Destination: Cambodia

Interview With Nicholas Kristof: Traveling and Tweeting Under ‘Half the Sky’

Nicholas Kristof Photo by Fred R. Conrad

David Frey asks the author about his dream vacation, Twitter, travel to hellholes and the trip that changed his life

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Dhani Tackles Poetry: ‘Visions Unwritten’

Dhani Tackles Poetry: ‘Visions Unwritten’ Picture: Red Line Films
Picture: Red Line Films

NFL linebacker and Renaissance man Dhani Jones hosts the Travel Channel show, Dhani Tackles the Globe.

Like any good Renaissance man, he’s writing poems inspired by the travel experiences featured on each show.

The topic of tonight’s journey: Cambodia.

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Morning Links: Bible Park, Pizza Vending Machines and More

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Moung Russey, Cambodia

Moung Russey, Cambodia REUTERS/Adrees Latif

Men transport a live pig on the back of their motorcycle in Moung Russey, located in Cambodia's western Battambang province.

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‘A Zen Level of Patience’: Matt Gross on Air Travel

ipod on flight Photo by The Shane H, via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Photo by The Shane H, via Flickr (Creative Commons)

When I fly, I follow a simple rule: I always ask for a window seat as far towards the front of the plane as possible. I love to stare out of the window, and I prefer the front of the plane because it’s a smoother ride (the tail bounces more) and, once the plane arrives, you get to deplane sooner.

But I was curious to find out what rules and feelings about flying another traveler might have, so I called up World Hum contributor Matt Gross, the man who writes the Frugal Traveler stories for the New York Times. We caught up while he was on assignment—on a train, to be precise—in Europe. He estimates that he’s been on about thirty flights in the past year, all of them in economy.

He told me he loved flying.

“How can you not love flying? You get on a plane somewhere. You sit down; you try and relax. I relax relatively easily. You know, four to twenty-four hours later, you’re somewhere else. It’s pretty cool. I like the anticipation of it as well. The trip has not yet been ruined,” he said, laughing. Gross laughs a lot, a good quality for a traveler to have. “Hopefully it hasn’t yet been ruined.”

“You’re about to go somewhere. You have all this time to gather your thoughts and emotions and everything and get ready for the adventure,” he added.

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On Asia: Points East

On Asia: Points East iStockPhoto
Shibuya, Tokyo. iStockphoto.

If this is indeed the “Asian century,” count me as an early adopter. I’ve quit two full-time jobs to explore the world’s most diverse continent, and they were the two best decisions I’ve ever made. To an Asia hand, the lavender fields of Provence might be pleasant, but it’s the chanting of novice monks, the mystical tinkling of the gamelan, a bowl of spicy dan dan noodles that really get the blood pumping. I’m drawn back, again and again, and I don’t know if I’ll ever kick the habit.

My (unlikely) introduction to Asia began in arid, post-Soviet Uzbekistan in the late ‘90s. As soon as my conference in Tashkent wrapped up, I hopped a bus to the Silk Road city of Samarkand, where blue-tiled madrassas dazzled against an azure sky. They were like nothing I’d seen, a window into an ancient time when Tamerlane traipsed across the steppes.

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Headed to Angkor Wat? Beware the Dengue.

World Travel Watch notes that, although dengue fever cases in Cambodia are down from last year, “the risk is still high in major tourist areas, especially Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, home of Angkor Wat.” Dengue, of course, is spread by mosquitos that are no doubt loving monsoon season in Southeast Asia. How I hate monsoon season. As we’ve noted, dengue is expected to rise around the world as temperatures increase, and dengue should be taken seriously: The less common hemorrhagic dengue can be fatal.


Cambodians Wary of Angkor Museum

A new Thai-backed museum/mall complex located a few miles from Angkor Wat is drawing fire from Cambodians skeptical of the enterprise’s motives. The New York Times reports that restoration specialists are unhappy with the Angkor National Museum’s “aesthetics” and lack of scholarly content, while others suspect that the Thais have designs on Cambodia’s architectural heritage. In fact, anti-Thai riots erupted in 2003 over the issue of Angkor’s provenance.

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R.I.P. Dith Pran

The New York Times photographer whose story was immortalized in the movie “The Killing Fields” died Sunday. Remarked the Times’ executive editor: “To all of us who have worked as foreign reporters in frightening places, Pran reminds us of a special category of journalistic heroism—the local partner, the stringer, the interpreter, the driver, the fixer, who knows the ropes, who makes your work possible, who often becomes your friend, who may save your life, who shares little of the glory, and who risks so much more than you do.”

Related on World Hum:
* Welcome to Khmer Rouge Land!


Pondering ‘Tourism’s Withering Impact’ in Asia

Denis D. Gray looks at the rise of travel to “places once isolated by conflicts, hostile regimes and ‘off-road’ geography to which only the more intrepid travelers had earlier ventured.”

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New Travel Book: Bad Karma

Full title: “Bad Karma: Confessions of a Reckless Traveller in Southeast Asia”

Author: Tamara Sheward

Released: Nov. 1, 2007 (U.S.)

Travel genre: Bad Aussies abroad (you know the type)

Territory covered: Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia

 

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Angkor Wat, Better When It Rains

When writer Stephen Brookes told friends he planned to visit Cambodia’s Angkor Wat in July—the height of monsoon season—they said he was crazy. “You’re certain to get stranded in your hotel, swatting at mosquitoes and hoping you don’t come down with malaria,” came the general response. Well, Brookes and his wife proved them wrong. In a story for the Washington Post, Brookes recounts a lovely trip to Angkor in the off-season, when costs are low, tourists are sparse, and visitors can take in the temples at their leisure.

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Ethical Traveler Takes On Child Sex Trafficking in Cambodia

Ethical Traveler and partnering organizations recently announced a campaign against child sex trafficking in Cambodia, urging supporters to sign a letter to the nation’s tourism minister. “As many as 100,000 women and children may be at risk,” the organization states. “Cambodia’s efforts to eliminate this slave trade have been hindered by corruption, poor law enforcement, and a weak judiciary system.” To learn more, I traded e-mails with travel writer and Ethical Traveler Executive Director Jeff Greenwald.

World Hum: How optimistic are you that the Cambodian government will take appropriate action?

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Tags: Asia, Cambodia

New Discoveries at Cambodia’s Angkor

Photo by flydime, via Flickr (Creative Commons).

An international team of scientists using NASA satellite images, among other tools, has determined that the medieval city of Angkor was at least three times larger than previously thought—about the size of present-day Los Angeles.

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Wanted: Cambodian Noodle Joint in New York

If New York is the food capital of the world, why is a good bowl of kuy thiew so hard to come by? That’s the question writer Matthew Fishbane poses in a Salon essay examining America’s reluctance to embrace Cambodian cuisine. Recalling his days slurping noodles at sidewalk stands in Phnom Penh, he desperately searches the city for an authentic taste of fish sauce and lemongrass, but finds only one Cambodian joint on the Lower East Side, and its offerings don’t quite measure up.

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