SPOTTED Abroad​

After seeing the killing fields, we went across town to visit the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum was infamously known during the Khmer Rouge genocide as Security Prison 21, or S-21 for short. In Khmer Tuol Sleng literally translates "Hill of the Poisonous Trees" or "Strychnine Hill". The site, one of 150 execution centers in the country, was ironically home to a high school before Pol Pot began his crazed vision of a communist utopia to Cambodia.

Cambodia has an extremely rich history. However, like many nations, there are dark spots that litter that history. One of which occurred very recently and still effects the collective psyche of the country - the genocide committed by the Khmer Rouge regime. Having learned about the Khmer Rouge genocide during a course in college on human rights and genocide, we made it a point to visit two of the most notorious sites of this tragedy not only for ourselves but also for the

After a little over a week on Koh Rong Somloem we decided to spend a few days at Otres Beach where we'd be able to reconnect with the world, catch up on some work, and book the next stop on our journey. We decided to stay on Otres Beach 1 (there's two Otres Beaches) at Eolia Beach Resort on a recommendation from our friends Carol and Charlie. The actual village of Otres is just a walk inland from Otres Beaches 1 & 2. It's awash with expats who embrace the arts as well as g

Having watched a few food documentaries on the road, it's been a goal of mine not to always subject ourselves to the yucky downward spiral of fast food and to scope out the healthy eating scene in each of our stops. DAO is a fabulous vegan/veggie restaurant located in colorful Sihanoukville. While Serendipity Road where DAO is located reminded us a bit of Vegas, this little place stopped us in our tracks. Unbelievably delicious food. Seriously, every single thing we had t

On our way to Phnom Sampeau, our tuk-tuk driver and guide, Lizy, stopped at a small roadside grill/way-station. On the grill were a stack of, what looked like from a distance, birds. As we got closer Lizy explained to us that they were rats. The rats are a local delicacy during the dry season. When the rice paddies are bare and left over rice grains from the growing season litter the ground, rats will make their home on the ground near this food source. Villagers will go

During the planning phase of our journey Battambang did not make the list of places to visit. That immediately changed however when we met a fellow traveler in Ho Chi Mihn City who informed us of a very of a special mountain, Phnom Sampeau, outside of the city. The mountain has two very unique features that draw tourists to it. The first, and the topic of this post is the Killing Cave. During the reign of terror by the Khmer Rouge, people who were turned in to the governm

After our visit to Angkor Wat our tuk-tuk driver brought us to Ta Prohm - one of many ancient temples that scatters the country side of the large Angkor complex. Unlike Angkor Wat which had been maintained and repaired over the years, after the Cham empire conquered the Angkor city, Ta Prohm was left to ruin. Massive stones once part of the temple lie scattered about. Several structures look as if they’ll collapse if you brush up against them ever so slightly. Several var

During the Cambodian leg of our journey, one of the things I had been looking forward to the most was visiting the ancient site of Angkor Wat. Everyday Angkor Wat and surrounding temples and cities of the Angkor empire attract thousands of visitors. Knowing this I was nervous I wouldn’t be able to get any photos of Angkor Wat without hundreds of tourists unknowingly photobombing my image. The evening before our official visit, my friend Charlie and I procured our tickets a

Because we’re saving money at every turn on our journey, we opted to take the bus from Bangkok, Thailand to Siem Reap, Cambodia rather than fly. This meant a border crossing overland - something we had yet to experience. Doing research the night before on what we would encounter with the visa and immigration fiasco was paramount to our smooth transition from Thailand to Cambodia. There were hordes of horror stories about the particular crossing point we used; corrupt immig