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
Tag: Cambodia
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