Beng Mealea is one of Siem Reap's lesser visited temples and was long so for good reason: land mines set up by the Khmer Rouge. Only a few people had visited the temple before its mines were cleared in the last decade and those who did faced a painful death if they took the wrong steps. And … [Read more...] about Beng Mealea: The Temple That Almost Wasn’t
backpacking
Where I Slept in Southeast Asia
I didn't sleep in the same bed for more than a week for the last three months, including some luxury hotels, some guesthouses and my fair share of boats and trains. Most were to my liking and we soon learned that for $20 USD per night, we could get comfortable rooms, free breakfast and free WiFi … [Read more...] about Where I Slept in Southeast Asia
What I Want in a Halong Bay Cruise
When planning a trip to Vietnam, I heard too much information about Halong Bay cruises. I was inundated with information, so it became hard to know where to start. While I'd heard lots of good things about the Hanoi Backpackers Castaways cruises, it became clear to be that I would be expected to … [Read more...] about What I Want in a Halong Bay Cruise
Remembering the Killing Fields
Children play loudly in the yard of the school next door to the site. Do they know what happened here? I ask myself. Do they know that children their age, along with their parents, were killed here daily, beaten against trees, hacked with machetes? For their sakes, I hope they don't know just … [Read more...] about Remembering the Killing Fields
Fear and Loathing and Songkran
I'd heard fellow travel bloggers talk about how much they loved the Thai New Year, known better as Songkran, so much that I scheduled by Asia leg of the trip around it. Following a marathon day of travel through Darwin, Singapore, Bangkok and Chiang Mai, we arrived at the end of the first day. … [Read more...] about Fear and Loathing and Songkran