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Embedded Travel Guide Cambodia: Phnom Tamao Zoo

September 5, 2008 at 11:00 AM | 0 Comments

Cambodian wildlife is difficult to observe in its native habitat. The jungles are thick, and because locals tend to kill and eat any creature that pokes its snout out of the forest, the animals have learned to keep to themselves.

If you want to see the vast menagerie of species that call Cambodia home, make a trip to the Phnom Tamao Zoo, an easy day trip from Phnom Penh.

The zoo, which doubles as a refuge for animals rescued from the illegal wildlife trade, is quite popular among Cambodians, but rarely makes the average tourist's itinerary. But if you ask me, a visit to Phnom Tamao is every bit as fascinating as a day at Angkor Wat, and more travelers should make the trip to see the animals.

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Embedded Travel Guide Cambodia: Eating Phnom Penh

September 4, 2008 at 10:05 AM | 0 Comments

Hungry? Don't let the photo of deep-fried spiders fool you. Although you can find some weird-ass munchies in Cambodia, the street food here is right up there with the best in the world.

Although you can find delicious bites throughout the country, the capital of Cambodian street food also happens to be the capital of the country. Phnom Penh is foodie paradise, and you don't even need to go into a restaurant to enjoy a delicious meal.

Best of all, a few ragged dollar bills is all it takes to eat like a prince in Phnom Penh. Here's a rundown of street food favorites.

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Embedded Travel Guide Cambodia: Elephants in Mondulkiri

September 3, 2008 at 9:33 AM | 0 Comments

Jack Highwood loves elephants. The 26-year-old Englishman is no softy around people, but put him next to one of his beloved elephants and Jack will go all misty-eyed, clucking and cooing like a proud grandmother.

Getting your photo taken on top of an elephant in Cambodia is a piece of cake. Just go to Wat Phnom in Phnom Penh or catch a ride on one of the elephants that carries tourists around the temples of Angkor.

But if you really want to commune with the beasts, you need to brave the 10-hour bus-ride to Mondulkiri--and you need to get in touch with Jack Highwood.

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Embedded Travel Guide Cambodia: Sihanoukville

September 2, 2008 at 10:30 AM | 0 Comments

I don't like Sihanoukville. Cambodia's boomtown may have nice beaches, but the juxtaposition of obnoxious tourists with grasping poverty, set against a backdrop of fevered development, isn't conducive to relaxation. Yep, the Cambodian coast is awesome (check out my guides to Kep, Kampot, Tatai and the islands) but Sihanoukville is a shithole.

That said, I've spent more time in Sihanoukville than anywhere else in Cambodia, and I know how to avoid the nasty bits. If you go to Sihanoukville--perhaps on your way to the Cambodian islands?--this is the guide you want to read.

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Embedded Travel Guide Cambodia: Sex, Drugs and Orangutan Boxing

August 29, 2008 at 2:00 PM | 0 Comments

This week, our Cambodia embed, Tim Patterson, is giving us the inside scoop on the country, live from a guesthouse in Sihanoukville.

A window to depravity opened last Saturday afternoon in Koh Kong, a boom town on the Thai border. My buddy Jon had to catch a flight home from Bangkok at seven the next morning. How to cap off his Cambodian adventure?

"Theoretically, we could hire half a dozen prostitutes, load up on cocaine, watch orangutans beat each other up in the boxing ring at Safari World and cap it all off with an all-night drunken flight to Bangkok," I mused.

"That would be memorable," said Jon.

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Embedded Travel Guide Cambodia: Bodhi Villa

August 29, 2008 at 9:45 AM | 0 Comments

This week, our Cambodia embed, Tim Patterson, is giving us the inside scoop on the country, live from a guesthouse in Sihanoukville.

"Maybe the human catapult wasn't the best idea," concedes Hugh, the frenetic young Australian who owns the Bodhi Villa outside Kampot.

"But man, just imagine how cool the catapult would've been! I put it right next to the yoga/meditation pavilion, see, because I figured people could get all chilled out and then finish their mediations by launching themselves into the river!"

The Bodhi Villa, located on a placid river near the town of Kampot, is the most ridiculous guesthouse in Cambodia. I love the place.

