Toilet tips
It’s useful in every country to understand the accepted rules of hygiene. Turkish style toilets, those where one squats rather than sits, are predominant in many parts of the world, but they are often accompanied…
Peace that passeth understanding: camping at sacred sites in Cambodia
On the itinerary it seemed pretty exotic: camping amid ancient ruins and then with monks on a sacred mountain in northern Cambodia. The reality turned out to be, well, different, but perhaps a lot more…
From see to shining sea: the other face of Cambodia
Beyond the Khmer antiquities of Angkor and the recent atrocities of the Rouge there is another face of Cambodia. In the southwest lies the port city of Sihanoukville, named for its politically savvy king who,…
Other lives
What if your life took an entirely different direction...and you discovered options for living you never imagined before? This is the great question we've been pondering as we meet Americans and Europeans who have utterly…
Red and white: the tinctures of Cambodian sorrow
For a little over three years till early 1979, Cambodia's leaders savaged their own people. The numbers alone are chilling, with millions of Cambodians killed out of a population of perhaps 10 million, and at…
Ebb and flow: life along the Mekong, part 3
The city of Angkor was made possible because of its proximity to the waters of Tonle Sap. This lake is the largest in southeast Asia, in rainy season being as long as 100 miles and…
Khmer art: capturing spirit in stone (updated)
Here, in Siem Reap, it’s the looming temples of the roughly 700 year Khmer period of dominance in Southeast Asia. In Italy, it’s churches. In France or Germany, it’s castles. These are the endless number of…
Cambodian dreams
One of our Cambodian guides shared his hopes with us, just as a Laotian guide did. (For that entry, CLICK HERE). His ambition came in four parts. First, he wanted to get married. Now in…
Off the grid
We'll be about 100 miles from Siem Reap for the next few days, camping amid Angkor ruins and at a pagoda in a mountain temple, so don't expect any more posts for a few days.…
Footnotes from Laos
As we headed to Cambodia, we put together a few remaining thoughts about the wonderful land of Laos. The Hmong tribe There are many tribal villages that have been resettled by the Lao government, and…