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SEA Field Trip Wrap-Up: Khorb Koon for the Memories

Can't afford a European vacation this summer? Do what our contributor Claire Duffett did: Explore Southeast Asia instead.

Southeast Asia is a land of contradictions--pristine and filthy, welcoming and conniving, conservative and hedonistic, archaic and progressive. In other words, we loved it!

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SEA Field Trip: Finding the Khmer Rouge

Can't afford a European vacation this summer? Do what our contributor Claire Duffett did: Explore Southeast Asia instead.

After travels through Thailand and Vietnam, we visited Cambodia. Though all three countries can claim their share of strife, Cambodia is still reeling from its trauma. The country struggles to recover from the 1970s genocide of millions of its citizens.

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SEA Field Trip: HCMC's War Memorials

Can't afford a European vacation this summer? Do what our contributor Claire Duffett did: Explore Southeast Asia instead.

Are we talking about the same war? You don't know the history of the Vietnam War until you've learned about the "struggle against American aggression" from the tour guides at Ho Chi Minh City's Reunification Palace.

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SEA Field Trip: HCMC from Above

Can't afford a European vacation this summer? Do what our contributor Claire Duffett did: Explore Southeast Asia instead.

The nightlife in Ho Chi Minh City is, well, tame. So spend the evening taking in the view of the city on the outdoor patio of the Saigon Saigon Bar on the ninth floor of the Caravelle Hotel. After a day in the hot, dusty, moped-filled city, the evening breeze feels great and the reggae-rap-fusion band is out of place but entertaining.

One bit of advice: Whatever you do, don't order The Hemingway. Ernest never visited Vietnam, and he certainly never would've stood for this tall, sweet and undrinkable cocktail.

That said, the view is excellent, with the city's stock market in one direction and Uncle Ho himself seated at the other end of the panorama. Down the elevator and across the street is Q Bar, which stays open late for a change of pace.

Related Stories:
· Ho Chi Minh City Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Southeast Asia Field Trip [Jaunted]

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SEA Field Trip: Motoring up the Mekong

Can't afford a European vacation this summer? Do what our contributor Claire Duffett did: Explore Southeast Asia instead.

The villages along the Mekong River from Cambodia's Phnom Penh to Vietnam's Chau Doc contain unspoiled culture, authentic food and kind, welcoming people willing to take in travelers. We remembered the film "Apocalypse Now," where a boat ride up the Mekong is a trip to the depths of hell. On the contrary: Often times it quite literally felt like heaven on earth.

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SEA Field Trip: Guidebook Gets It Right

We used Lonely Planet: Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and the Greater Mekong while traveling Southeast Asia. Here's where it led us in the right direction.

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SEA Field Trip: Guidebook Gets It Wrong

We used Lonely Planet: Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and the Greater Mekong while traveling Southeast Asia. Here's where it led us astray.

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SEA Field Trip: Navigating Bangkok

Can't afford a European vacation this summer? Do what our contributor Claire Duffett did: Explore Southeast Asia instead.

Bangkok is a massive metropolis filled with skyscrapers and malls beside shacks and abandoned tenements. Between it all, fluorescent cabs and smoking tuk-tuks flood the congested streets.

Get ready for an adventure if you're trying to get around.

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SEA Field Trip: Bangkok's Street Food

Can't afford a European vacation this summer? Do what our contributor Claire Duffett did: Explore Southeast Asia instead.

The best part about food in Bangkok is that the most delicious meal you can buy costs less than $1--and is available on almost any street corner. Just knowing the phrases "pad thai" and "pad kei mow" took us far, though more ambitious eaters have plenty of opportunities to branch out.

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SEA Field Trip: Where to Stay in Bangkok

Can't afford a European vacation this summer? Do what our contributor Claire Duffett did: Explore Southeast Asia instead.

Imagine Judy Garland slinking down an open stairwell, sliding over a multicolor tile lobby floor and tossing off her shawl to dive into a tropical lagoon. The Atlanta could host the scene, so different from the debauchery of the streets that surround it.

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SEA Field Trip: It's Called Bangkok for a Reason

Can't afford a European vacation this summer? Do what our contributor Claire Duffett did: Explore Southeast Asia instead.

We lied. More common than spicy street food and heavy foot traffic in Bangkok is the sight of a balding, middle-aged man with a pockmarked face, potbelly and ponytail striding alongside a beautiful young Thai woman.

Their arrangement is apparent and immediate. Rather than get horrified, saddened or disgusted (and at times, my boyfriend, who co-wrote this travelog, and I felt all of the above), you'll have to accept if not embrace Bangkok's most common trade in order to enjoy the city.

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SEA Field Trip: Bangkok's Temples Say Wat?

Can't afford a European vacation this summer? Do what our contributor Claire Duffett did: Explore Southeast Asia instead.

A 20-minute ferry ride up the Chao Phraya River from downtown Bangkok, you'll find a boatload of temples in the Phra Nakorn district. Motoring upriver, there's the old capital on the left bank and on the right bank, the wats and temples inside The Royal Palace, built in 1782. Each building vies for the title of the most ornate, gold-encrusted, bejeweled homage to the man formerly known as Siddhartha Gautama.

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