Captain Panic

Angkor Wat is located close to the modern town of Siem Reap.

The Ruins of Angkor are a short motorcycle ride away from the bustling town of Siem Reap

Siem Reap is situated on the shores of the Tonle Sap Lake. http://www.tripadvisor.com.mx/Attraction_Review-g297390-d324854-Reviews-Tonle_Sap_Lake-Siem_Reap_Siem_Reap_Province.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/10/science/of-fish-monsoons-and-the-future.html?_r=0

http://www.worldlakes.org/lakedetails.asp?lakeid=8672

Tonle Sap Lake is the largest lake in Indochina. Every year, the lake yields about 300,000 tons of fish, making it one of the world’s most productive freshwater ecosystems. That and the floods that pulse through it in monsoon season, swelling it to as much as five times its dry-season size, have earned the lake the nickname “Cambodia’s beating heart.”But the Tonle Sap is in trouble — from overfishing to feed a fast-growing population, from the cutting of mangrove forests that shelter young fish, from hydro-electric  dams upstream, and from the dry seasons that are expected to grow hotter and longer with global warming.

Our documentary on the Vishnu temples of Cambodia documents the path of 19th Century French discoverer Henri Mouhout, one of the first Europeans to discover the ruins at Angkor Wat.

He approached the ruins from the Tonle Sap Lake, so we decided to revisit his route and see how it has changed in the 154 years since his discovery.

'A splendid night; the moon shines with extraordinary brilliancy, silvering the surface of this lovely river, bordered by high mountains, looking like a grand and gloomy rampart. The chirp of the cricket alone breaks the stillness.'

- Henri Mouhot wrote in his diary on the 15th of July 1861 while sitting at the base of a tree in dense jungle on the banks of the Tonle Sap river

Tonle Sap Lake

We left early in the morning. The film crew ran behind us in another boat.

We found the Tonle Sap to be an uproarious jumble of houseboats and traffic. Cigarette boats with huge V8 engines flashed along the water beside us. Snake girls pulled up to our boat and danced, offering Coca Cola, mangos, beer, cigarettes, and fresh-cooked sticky rice in bamboo.

Naga Girl selling Coca cola and asking for tips.

Soon we reached the forest of sunken trees. When the Mekong floods, it backs up into the Tonle Sap lake, flooding it with fish and drowning the trees.

We sailed on into the depths of the Tonle Sap Lake. There we reached the floating villages of Vietnamese fishermen. The Tonle Sap used to be filled with many fish that Henri Mouhot reported seeing them crushed under the boat. Now our captain told us it's mostly catfish. The lake was about 10 meters deep at its deepest point. 

Floating houses on Tonle Sap Lake

Vietnamese floating villages

Vietnamese shopping center

To Market

Hardware store on the lake

Close to floating restaurant

Tourist Boat

Taking a break at the floating restaurant

We spent most of the morning shooting scenes on the lake. We were shooting out of sequence. It was only our second day in Cambodia, we were waiting for the rest of the film crew, but we figured the lake would make a good ending. So we worked for a few hours. It was time for a break and our boat captain took us to a floating restaurant.

I had been relaxing a few minutes when they called me back into action. The idea was to do something live for immediate internet release. Our assistant director had found something interesting.

Assistant Director, Indulekha DD

 There were angry crocodiles aboard the floating restaurant. The opportunity was too good to pass up. And so was created an instant internet sensation and comedy classic: Crocodile Harinam.

Angry Crocodiles.

Of course this was just for laughs. We had been working hard all morning and were blowing off some steam. I hope the documentary is a bit more serious. But you can see we have a good chemistry on-screen. 

After further documenting the route taken by 19th century explorer Henri Mouhout, 

Our captain turned the craft around and we headed home...

Modern Cambodian Technology

Film Crew Leader Rama Kantha Prabhu

House boats at Tonle Sap

We made good time back to Siem Reap.

Our Fearless Leader, Swami BB Avadhuta directing the Cambodian Documentary

Just in time for a serenade with local musicians.  That's all for now. 

The Intrepid Captain Panic

Crocodiles

Here's a glimpse at the documentary we were making in Cambodia. In this segment we're taking a break at a floating houseboat restaurant with a crocdile pool. This on Tonle Sap lake about two hours west from Siem Reap by motor boat. The mysterious Russian Swami is fooling around with the crocodiles as I play the professor.

Surrender

My blog is called Journey to Surrender. I don't know how far I have to go, but I've walked the path. Surrender is the final stage of love, beyond sacrifice. Surrender is a spiritual path.  One may make small sacrifices along the path, but surrender is the final step. If one hopes to make progress, risk is involved. My guru used to say, "No risk, no gain. This is the general idea. Without risk, no progress is made. But all risk, no gain: are you ready for that?"



At the end of his life, The great Russian writer, Feodor Dostoyevsky
 lamented that he had not created a character as great as the Quixote of Cervantes. The Quixote surrenders everything for his high ideal.

Don Quixote, tilting at windmills

Perhaps he is mad. But he is defined by his idealism. All my life I've been tilting at windmills, but I'm not sure if I've really made any progress. Surrender is a high ideal.

I found the deepest expression of the idea of divine surrender in the Bengali poetry of  Sharanagati by Bhaktivinoda Thakura. It's an amazing work. Those of you who have been to India might be familiar with it. I visited the house of Bhaktivinod in Nabadwip dham. He was quite a idealist.

Kedarnatha Dutta, Bhaktivinod Thakura

He was a high court judge, a prolific writer, and a deep mystic who embraced the concept of divine surrender.  The journey to surrender is never-ending. I'll leave you with a definition.

sur·ren·der

  (sə-rĕn′dər)

v. sur·ren·dered, sur·ren·der·ing, sur·ren·ders

v.tr.

1. To relinquish possession or control of (something) to another because of demand or compulsion: surrendered the city to the enemy.See Synonyms at relinquish.

2. To give up in favor of another, especially voluntarily: surrendered her chair to her grandmother.

3. To give up or abandon: surrender all hope.

4. To give over or resign (oneself) to something, as to an emotion: surrendered himself to grief.

5. Law To effectuate a surrender of.

v.intr.

To submit to the power of another, especially after resisting; give up.

n.

1. The act or an instance of surrendering: The general demanded the unconditional surrender of the fort.

2. Law The yielding of the possession of an estate to a party with a reversion or remainder interest in the estate, or of a lease to alandlord, prior to the term's expiration.

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[Middle English surrenderen, from Old French surrendre : sur-, sur- + rendre, to deliver; see render.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.