Life, Travel

Strings of Fate

One badge of the weary Southeast Asian traveller is the armful of handmade bracelets. Along the way I’ve picked up a few, from friends and little girls, and monks and saleswomen. In Cambodia I received two red string bracelets. One from Angkor Wat, where part of the ceremony was a mesmerizing (hypnotizing?) chanted blessing.

The other was a flimsier bracelet which I received in the Killing Cave in Battambang (which I guess I still need to write about…), while surrounded by hundreds of skulls. It’s been four months since the monk tied the red string around my wrist.  I was told that I had to wear it until it fell off naturally. Today at the gym it got caught on the elliptical and snapped off.

The timing could not be more perfect. Good luck is on its way…