Passing it onwards or outwards
Sometimes, when I go walking it feels like this rush. Like the steps all come together into a single flow of going. Today was that way. It is not like I walked somewhere new or I dabbled in alleys or parks or even monuments like Angkor Wat. I could walk to Angkor Wat sometime because now the sidewalk and bike lane go all the way. But I digress, this time the steps seemed to just take me the way. Like I needed to simply go and the river and sidewalk were guideposts but also did not force me to go their way.
Taking photos on the walk was the same kinda thing. I found these sights I thought were beautiful or understated or full of some kind of character I could test and taste as I ambled by.
An alley perhaps seen before but I loved its character and mystery. I could not see past the one turn so I decided I must return and see where it takes me. Where I walk in Siem Reap has many of these small alleys that run between roads but I have also found dead ends and turned back to retrace my steps. Laughing I could find my way out and then know why I saw no scooters or bicycles coming the opposite way. You see this does not matter. Just like in Hanoi wandering the wonderful alleys in the old quarter and the man laughing and telling me,
go back. Ends up there
But there is no real end you know. Because turning around is another direction with mystery to be found walking to where I just was. I resist using the term “back” because each time I’ve found a thing I would have missed. A sign. A mark. A shaded doorway. Something which held me to the place and then let me see there is no going back.
This time though I continued and was able to find things I always love to take photos of. Little scenes I wonder about forever even if I have walked the self-same path before. A different light. A thing. A person added or a thing subtracted. It all changes. As a little digression, I felt this way many times in Saigon Vietnam. I could do the same walk when I visited and yet everything seemed new or changed. I became smitten with the idea it all changed as soon as I turned my back.
Siem Reap carries the same gusto to me. Perhaps the wagon tilts a little further at some angle and I find it still looking lonely and I decide it is better in black and white.
Finally of the man made variety I found this today. I don’t know why I have not seen it before but I think if I had I would have remembered.
It just seems to be a thing to end or begin with so I will. I will do the ending part of this blog post. Thanks for reading it all along. It was fun to combine the words and photos into my little stories of the going.