Getting there is rarely half the fun in Cambodia (dirt bike enthusiasts excepted). Even if you have your own chauffeured transport, a very good speaker system and an ice chest of beer under your feet, it still doesn’t mean you won’t get plowed into headfirst by a truck driving 180 kilometers an hour …
Outside the minimart at 2am was a tuk-tuk driver; mid thirties, furious, waving his fists and gesticulating wildly as he glared at me as if to suggest; ”Barang – you are only scratching the surface of my righteous anger, so do not push me …
Anything can happen in Cambodia – life is very uncertain and therefore different (and possibly exciting) to what we are used to living in the modern world. This is why for many Cambodia is an attractive location for those wanting to set up an alternative lifestyle.
On returning from Thailand after 2 months in Bangkok …
For the past few weeks, I’ve been staying in a guesthouse in Phnom Penh, writing every day in the restaurant downstairs, and trying to get the printed version of my book sorted. It’s a relaxing place, filled with backpackers all tapping away …
I first heard about the Coconut Man during a late night conversation in a bar with a strange man who claims to be an ex-forces agent, wades through swamps with king cobra serum in a holster on one leg, and viper …
Phnom Penh. 6:00am. Sun breaking over the Mekong; ladies in pajamas flapping their arms in synchronized ecstasy to Akon along the river, chickens scratching, café workers stoking their charcoal fires in the cool morning air. Time to slog off to your NGO / English School / Massage Parlor, and last night’s Anchor is pounding …
Last month, I wrote an open letter to William E. Todd, the new U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia. In that letter, I suggested that he ban U.S. embassy personnel from patronizing Cambodia’s hostess bars. Partly because it’s wrong for them to frequent such bars, …
Anyone who knows anything about the Cambodian Government will know they never do anything quickly. But it’s appalling how slow they’ve been honouring the more than three dozen journalists who were killed or went missing during the bloodshed and turmoil of the 1970-75 war.
I …
On December 1, 2011 President Barack Obama nominated William E. Todd to succeed the Honorable Carol A. Rodley as U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia. Gavinmac writes a letter.
December 22, 2011
Dear Mr. Todd:
I hear that you will soon be arriving in Phnom Penh to serve …
I can never be quite sure why I like this soup so much – but of all the great broths in Cambodia, and there are plenty, chicken porridge soup (bo bor sach moan) is my favourite.
Maybe it’s the heavy use of nutty, …