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Embedded Travel Guide Cambodia: Temple Time

August 28, 2008 at 10:15 AM | 0 Comments

This week, our Cambodia embed, Tim Patterson, is giving us the inside scoop on the country, live from a guesthouse in Sihanoukville.

In Cambodia, you're never far from a Buddhist temple, or wat. Even the smallest village will have its own temple, where teenage boys are schooled in the principles of Buddhism. All Cambodian men are expected to spend some time in a monastery before marriage, and townspeople support monks by giving them food in exchange for blessings.

All wats are open to the public, monks are always thrilled to greet foreigners and by following a few simple rules of etiquette, you won't accidentally offend anyone.

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Embedded Travel Guide Cambodia: Island Paradise

August 27, 2008 at 12:45 PM | 1 Comment

This week, our Cambodia embed, Tim Patterson, is giving us the inside scoop on the country, live from a guesthouse in Sihanoukville.

Remember The Beach? The excellent Alex Garland novel, later made into a crappy movie that even Leonardo DiCaprio couldn't save, depicted a group of backpackers who created their own paradise on a remote Thai island.

The uber-backpackers of The Beach braved shark attacks and drug lords to escape the tourist development that was consuming the Thai islands. Turns out, they could have just crossed over to Cambodia instead.

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Embedded Travel Guide Cambodia: Kep Is for Romance

August 26, 2008 at 4:00 PM | 1 Comment

This week, our Cambodia embed, Tim Patterson, is giving us the inside scoop on the country, live from a guesthouse in Sihanoukville.

If my girlfriend was in Cambodia, I would go to Kep tomorrow, rent a bungalow and spend a week eating seafood and making sweet, sweet love.

There's something about this classy little seaside resort town that's hopelessly romantic. Kep is one of my favorite spots in Cambodia even when I'm traveling solo, but with a partner... Ay! It's like a steamy bath of crab meat and rose petals.

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Embedded Travel Guide Cambodia: How to Travel Like a Local

August 26, 2008 at 11:45 AM | 0 Comments

This week, our Cambodia embed, Tim Patterson, is giving us the inside scoop on the country, live from a guesthouse in Sihanoukville.

Getting around Cambodia on local transport is often equal parts shock, misery and exhilaration.

Shock because it's hard to believe 28 people, 6 ducklings and 34 chickens can cram into the bed of a pickup truck. Misery because on the road from Phnom Penh to Mondulkiri, you'll learn that it's actually possible for both butt cheeks to fall asleep at the same time. Exhilaration because the quirky ingenuity of Cambodian transport gives rise to some of the most memorable journeys you'll experience anywhere.

Sure, you could take the bus. But that wouldn't be any fun. (Even if your butt does fall asleep, circulation will return someday!) With that in mind, here's a run-down of the more interesting transport options in Cambodia.

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Embedded Travel Guide Cambodia: The Cardamom Mountains

August 25, 2008 at 4:00 PM | 0 Comments

This week, our Cambodia embed, Tim Patterson, is giving us the inside scoop on the country.

The Cardamom Mountains of Cambodia are perfect habitat for Javan rhinoceroses, Indochinese tigers and Asian elephants. Gibbons sometimes serenade at sunrise and Barking Deer yelp at the edge of the jungle. Siamese crocodiles, once thought extinct, have even been seen in the rivers.

But perhaps the oddest animal of all in this wild bit of Cambodia is the spot-bellied eagle owl. Seriously: It's a real bird! Of course, when I saw one, I didn't take a photo to prove I had.

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Embedded Travel Guide Cambodia: Angkor What?

August 25, 2008 at 2:50 PM | 0 Comments

This week, our Cambodia embed, Tim Patterson, is giving us the inside scoop on the country.

Angkor Wat is spectacular, don't get me wrong, but there's so much more to Cambodia.

My goal in these guides is to give you the inspiration and know-how to experience the real Cambodia, outside the tourist bubble that surrounds the famous temples.

Together, we'll sample street food in the riverside capital of Phnom Penh, ride the bamboo train to Battambang, eat fresh seafood by the kilo in Kep, explore deserted islands off the coast of Sihanoukville and bushwhack deep into the jungle of the Cardamom mountains.

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