Adieu, Cambodia

This morning I rode a tuk-tuk with all my luggage on the dusty, crowded road to the Phnom Penh International Airport (it’s small but quite modern). Now I’m in a nice hotel on Dong Khoi Street, in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). It’s Saturday night, and I’m looking forward to not needing to pack and [...]

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If it’s Tuesday, this must be Sihanoukville

Cattle wander freely everywhere we’ve been in Cambodia. Mostly they are big white oxen with a small hump behind their shoulder blades, although we have seen red and brown cattle as well. Today as we drove to the coast, I saw a number of water buffalo, with their enormous crescent horns. Two of them were [...]

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Siem Reap and Angkor Wat

Yesterday and today we toured 1,000-year-old temples at Angkor — amazing stone carving and massive architecture. Our trip leader, Phalkun, pointed out that nowhere else in Southeast Asia can you find such monuments, such lasting evidence of an ancient civilization. The gigantic stones were carried by river raft from quarries 50 km away, and I [...]

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Phnom Penh photos

The Internet here is excruciatingly slow. Uploading pictures demands a lot of patience.

The Royal Palace: Architecture similar to that of Thailand; beautiful gardens.

Lunch in Phnom Penh: Green mango salad with chilis.

Waterfront, Phnom Penh.

S-21: This former school was used as a torture center by the Khmer Rouge.
More photos here. Many more to come when I return [...]

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By bus, motorbike, and boat

One of the greatest pleasures of traveling in really different places is seeing how regular people live there. Not the wealthy, not the expats, but the working local people. We’ve had three days of exposure to local life here in Cambodia now (“we” are the eight other people on this trip with me, although one [...]

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Now, Cambodia

After the hyper-modernity of Kuala Lumpur, Phnom Penh was a bit of a shock. As the plane descended to the runway on Saturday, I looked out both sides and saw — nothing. No tall buildings. No sign of a city. At least, no signs I recognized. Is the city that far away from the [...]

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Buddha and some durian

Yesterday while riding the LRT train, I realized a young Malaysian was speaking to me. I hadn’t really heard what he said, so I asked for a repeat. “Are you a Buddhist too?” he asked. That was totally unexpected. “Yes, but what made you ask me that?” I said. He pointed to the mala I [...]

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Wet markets and shopping malls

One of my top priorities in Asian cities is to visit a big market. A wet market is just that — wet, uneven paving treacherous with snaking rubber hoses, puddles of who-knows-what, slippery patches, animal entrails (okay, not in big pieces, but something is making it slimy), and happy cats preening themselves after a meal.

Chow [...]

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I love Kuala Lumpur

Hard to explain what I like about this place (the food, of course, but so much more than that) and why. I have missed a lot of things since leaving almost three years ago, but it’s not merely nostalgia. The feeling here in the city is very positive, optimistic. Something new seems to be in [...]

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Day 4, Kuala Lumpur

Everyone wants to know if I know about Malaysia’s recent elections. Everyone’s so happy to hear that I followed them with great interest! And when we have exhausted our opinions abut the future of Malaysia and its ruling party, the next question for me is, “Are you for Hillary or Obama?” No one asks me [...]

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