They are the cutest kids you’ve ever seen, they can swear their heads off in multiple languages, and they can get you to buy anything. They’re one of the symbols of Sihanoukville, Cambodia – the child vendors selling bracelets on Serendipity Beach. You will grow to love these kids, who spend their days selling overpriced …
The Adorable, Trash-Talking Kid Vendors of Sihanoukville Read More »
In Southeast Asia, the line between prostitution and dating is often murky. Especially between young local women and much-older Western men. In Chiang Mai, east of Tha Pae Gate, you’ll find dozens of bars where local women wait for Western men to arrive, hoping to become their girlfriends and have access to their money. In …
I think I need to give my friend Ste a regular column on this site, because he instigated so many of our adventures! Our Vietnam group, sadly, had just broken up. Dave and Mike flew back to England. Sander and Jitske went on to Cambodia. And since I had no place to be, really, I …
The temples of Angkor, flanked by Angkor Wat, are one of Southeast Asia’s top destinations. And justifiably so. These temples are beautiful, thrilling, and absolutely fascinating. But despite all the information that is out there, Angkor was very different from what I expected. If you’re planning to visit Angkor on your trip to Cambodia, here’s …
It’s a hot night in Sihanoukville, the sky is lit by the full moon, and the Gulf of Thailand is begging for a midnight dip. Do full moons lead to uninhibited behavior? Maybe they do, and maybe they don’t. All I know is that a friend of mine, a guy whom I’ll call M, and …
I didn’t know what to expect in Sihanoukville, Cambodia’s most famous beach destination. Most of what I had heard was that it was a bit of a dirty, grungy beach, and worth visiting, but not worth a lot of time. Well, you know what? Sihanoukville is an amazing backpacker hangout and a party paradise. And …
Sihanoukville: The Ultimate Backpacker Party Paradise Read More »
I have fallen in love with the riverside town of Kampot, Cambodia. What is it about this place? Is it the crumbling architecture? Is it the French influence, from the lampposts to the baguette carts? Is it the peaceful riverfront and the walkability? Is it the fact that everywhere has free WiFi? Seriously, though, more …
Kampot: I Want To Bottle This Town And Drink It. Read More »
That tower pictured above looks beautiful, doesn’t it? Naturally, I took a picture. Zoom in and you’ll discover, as I later did, that it’s filled with human skulls. Dark tourism. That’s a term given to the kind of tourism that covers concentration and death camps, war zones and sites of gruesome death, torture and degradation. People …
I’m riding through the back roads of Siem Reap, Cambodia, on the back of a motorbike. As much as I’d love to be the one driving, that just isn’t done in Siem Reap. They’d rather have tourists hire drivers than attempt to drive on their own. That said, I’m having a great time exploring the …
I had been warned about the difficulties of crossing into Cambodia. Corruption is rampant, particularly at the Aranya Prathet-Poipet border, lying halfway between Bangkok and Siem Reap. Many people there are routed to a fake embassy and charged extra before being taken to the actual border. Thankfully, coming from Laos, we were at a different …