Mark and I had been walking in one of the many alleys of Chiang Mai’s old city near our Manee Guesthouse one morning when we stopped to look at and comment about the coffee options at Borijinda Cafe. Jan-Peter’s voice called to us, “It’s really good coffee.” And he was a customer. We were persuaded… Read More
Françoise and Her Adventurous Family in Luang Prabang
Our go-to restaurant in Luang Prabang was the Phonheuang Café because it was three blocks from our Sokdee guesthouse and the food was tasty and very inexpensive. One evening I was sitting at the counter when I met Françoise, a Belgian mother of four, who had placed a large take-out order. We talked for about… Read More
At Big Sister Mouse
During my time as a volunteer at Big Brother Mouse, I met a Laotian woman in her late twenties who shared her story. She grew up in a rural area and when she was 18, her parents chose a husband for her. In her community, 18 was old to get married. She did not know… Read More
More English Students at Big Brother Mouse in Luang Prabang
At Big Brother Mouse one morning I chatted in English with 22 year old Lao and 21 year old Kao, who were university students and roommates. Their native village was 180 miles from Luang Prabang. Lao majored in tourism at school and worked part-time as a hotel receptionist. Lao’s parents wanted him to be an… Read More
Big Brother Mouse
Mark and I have walked up and down the charming streets of Luang Prabang’s old city numerous times. On one of our walks, we chanced upon Big Brother Mouse, a nonprofit founded by an American man named Sasha in 2003 in collaboration with a couple young Laotian men. Their mission was to publish books in… Read More
Angkor Wat and a Millennial Temple Hopping Mate
The evening before going to Angkor Wat, we met Natalie, a twenty-something woman from Phoenix who has been teaching English at a university in Shenzhen, China for the past year and a half. She had booked a Tuk Tuk driver for the sunrise tour of Angkor Wat that left our Tropical Breeze guesthouse at 4:30… Read More
Siem Reap—a Bike Mishap and Upscale Western Food
On a Sunday in January, Mark and I decided to rent bicycles and ride the 5 km to the temple complex of Angkor Wat. We left Siem Reap at 8am, later than planned. I needed to stop every couple of blocks for Mark to catch up. When we reached the ticket control officials near the… Read More
Phnom Penh—Face to Face with My Biases
I met Mikael and Maria, both Russians, at breakfast at the very quirky Vanny’s Peaceful Guesthouse in Phnom Penh, a short walk from the genocide museum. Mikael is a programmer who had been living in Hanoi for the previous year and a half until recently relocating to Dalat, Vietnam. As we talked, I realized I… Read More
French Connections en route to Cambodia
As we disembarked from the boat to get our Cambodian visas and have our passports checked, I met a twenty-something couple from the Dordogne, my favorite region in France. Romane, Alexander and I spoke in French for at least a half hour. They were headed to New Zealand to work as part of a Wwoofing-like… Read More
To Cambodia by Boat: A Bonanza of Encounters
The Hang Chau motorboat from Chau Doc, Vietnam to Phnom Penh, Cambodia–our means of crossing the border– sat about fifty people airplane style with a middle aisle and I knew instantly that I would stay up on the roofed deck. I could feel a breeze, move around and see so much more of the water… Read More