Category Archives: Commentary
6 Reasons to Leave the Expat Bubble and Live in a Khmer Village
You Will Have Realizations In the village you will not have air conditioning and this means that mattresses are a menace to a good night’s sleep. Cambodians sleep on a straw mat on a wooden floor or cot. So say,…
Fear and Loathing in Poipet
Does the border town of Poipet deserve it’s moniker of ‘The Worst Town in Cambodia’? In a short word, yes, but in the spirit adventure, a group of fellow barang was rounded up and the poor man’s Vegas was put…
A Brief Guide to Moving into your Khmer Girlfriend’s Condo
So, your girlfriend has been living with you for the past 6 months, ever since you seriously injured your knee in an unexpected and traumatic sleep walking accident. Aren’t they always unexpected and traumatic? Well, her condo is finally ready…
Cambodia: The Chomsky Problem
Here in Cambodia, Noam Chomsky is without a doubt the guy everybody loves to hate. In expat circles, most have never read either his books, articles or reviews, but they certainly know of him as an apologist for the Khmer…
The Top 5 Cambodian Road Hazards
The men of the village gathered around, white-vested. As we finalised the deal they nodded their approval. I was off on my red second-hand Suzuki 110cc moto. Driving in Cambodia is sensation similar to being babysat by a lax teenager…
Proselytism in the Provinces
“I love you and Jesus loves you,” said the pimply youth with a clean cut all-American dress sense. OK, organized religion isn’t my thing. It’s done both good and rather a lot of bad from Tierra Del Fuego up to…
My Linguistic Faux Pas-es
A few months into our living and learning experience in Cambodia, fresh from a Khmer language class and full of positive energy, I approached a woman holding an ill baby in the Russian Market to engage her in a conversation…
Importing a Car to Cambodia from Abroad: Is it Worth it?
Let’s say you’ve been looking around for a vehicle at locally and are getting nowhere. Maybe you have an old girl sitting at home under a tarp that you miss terribly. Maybe on that jaunt home last time you fell…
Life as a Baby Duck Fetus Eater
“You see that dish? That’s dog meat,” said Raksume who was standing me dinner at his family’s palm leaf shack on the edge of the village. “Oh” I said. And then, “Hey, where’s your dog?”. Raksume gestured unceremoniously towards the…
‘Youen’ and the Art of Motor Cycle Maintenance
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A funny thing went on a couple of weeks ago. Every night I make the trip from town (read bar), back out to Rancho El Pedro and last night, taking the shortcut past the old abandoned cemetery, the electrics on…