For a while now, I’ve been wanting to try ‘Dining in the Dark,’ the idea of eating out in complete darkness. There are restaurants that offer it in SF, LA, San Diego, New York, Dallas, Boston, London, Paris, Barcelona, St. Petersburg, Seoul, Kuala Lampur, and in Singapore. We happened upon the one here and decided to give it a try. The…
Cambodians raise their children in a way that Westerners might call ‘European,’ but I think it’s a parenting style all their own. It’s based on shared responsibility and high expectations. Hilary Clinton may have famously written that, ‘it takes a village to raise a child,’ but Cambodians actually act that way. Anyone and everyone is liable…
And by buddy system, I mean extortion, bribery, and preferential treatment. This is a common way of doing things in Cambodia – though this is also the case in many other countries. (Russians even have a specific word for getting something by knowing someone: по блату. Google Translate translates it as ‘to pull,’ and Wikipedia under-estimates it…
I have not been taking many photos of the town we’re in because I’m seeing it from the seat of a bicycle or a moped, and I’m just not that coordinated. In the absence of eloquent images, here are some less-than-eloquent words. The town of Kampot has been described as sleepy, quiet, and relaxed. Those…
N and I brought in the New Year at an Integral Yoga retreat called Hariharalaya. For five days and five nights, we ate vegan, avoided caffeine and alcohol, limited our usage of electronic devices, performed Asanas, meditated, lounged around, and met a lot of wonderful new people. N already gave a great summary of the…
A few of you were horrified by the state of sanitation in Cambodia. Though I’m too habituated to share your disgust, I can see how it might put you off the country. But you’d be missing some good things, like how Cambodians help each other. I have no idea what kind of taxes they have,…
The going rate for a one-hour massage in Cambodia is $5. Compared to Europe and North America’s $60-$120 averages, this seems amazing. And it is – to a point. What you can expect for your fiver: A masseuse with no certification and varying levels of training in massage, pressure points, etc. A massage table, usually…
The Idea I do a lot of trip planning, so I don’t remember what I looked up in late December to get to this blog post, about a yoga and meditation retreat. Reading about it, I thought the place sounded unusual: I found the authors’ recollections amusing and the whole idea hokey – so I mentioned it to B, hoping for…
While we were visiting my parents before starting this trip, I picked up a new habit. I would eat fruit and vegetables without washing them first, claiming that the gunk on the outside would help prepare my immune system for foreign lands. I knew this was laughable, since US pesticides are much scarier than the rest of…
When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers. Ralph Waldo Emerson Occasionally, people who know about my travels…