As it is a month today since we moved into our new home, and one year since we left South Africa, we thought its time to share this part of our journey with those of you who are still following our blog. So sit back, relax and enjoy this part of our story.
Why Love, Light and Lemon Grass?
We have carried over our feelings and experiences from our first home in Siem Reap, “Love and Lemon Grass”, to our new home. This is a continuation, not a new beginning. And, as we will be sharing this house with cousin Juan, the three aspects of the name seem fitting. Love for the Love shared between Amethyst and Sapphire, Light for the spiritual journey we are on and Lemon Grass, for Juan’s favorite colour Lime Green.
The move from our apartment to our new home was wonderfully exciting, easy and smooth. From packing up, to arranging transport and loading our life onto a trailer, to unpacking at the house, it was a proverbial breeze.
Goodbyes
Even though we wanted to move further out of town, it was sad to say goodbye to our comfortable apartment where we had felt so at home. Saying goodbye to Sotinnea and Vichet, (Mamma and Pappa) was bitter sweet. We would be losing them as landlords although our friendship with them will continue.
Other goodbyes included our crazy friend and fellow South African, Sue, who had recently returned home to South Africa with her two fur babies. Sue is an awesome fun-loving bright spark who’s craziness we will miss. And our great friend Jim, a retired teacher from the USA who is an amazing photographic artist. Jim is interesting and knowledgeable and as he and Richard share similar interests in astronomy, space travel, life, the universe and just about everything, they had shared quite a few late night discussions over a bottle or two of wine. (although that tradition we are happy to say has carried over to our new home).
We will also stay in touch with our ex tenant Steve, a war veteran from the UK and hopefully our future Tai Chi guru. Steve has had a very interesting and challenging life and is hoping to finally find peace and happiness somewhere in Asia.
Not forgetting Antoine, our good friend from France. A wonderfully positive adventurer who says our names so beautifully with nuances only a French accent can give.
Perched on the back of a trailer with our worldly possessions, we trekked through the bumpy and dusty streets of Siem Reap to our new home.
As the front gate rolled open to welcome us
We were once again lost for words as we entered and drove down the driveway to our beautiful new home surrounded by a magnificent lush green, leafy, tree-filled spacious garden.
So excited to finally be here, all we wanted was to unpack, arrange our furnishings and get settled in. By the end of the first day, we sat down at our dinner table with a sense of achievement. In the comfort of our new home, we enjoyed our first dinner and celebrated with a bottle of chilled wine.
One of our best moments is waking up every morning
To a chorus of bird-calls, the rustling of leaves and the soft rattling of bamboo in the breeze. While snuggling in bed, we are able to clearly see the different shades of lush green through our bedroom windows. No houses, no buildings, no walls, no telephone poles or street lights. Just the sights and the sounds of nature waking up to welcome in a new dawn. We have found that we are waking up earlier in the mornings to share the dawning of each new day with our surrounding living source energies.
An amazing thing about these magnificent trees that share this land with us, is that they were not planted in this garden.
These trees have been growing here for decades, possibly longer, long before houses were built. They are a living memory of the jungle which once lived and breathed right here where we are now. Richard, while lying in his hammock and looking up at these trees so much older than he is, always feels so humbled and honored to be a temporary part of this majestic 0nce jungle world.
With a little imagination it is easy to take out any man-made buildings and constructs, and to mentally “see” this jungle as it once was.
Thousands of shades of green, lush and flourishing, on a pallet of autumn shades and alive with life. We are constantly reminded by the frogs that hop into our living area, the gecko’s that freely roam our walls, the green headed tokay that scurry along and the occasional creepy crawly spider visitor, that we are encroaching on their jungle home and not visa versa. Richard has discovered his inner ” Indiana Jones” and has become the Master Spider Relocation Expert.
It came as a surprise to us
After the first few days being kept busy by taking a number of trips “into town” to purchase household goods and a few long walks around the neighborhood to become familiar with our new surroundings, we both started feeling a bit unsettled and out of sorts. After two weeks there was still a strange, unfamiliar feeling which arose from time to time. We could only pinpoint it to the fact that we missed our apartment. How was this possible when we had looked so forward to moving into our new home? It dawned on us that we had not just changed where we were living, but we had actually left our home, to make a new home somewhere else and we were still feeling strange even though we were surrounded by all this beauty.
