This addresses is something which I’ve touched on before, the need for guidebooks when traveling. The impetus for this was spurred on by a Twitter discussion with Leif Pettersen who declared: I declare that smugly claiming to be too cool or savvy to travel with a guidebook is officially passé and open for ridicule. Leif …
I’m still in Saigon. I said I wasn’t going to leave until I have all my Cambodia photos processed and I plan on sticking by that. I wasn’t aware of just how many photos I had taken between Angkor, Preah Vihear, Tonle Sap and Phnom Penh. I still have 500 left to process. Taking photos …
Read part 1 and part 2 first. The Temple We paid the dirt bike drivers $18 to take us round trip up the mountain. I don’t think they get much business lately. On the way up we saw periodic small groups of soldiers sleeping or bathing. They didn’t appear to be at Defcon 5. We …
Please read part 1 first. Getting to Preah Vihear from Siem Reap isn’t easy. In the future, I fully expect there to be day trips by bus. Currently, however, it requires a great deal of will and much more cash than you’ll spend going to temples around Siem Reap. If I had to guess, there …
My day traveling to Preah Vihear is one of the most interesting and grueling of my trip, and so my description of the events is going to be a lot longer than most posts. I’ll be splitting this up into two parts. Today will be a general overview of the temple, its history, location and …
If you had to condense the essence of Cambodia down to one thing, it wouldn’t be the temples of Angkor. They are famous and draw the tourists, but they are nothing more than crumbling stones. The reason why those temples were built where they were, and the reason why much of the population lives where …
I have been pretty much-playing things by ear for most of my trip. I’d sort of know the general direction I was moving and where I was going next, but getting the next ticket or next room was about as far as I’d plan. I’ve decided to return to the US for a few months …
I made it to Saigon with little trouble (FYI, I’m going to call it Saigon, as most of the locals still do. It is my belief that at some point, it will revert back from Ho Chi Min City just like Lenningrad changed back to St. Petersburg). We took about a half hour to cross …
This is my last night in Cambodia. Tomorrow I’m off to Saigon at 9am. I’m not looking forward to the bus ride, but is only $12 so I think I’ll survive. Sadly, the ear buds stopped working today so no music. Phnom Penh isn’t my favorite city . I dare say it is on the …