agree with your assessment. When we visit these places we have very condensed and impactful experiences along with being in different climates, cultures and ways of doing things. It’s a lot to take in an navigate all at once. The experiences are very long-lasting though (which is why we do it). I’m sure you can completely relate (because of your visit to Ek Balam) if I say that many of these ancient sites have an energetic impact (some more than other) and revisiting the photo record is almost like having the direct sensation of being there again in person.

However I’ll also share that it can take time to find the space to reflect on the experience and put the thoughts together to want to post about it (because of the personal nature of some of these experiences), so there is a major transition that happens after such a journey. Sometimes one can end up not publishing about it at all. On the other hand the journey also feels not entirely complete if the essence of the sites visited is not honored in some way by sharing about it, thereby expressing gratefulness for having had the privilege to visit and be there (no matter costs to oneself to have actually made it there as it is only the experiences that counts and keeps on counting). Thank you for prompting me to reflect on this.

in lak’ech,
Jean-Jacques

[Edit: PS, thanks for your comment about the pictures – very happy you enjoyed seeing them!].

]]> By: Debra Malmos https://gypsycafe.org/2025/07/12/cambodia-2024-phnom-penh-to-battambang/#comment-109310 Sun, 13 Jul 2025 00:22:22 +0000 https://gypsycafe.org/?p=9896#comment-109310 I’m amazed by the holes drilled in those blocks… how they managed to do that in the 11th century.

]]> By: Debra Malmos https://gypsycafe.org/2025/07/12/cambodia-2024-phnom-penh-to-battambang/#comment-109305 Sun, 13 Jul 2025 00:10:26 +0000 https://gypsycafe.org/?p=9896#comment-109305 Jean-Jacques – I’m grateful for your strength and stamina to explore these places. I learned from Ek’ Balam that it’s not a “walk in the park” – I’m convinced that’s why such a collection of images is so seldom seen. These photos are a treasure. Thank you for sharing them. much love, in lak’ech, Debra

]]> By: Martina Ramsauer https://gypsycafe.org/2025/07/12/cambodia-2024-phnom-penh-to-battambang/#comment-109116 Sat, 12 Jul 2025 14:42:24 +0000 https://gypsycafe.org/?p=9896#comment-109116 ]]> In reply to Jean-Jacques.

👍

]]> By: Jean-Jacques https://gypsycafe.org/2025/07/12/cambodia-2024-phnom-penh-to-battambang/#comment-109097 Sat, 12 Jul 2025 14:12:34 +0000 https://gypsycafe.org/?p=9896#comment-109097 In reply to Martina Ramsauer.

Thank you Martina! Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂

]]> By: Martina Ramsauer https://gypsycafe.org/2025/07/12/cambodia-2024-phnom-penh-to-battambang/#comment-109095 Sat, 12 Jul 2025 14:06:56 +0000 https://gypsycafe.org/?p=9896#comment-109095 Thank you very much, Jean Jacques, for this highly interesting post with pictures about Cambodia:)

]]>