Jethro, our young friend and neighbor wisely stated, “You guys are like plants which had grown roots in a garden and are then taken out of the soil and replanted somewhere else. Just give it time to re-root yourself in your new garden. (thank you for that, Jethro)
Part of our ongoing journey is to meet and befriend like-minded spiritual soul energies. Mandy had befriended a lady on face book who was relocating to Siem Reap from Mexico. How wonderful the Universe works its magic and what a surprise when we found out that Jeannie had moved into a lovely home in our new neighborhood and within walking distance . Jeannie, a well traveled, spiritual, wonderfully talented self-taught artist with loads of life experience and lots of interesting stories to share invited us and fellow friends Jim and Steve over for dinner. Our first official home dinner invite.
Settling into our home
As we are becoming more settled, the enchanting magic of our new home grows more and more apparent each day. The natural peace and serenity of this wonderful little world has such a feeling of “rightness”. A confirmation that this journey on which the universe is guiding us is the right one. We are exactly where we are meant to be.
Besides the beauty of nature that surrounds us, we are also blessed with so much space and light and energy indoors. Our bedroom opens onto a wooden floored landing with large windows from which one can see the tall majestic trees surrounding the property. A perfect space for our morning yoga and meditation. Seated in our lotus position, we watch the branches and leaves of the tree in our backyard moving in the morning breeze. If one allows oneself to think of the roots absorbing the water from the ground, the leaves soaking in the sunlight and absorbing the carbon dioxide from the air, one can almost see the life in the bark and the leaves of this magnificent tree.
While doing our daily affirmations
We are reminded that these life giving trees provide us with oxygen and shade. We watch the birds taking a rest from their flight on its branches. The butterflies flitting around in what appears to be a dance of wings. The occasional lizard basking in the sun until a slight movement frightens them away. If we still our minds and thoughts and allow ourselves to just be, we can experience the feeling of being part of this magnificent source energy. Source energy that has taken on the form of green foliage and animal and bird life. A profound yet beautiful feeling of peace and serenity to start our day.
Being part of and at one with nature and feeling at peace within has inspired Richard to capture the surrounding beauty through his Sapphire lens. There is also a yearning rising within him to once again lyrically put pen to paper.
Teacher Amanda’s Classroom
Teaching from her desk facing the north side of the garden, Mandy feels like she is in a world of her own and not in a confined enclosed office space. She can look out over the garden and watch the birds and butterflies while the branches and leaves are moving rhythmically in the breeze.
Discovering our neighborhood
On our walks, we discovered a red dusty clay road running through what looks like a vacated industrial area. Following this road towards the highway we found a local Khmer market selling fresh produce. On route to this market we found an absolute gem of a restaurant. Like an oasis in the desert. this little french “Rocky Cafe”seems so out of place. Its air-conditioned, well designed interior just beckons you in. The staff are so friendly and it was such a pleasure to find a delightful menu at reasonable prices. Most definitely to be frequented when we feel the need to treat ourselves.
Learning to count in Khmer
As we can no longer just walk into town to a supermarket and are reliant on Tuk Tuk’s which can be quite pricey, we have been shopping at the local Khmer home and corner shops. We have found that shop owners this far out of town do not speak any English. And most work in the local currency, Riel. It has been quite an experience trying to figure out what anything costs. We have no option now but to learn how to count in Khmer. It is seems quite easy as you only need to learn the numbers 1 – 5 (muuy, pii, bai, buhn, phrum) and 10 (dop) and the words used for hundreds and thousands (roy and puan). If something costs more than 5, like 6 hundred Riel for example, you would say the the number 5 and then the number 1 to get 6 and then the word for 100. (phrum muuy roy). And, of course, Arkun chraan, for thank you.
Being this distance from town, the idea was to cycle. Well, besides Mandy getting her balance and cycling up and down the driveway a few times, we have yet to venture onto the road. Every day brings another excuse and another reason for not leaving the confines and safety of our driveway. Let’s see what tomorrow brings………
In closing
This adventure and journey is about to take on an entire new dimension. In two short weeks we will be welcoming our cousin Juan to Love, Light and Lemongrass. We look forward to sharing Juan’s own personal journey to Siem Reap with you shortly.
We would like to dedicate this post to Mike and Doyt from Temple City Real Estate. They are not only our agents, who have found both our homes in Siem Reap, but who have become good friends.
Blessings and Namasté
Amethyst and Sapphire