Cambodia Confidential: Hello from Krong Siem Reap. We got temples!
Cambodia Confidential: Hello from Krong Siem Reap. We got temples!
In this episode: A recap on the first leg of our Thailand visit, Iden gets debriefed on his adventures in Saigon, and more (Recorded 8/5/23 in Siem Reap, Cambodia)
Appears in this episode
Suostei from Krong Siem Reap, Cambodia. We were ready for a change of scenery, so we headed over to Cambodia to see Angkor Wat.
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Before I forget, here’s this week’s question: Have you ever had an unexpected animal encounter in your travels? Maybe you were roaming the back alleys of Istanbul and encountered a cute kitten. Or you were strolling along the beaches of Bali and ended up befriending a dog. Or maybe it was an unpleasant animal encounter, like a shark. Do tell! The comments are open.
I promised photos of Angkor Wat, and here they are …
Aren sets up his camera for sunrise over Angkor. They actually filmed part of the original Tomb Raider movie here, according to our guide.
Oh, I know. We are such tourists.
Remember all those stories about people carving graffiti into the sides of the Angkor? It’s no joke. But you can never be sure if it’s random scribbling or if the writing has a deeper meaning. Even our guide did not know about these carvings.
We recorded this week’s podcast from the Anantara Angkor Resort & Spa. The hotel has one of the most unique welcoming ceremonies we’ve ever seen. It involves a large gong, a traditional Cambodian scarf called a krama, and a foot-washing ceremony. I’ll write more about it soon.
Don’t forget this week’s question: Have you ever had an unexpected animal encounter in your travels?
We’ll try to find some pictures of temple cats to post next week.
Cambodia Confidential: Hello from Krong Siem Reap. We got temples!
A colleague and I were transporting a patient to Lahore Pakistan in 2021. Despite having the appropriate visa the nice soldier with the AK-47 denied our entry. We were allowed to hand off our patient to the airport medical team and we were escorted to a quiet room, our medical equipment was confiscated, and we were kept under guard until the next outbound flight. Needless to say Pakistan is now a no go country for us.
We were randomly driving in Europe, as we like to do, with no hotel reservations. We came to the Croatian border. It was shortly after the war in that area. An armed soldier approached and motioned for us to get out of the car. He took our passports, thumbed through them, and walked away with them. Another soldier motioned for us to stay out of the car. We stood in the falling snow for about an hour. The soldier walked back, handed us our passports, smiled broadly, and said "Enjoy Croatia."