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Travelogue
Poipet - In a Galaxy, Far, Far, Away - 25 February 2020
The border crossing between Aranyaprathet in Thailand and Poipet, or Krong Poi Pet, in Cambodia is marked by a dying waterway, the Nam Sai, choked and putrefied with the detritus of modern life. The Nam Sai (which ironically means “clear stock” as in soup, in Thai) roughly marks the border. In some places it is the border, while in others it runs wholly on the Thai side and in yet more places lies entirely within Cambodia. Even when a natural feature provides for a demarcation line on a flat and featureless landscape, the geopolitical entities conspired to ignore its presence. Given everything these two countries have to offer then, it’s a shame the main crossing between the two leaves many a first-time visitor, or anyone else, having their senses assailed by such a fetid eyesore. But then maybe the powers that be probably figure you’re either not there for the scenery or won’t be staying that long; a stamp in your passport and off you go. Poipet may be emerging from just a dusty border town of a country once shattered by war to the fourth-largest city in Cambodia, but it’s not shaken off the Wild West image just yet. Aside from legitimate cross border trade, the town thrives on gambling, prostitution, drugs, and smuggling. Outside the many betting shops barefoot children beg and prostitutes prowl for customers. Moto drivers who act as taxis also offer drugs at knock-down prices. When Obi-Wan Kenobi said to Luke Skywalker “You will never find a more wretched hive
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Borderlands - Aranyaprathet and Poipet - 27 January 2020
In the early 2000s I made two trips into Cambodia by road from Thailand. These were my first ever visits to the country. The route I took was the same many visitors took back then, and many still do, from Aranyaprathet and Poipet, though much has changed in terms of infrastructure. I’ve heard it said peoples’ impressions of Cambodia are
Hotel Cambodiana and the River Mekong - 22 December 2019
One of my favourite pastimes in Phnom Penh is sitting poolside at the Hotel Cambodiana watching the river traffic go by. Norodom Sihanouk came up with an idea for the hotel and even contributed early drawings for bungalows, before it morphed into a full-blown hotel, then one of the biggest in town. It was built, but not finished, during the
Royal University of Phnom Penh - 19 November 2019
Most visitors to Phnom Penh entering the city along the road from the airport would not see one of the architectural splendors of a city once known as “The Pearl of Asia”. Probably because it’s on the other side of the dual carriageway, and more probably they’re not looking for it. The Royal University of Phnom Penh faces what is now known as
Living on Street 178 – Part Three – 5 October 2019
All the apartments I’ve rented in Phnom Penh have been on streets with a number ending in an eight. There was Street 108 (Oknha Ing Bun Hoaw Avenue across from Freedom Park near the old colonial quarter), Street 258 (Long Nget Street), and the three apartments I’ve had on Street 178 (Samdach Preah Sokun Meanbon Street). The last apartment I
Down on the Corner, Out in Street 178 - 2 September 2019
My second apartment on Street 178 was in 2007. I got the apartment through my mate, Kiwi Paul, who I had met earlier that year in the Riverside Bar on Sothearos Boulevard. The Riverside is a corner bar in a grand colonial building in rustic colours with white shutters, unlike many of the other colonial era buildings in Phnom Penh, which are
Living on Street 178 - Phnom Penh - 3 August 2019
Street 178 in Phnom Penh runs in a straight line west to east from one of the city’s main boulevards, Monivong, and finishing at another, Sisowath, at the Tonle Sap near the junction with the Mekong River. It is bisected by another of the city’s main thoroughfares, Norodom Boulevard – Street 41, which runs from Wat Phnom, from which the city
Kanchanaburi - On The River Kwai - 8 July 2019
The small city of Kanchanaburi sits at the base of the Tenasserim Hills on the edge of the flood plains of the Chao Phyra, the River of Kings, in what was once jungle. The hills border Myanmar and shelter the Kingdom of Smiles from the typhoons of the Andaman Sea. They also provide a physical barrier between the two countries, long-time rivals
Places I’ve Stayed – A World-Wide Guide – 31 May 2019
I’ve stayed in everything from a 5-star hotel in Singapore to a decrepit pension in Cairo resembling a building site, to a bed and breakfast in a high-rise in the backstreets of communist Budapest. I’ve slept in huts made of branches on the beach in the Sinai Peninsula, on a promenade in Monaco with the pavement for a pillow, bamboo huts in the