Jaunted - kh

Sean Penn Cambodia Here We Come

Jennifer Kester — 2009-10-12T08:38:36-05:00

Chasing Racers is back, with a brand-new Amazing Race 15 mashup. This map will update the morning after every new episode. Send along tips, rumors, gossip, locations and spoilers to our map editors; become a member and comment on the stories below and add to the Jaunted-Flickr photo pool to get in on the fray.

Remember to zoom in, out and around on the map—with so much happening in each episode, it's easy to miss a map point.

In the last episode of The Amazing Race, it was all about fathers, as senior Marcy got emotional being in Ho Chi Minh City, where her Air Force general dad was shot, and Globetrotter Big Easy revealed that his pops died two days before the race. He made good progress on his promise to win it all for his dad by coming in first that leg. The victory brought the towering buddies so close, Flight Time says, that he launders Big Easy's socks and undies—that's either really sweet or utterly gross. But we had to say farewell to the seniors. Nine teams remain. Will the poker pals get out of their slump? Will Lance make good on his threat to wrestle Phil at the pit stop?

Find out after the jump.

New Crackdown On Sex Tourism Targets Criminals In The Air

egw — 2009-10-05T15:33:54-05:00

Sex offenders beware: You can run, but you can't hide. A new international crackdown is zeroing in on American "sex tourists" who could find law enforcement picking them up from the airport when they get home.

Operation "Twisted Traveler" was set up under the PROTECT Act of 2003, strengthening penalties for child-related crimes such as abduction and producing pornography. The act establishes an international age of consent at 16 as well as making it a crime to pay someone under 18 for sex; Americans who break the law can be tried and convicted back at home.

The first three suspects arrested under the international provision of the law were nabbed in Cambodia in February. All had served time for sex-related offenses in the U.S. before. The men have been charged with various crimes from enticing young boys with money and candy to visiting one of Phnom Penh's child brothels.

Holiday In Cambodia: Khmer Rouge Historical Sites to Be Developed for Tourism

Victor Ozols — 2009-03-29T13:25:01-05:00

The era of Pol's Pot's Khmer Rouge is among the most brutal and horrific of any in history, resulting in the death of about a quarter of the Cambodian population. This grisly fact is reason enough for the government of present-day Cambodia to implement a $1 million plan to develop 15 Khmer Rouge sites for tourism - including Pol Pot's cremation site (pictured) - and charge tourists admission to see for themselves where the bad stuff went down. As the AP points out, the landmarks in Anlong Veng include Khmer Rouge hideouts, execution sites, and battlefields, all serene reminders of the atrocities that took place from 1975 to 1979.

2008's Best Jaunted Embed Is...

Jaunted — 2008-12-31T12:00:40-05:00

Travel embeds are Jaunted's superheroes: Boldly going where no tour bus has gone before, they come back with unforgettable stories of the adventures you can have by setting down the guidebook and picking up your pack. We salute all our embeds, but particularly Tim Patterson, whose series on his trip to Cambodia was an invaluable addition to our pages in '08.

Patterson's series, as outlined in his first post, was not only about getting off the beaten path but about seeing Cambodia uncoupled from its history and measuring it on its own merits, from local transit to tourist traps.

From describing the seaside town of Kep as "a steamy bath of crab meat and rose petals" to tantalizing us with the offer of orangutan boxing in Koh Kong, his eye for detail made us feel like we were really there. In 2009, maybe we will be!

[Photo from Patterson's report on the Phnom Tamao Zoo]

EU Blacklists Siem Reap Airways And Others

ced138 — 2008-11-20T11:00:16-05:00

Siem Reap Airways is the division of Bangkok Airways used exclusively to carrier tourists to and from Angkor Wat, the famed religious complex we helped you navigate recently. The busy airline is now suffering some seriously bad publicity after the European Commission banned the airline from using EU airports. The reason? Inadequate compliance with international aviation safety standards. Yikes.

Since the airline only flies between Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, and Siem Reap, the town adjacent to the Angkor ruins, it seems like the ban prohibiting the carrier from flying inside the EU is purely symbolic. But it also serves as a warning to travelers that the planes are considered sub-par. The commission also extended bans on Angolan carriers and two carriers from the Ukraine. All the more reason why land travel becomes more appealing with each passing economically-depressed day.

Related Stories:
· EU bans Siem Reap Airways [Reuters]
· Wats Up: Intro to Angkor [Jaunted]

[Photo: Taekwonweirdo]

Buddha-Loving Termites Cause Impromptu Pilgrimage

ced138 — 2008-11-17T12:30:15-05:00

We've told you before about some pretty strange religious pilgrimages. Most of the quests involve hordes of Catholics rushing to see apparitions of the Virgin Mary on grilled cheese sandwiches or garage doors. Now it looks like the spontaneous holy tourist attractions have crossed over to a new religion: Buddhism.

Beginning about a month ago in Cambodia, hundreds of religious citizens (which means pretty much everyone in the country) have flocked to a collection of five unusually shaped termite nests that resemble seated figures of Buddha. The mounds, discovered just outside Phnom Penh, appeared on the cement floor of the home of a woman who was about to host a death festival to honor her late husband.

Now, as long as she doesn't try to sell these peculiar piles of dirt on eBay, we'll know for sure that the people of Southeast Asia have matched their Western counterparts in kitsch but not greed.

Related Stories:
· Buddha Shaped Termite Nests in Cambodia [Inquirer.net]
· Embedded Travel Guide: Cambodia [Jaunted]

[Photo: velo steve]

Cambodians Love Their Festivals, Especially This One

ced138 — 2008-11-10T12:00:11-05:00

Yesterday, Cambodians rushed to the country’s capital, Phnom Penh, for the annual Water and Moon Festival, which starts today and lasts all week. Officials estimate that about four million Cambodians attend the event each year--in a country with a total population of about 14 million. That'd be like 100 million Americans showing up to watch the ball drop in Times Square next month.

The event isn’t a big deal, it is the deal, an annual Olympics of sorts where family members and neighbors compete in crew-style rowing competitions along the city’s Tonle Sap river.

In addition to the races, the festival features Cambodian carnival food: Replace candy apples with fried bananas and corn dogs with dried fish patties. It also offers spins on a Ferris wheel that rivals any rickety, life-threatening rides found in the county fairs of rural United States.

To escape the battle for chair space along the boardwalk, nightly fireworks are visible from the expat-stuffed Foreign Correspondents' Club. The traffic, the crowds, the sometimes-capsizing boats and the infectious good cheer among the Cambodian people make this one of the most overwhelming and stunning cultural experiences in Southeast Asia. We'll see you there.

Related Stories:
· Biggest Water Festival To Date Expected This Week [Phnom Penh Post]
· Embedded Travel Guide: Cambodia [Jaunted]

[Photo: calcpimp]