…is a common thought for many who come here, or indeed go travelling anywhere. Unfamiliar places, meeting new people of all nationalities, sensory overload or just too much cheap booze gets people all introspective.
Siem Reap can be an intoxicating place, and not just because of Free Beer Friday at the Warehouse. There is seemingly a strange and exotic mix of people, a cock-eyed version of reality, you can do anything you want with impunity, and it’s really cheap. In reality most of the people here are quite normal (only the occasional loony spends a few days here working out his disfunctions), everything seems to make sense after a while, you can’t get away with that much, and it isn’t that cheap if you go out every night or buy luxuries like Marmite.
Some of the loonies do stick around, but you really don’t want to know them.
I saw a lot of people in Northern India who looked like they expected to find all of the answers to Life, The Universe and Everything in the Himalayan foothills. All some of them found was a shop that sold good falafel, a grope from a dodgy yogi, and a headache from the local whisky. Some characters travelled on the trains or hung out in backwater spots, and seemed to have forgotten who they were, what they were doing there, or where they were going. Lost souls with deep tans.
I’ve had a few conversations with people here who are looking for a new direction, and to an extent I’m one of them, but what I’ve said to all of them is the same – don’t expect to find any answers here, go home and figure out what you want, then come back if this is really it.
Possibly related posts:
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http://theanswers42.blogspot.com/ Margaret
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Jenny
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Fiona
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