Overview Wanna go to Cambodia and Vietnam? Ummm sure…I guess… This trip was Chris’s idea. To me, Cambodia and Vietnam seemed exotic, unfamiliar, and to be honest, a bit scary. We forged ahead since Chris really really wanted this trip (he’s a huge history and war buff) and I love to explore so I figured…
If you’re traveling to Siem Reap and would like to take a meaningful, responsible floating village tour, look no further. The Community First Kompong Khleang Floating Village Tour is the real deal. Paren, the main guide, grew up in Kompong Khleang, a portion of each tour fee (currently 45%) supports the local school and community,…
When it comes to packing, most travelers would agree: If there are regrets, it’s usually from packing to much, not too little. It stinks to pack, haul, un-pack, and re-pack a bunch of stuff you don’t need. This article shares everything I packed for over 30 days of travel through Cambodia and Vietnam. Lessons learned…
This article is the third in a 3-part series. Also read about Day 1 and Day 2. This is it! The third and final day of our 3-day motorbike trip, and the one that ultimately convinced us to book this tour. Day 3 was billed as “DMZ day” where we’d travel near the demilitarized zone…
This article is the second in a 3-part series. Read about Day 1 here. Starting at the end: I finished day two of our three-day motorbike tour with knees aching, face coated with gritty grime, and butt sore, chafed, and bruised in twin lines tracing the outline of my underwear (!). It took almost 10 hours…
This article is the first in a 3-part series. Read about Day 2 here. What a day! After day one of our much anticipated 3-day motorbike tour from Donh Hoi to Hue, Chris was hinting at buying a bike once we get home. I’m pretty sure he’s kidding. He’d better be - one of us has to be…
Two weeks before our trip to Cambodia and Vietnam I realized I hadn’t learned any Khmer. Yikes! I’d focused solely on Vietnamese, partly because we’d spend four of our five weeks in Vietnam and partly because Duolingo (which I was using for Vietnamese) didn’t have a program for Khmer. In retrospect, I should have searched…
No gain in keeping, no loss in weeding out. So said Pol Pot, speaking of his own people. Pol Pot, leader of the Khmer Rouge and the man responsible for one of the worst genocides of the 20th century. Pol Pot, a name I’d heard, yes, but knew embarrassingly little about. A precious gift of…
My first trip to Southeast Asia has been eye-opening and I even haven’t left home yet! Previous international travel required little in the way of health precautions, but Cambodia and Vietnam are a whole ’nother kettle of fish. Over the past month we’ve had gotchas, close calls, and myths busted. This article offers advice gleaned…
Overview In October 2016, I was lucky enough to spend almost three weeks camping and hiking with my best friend Karen. We met in Reno (having flown from Alaska and Oregon, respectively) and then worked our way from Yosemite down to Mt. Whitney before cutting east to finish up in Death Valley. We packed so…