Travelogue
Working in the Kingdom of Wonder - the Expats Guide to Cambodia - 1 August 2012
For expats working in Cambodia can be a fascinating experience one, however, that comes with a few pitfalls which can affect foreigners and locals alike. Over time, I’ve chosen to stay and work in the self-styled Kingdom of Wonder for a number of reasons. After visiting neighbouring countries, I found Cambodian people amongst the most friendly and willing to engage with me and other foreigners. They also have the most positive outlook of the people in the countries in the region that I have visited. The latter seems all the more remarkable given the country’s recent turbulent history for between 1975-78, Cambodia suffered arguably the single most comprehensive disaster that has befallen any country in the world since 1945. In terms of assimilation, Cambodia is easier in many ways to integrate into as a foreigner. The visa requirements are more straightforward for expats looking to stay and look for employment especially when say compared with Thailand. Work visas for Laos and Vietnam are certainly more rigid and the processes more rigorous, even for the more universal occupation of English-language teaching. Hotel accommodation in Cambodia is also reasonably priced, it’s easy to negotiate weekly or monthly rates, and of a good standard. Apartments for rent are plentiful, leases are not always preferred, and there are few restrictions to renting in Phnom Penh. To get an apartment it’s easy to walk around parts of Phnom Penh and simply look for the signs on the
Khao San Road - In The Ghetto - 14 July 2012
Khao San Road (pronounced “Cow sarn”) is the main backpacker mecca for foreigners in Bangkok, Sukhumvit being another. The road itself is located in Banglamphu or Farang-Lam-Phu, as it’s jokingly referred to after the Thai word for foreigner. The more cynical call it “Khao Shit Road” and it has been described as the perfect example of a
Where The Streets Have No Names - 25 June 2012
Phnom Penh is a city where the streets have numbers rather than names save for the main thoroughfares, though some have both. As someone once commented, “the thing about Phnom Penh street names is that they are fun for every purpose except the obvious – identifying where you are or where you are going.” Some street names have changed
You'll Never Ride Alone - Traffic in the Pearl of Asia - 20 June 2012
Road traffic in Cambodia is a wonder laced with danger. More than mere transport, for the expat observer it can provide hours of entertainment and at times, sheer amazement in a country where the mere mundane can be both fascinating and photogenic. It provides the pulse of life, a hive of activity, the sheer energy that is life in the country
Changi Airport - Great Walls of Glass - 9 June 2012
Changi International Airport at Singapore is much like the city itself; neat, ordered, clean almost sterile, and almost wholly without character, though to be fair the city has Little India and Chinatown.Changi is an airport like many others but run with all that efficiency synonymous with the island state. Singapore has two great qualities
The Bizarre Temple at Banglamung - 28 May 2012
About 100 kilometres southeast from Bangkok at Banglamung near Pattaya in Chonburi is the Sanctuary of Truth, one of the strangest sights in Thailand. Touted as “The Magnificence of Heaven Recreated on Earth”, the Sanctuary of Truth is a huge structure made entirely of carved wood and looks like a temple of the bizarre from some giant film
Driving in Cambodia - On Deadly Roads - 20 May 2012
Someone once said that nowhere is a good place to have a traffic accident but in Cambodia it can be worse than most other places.Travel in Cambodia can be wonderful and a real eye opener but it’s a fact that almost four people a day die on roads in Cambodia, and hundreds more are injured in thousands of crashes.For victims, foreigners and
Nahkon Ratchasima - The Gateway to Isaan - 7 May 2012
Northeast of Bangkok is Nahkon Ratchasima, capital city of the province of the same name, and lauded as the gateway to the great northeast of Thailand. This area is known as Isaan and home to 25 million people; a country within a country, the rice bowl of Thailand, and the poorest region in the land.The city, also called Korat (or Khorat) a
Koh Kong - Mangroves and Mountains - 27 April 2012
Koh Kong is about six hours by bus from Phnom Penh, part of it along Cambodia’s most dangerous road and the rest through some of the country’s most spectacular scenery, the Cardamom Mountains. National Route Four heads west from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville across the flat expanse of Kompong Speu, a province known in Cambodia for its
