SEPTEMBER 20 – DHAKA, BANGLADESH: “Dhaka is the city of mosques!” exclaimed Farrok, our accidental but fortuitous hospitable host and proud tour guide of Dhaka, who graciously devoted an entire weekend to showing us the ins and outs of his bustling city—especially many of the sides not oft seen by travelers. During this the first […]
Read MoreSiem Reap: Cambodia’s Economic Island 1
SEPTEMBER 8 – RURAL CAMBODIA: Northern Cambodia in September is hot place to be, but an immensely beautiful one as well. In single file we set out from Poipet, the morning rain puddles bathing our tires in mud. Yet, within kilometers the brown landscape of the border town had disappeared, and we found ourselves surrounded […]
Read MoreSchool’s Out in Cambodia 1
SEPTEMBER 8 – RURAL CAMBODIA: Like a landslide, they poured forth onto the tarmac in front of us. Wearing worn book-bags and uniformly clad in identical navy pants and white collared shirts, they emerged on bicycles from the concealed dirt road and onto the wide shoulder. In the middle of the verdant Cambodian countryside, school […]
Read MoreLiving delicately along Cambodia’s frontier Comments Off on Living delicately along Cambodia’s frontier
SEPTEMBER 7 – POIPET, CAMBODIA: Border towns have a tendency to create bad first impressions, and Poipet, Cambodia was no exception. Arriving from Aranyaprathet, Thailand, we had just spent several days cycling along what must be one of the most well-maintained rural secondary road systems in all of Southeast Asia (if not the world, given how […]
Read MoreA Miracle (for some) in Thailand Comments Off on A Miracle (for some) in Thailand
SEPTEMBER 4-7, 10-13 – THAILAND: With 7/11 convenient stores seemingly around every urban street corner, Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme dueling for national doughnut dominance, an abundance of banks and ATMs (we had encountered just one during our first 4 days in Laos), and a sharper delineation between commercial and residential space—far fewer roadside shops […]
Read MoreA Silk Oasis: Chonnabot, Thailand Comments Off on A Silk Oasis: Chonnabot, Thailand
SEPTEMBER 5 – CHONNABOT, THAILAND: Back on our cycles, our first stop was the Thai silk town of Chonnabot. Using a combination of impromptu sign language and quick ink sketches, we navigated ourselves to one of the town’s most famous silk factories. On the outside, it appeared just like any building, its open doors inviting […]
Read MorePerspectives from a third-class railcar Comments Off on Perspectives from a third-class railcar
SEPTEMBER 5 – NORTHEAST THAILAND: Setting off from Vientiane, together we departed Laos, its history, and hospitality—crossing over the broad and placid Mekong River, the Friendship Bridge that straddles it, the fishermen busy making their livelihood from it. Handlebar mirrors now adjusted for riding on the left, we entered Thailand. If the stilted wood cabins and towering […]
Read MoreLooking Back Toward the Mountains From Vientiane Comments Off on Looking Back Toward the Mountains From Vientiane
SEPTEMBER 4 – VIENTIANE, LAOS: Vientiane is by many measures a quaint and quite manageable city. Its population barely breaks 750,000, and in size it is no more than a dozen kilometers from northwestern outskirts to the bustling southern banks along the Mekong River. With a vibrant expatriate and tourist presence, it is a place where […]
Read More“The most bombed country on Earth”–or why we don’t stray too far from the road. Comments Off on “The most bombed country on Earth”–or why we don’t stray too far from the road.
AUGUST 30 – SEPTEMBER 3 – RURAL LAOS: It is impossible to understand a people without first knowing their recent history, particularly when it is as jarring as that for the people of Northern and Eastern Laos. What for many of us was but a section or two in the closing chapters of a United […]
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