Blogs from Siem Reap, North, Cambodia, Asia - page 4

The wait is over. Here is my very delayed blog post on an amazing time that I had in Siem Reap, December 2018. After two short flights from Vientiane to Paske, with a landing that made me wonder if I would live to see another day, and then from Paske to Siem Reap, I finally arrived in Cambodia for the first time. There is always that fear of how the devil am I going to get to my hostel by myself from the airport in a country I have never been to but as per usual, it all went swell. After living in Vientiane with tuk tuks that have broken down or almost on fire due to pushing too hard, getting a tuk tuk in Siem Reap from the airport was a delightful treat. It looked ... read more

In case you were wondering, I have a certain fondness for animals, particularly dogs. It seems whenever traveling, they tend to gravitate towards me...my friends may say it is the other way around. Regardless there is usually one or two stories about a pack of dogs following us home because I snuck hotdog pieces I couldn’t finish from an unwanted birthday appetizer or getting scolded for going too near the dogs on the street. The reminder that just because I am friendly doesn‘t mean they are friendly. Anywho, Cambodia has not been any different. There are 3 kinds of dogs here: the true stray, the truly owned, and the your mine dog because you hang out here but every day you go on your merry way and may or may not come back or make it ... read more

We had the unique experience of going to a school opening. Trailblazer Foundation has fundraised and constructed 8 schools now. They work with the government to identify where new school are needed (population increases or lack of access) or school rebuilds because buildings are no longer safe. This week there were two school openings both due to dilapidation. It ended up being like a ribbon cutting ceremony. The school provided breakfast bread and water for all the students and the community families. The monks gave a blessing, governement and school officials and large donors gave speeches. The main donor came to the U.S. as an illegal immigrant and now owns a multi-million dollar company. His daughter threatened him to give away his money or she will just buy cats with all her inheritance. So he has ... read more

One of the highlights of this trip has been the street food. Whether it was vendor carts in London or goat on a stick in Uganda, every country seems to have some street food creation. Siem Reap has been a street food gold mine of street food opportunity. Here are some basics to help increase your chance of successful dining: It is a good sign if people are eating there, this not only means people enjoy the food, but more importantly it means the food hasn’t been sitting too long Covers, plastic wrap or containers holding the food means the flies probably haven’t had an opportunity to get to it ICE...either food sitting in it or a cooler (if you are eating meat) or no meat sitting out The picture is what Den (our Trailblazer supervisor) ... read more

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. This phrase kept running through my head as we went on yet another sunrise journey. Today we went to Phnom Bakheng which is known for its sunsets, but also ended up being my favorite sunrise spot. It is suppose to be a 30 minute hike up to the temple, but our driver Pairon would have none of that. He hiked us up in 15 minutes flat. There was a group of people gathered at the bottom of the temple and Pairon went right past and started climbing the stairs with Shelby and me chasing after. A woman goes, see them those girls know what they are doing follow them...I almost fell down the steps laughing because we had no clue. Pairon told us to ... read more