The Wandering Enginerds

Angkor Wat: one of the most well-known, photographed, and explored historical sights in Asia, if not the world. The complex definitely lived up to its expectation from sunrise to middle-of-the-day 95-degree Fahrenheit views. Would it be nice if the area wasn’t so covered in large trees that a breeze could get through? Absolutely. But then pictures wouldn’t look as magical so I’ll take the puddles of sweat that left me as I tuk tuk’d and plodded my way around a silk farm, the Cambodian War Museum, and fifteen (15) different temples in just over two (2) days. I chose to catch my sleep at a countryside homestay to get away from the city routine I had been in and from a recommendation through friends I had met up in Hanoi, Vietnam. I'm glad they clued me in on this one because it gave a real sense of what it's like living in Cambodia. The family and kids were all incredibly sweet, genuine, friendly, and as welcoming as could be. They were all learning to speak English - and were p...

It took about ten (10) minutes from leaving the airport to realize that I was going to start a list in Vietnam's blog that can be summarized as "that's just...Vietnam": 1) Men and women getting haircuts/shaves on sidewalks of busy roads 2) Speaking of sidewalks, there are no such things. They're called motorbike parking and riding areas 3) Motorbikes will shoot out of longer walk and alleyways without looking left or right 4) Drivers do not hesitate to swerve into oncoming traffic to get around a slower vehicle 5) Get into an accident in a highway middle lane? Make traffic go around you and only use one (1) deflector thirty (30) feet away as warning 6) Honking and flashing your brights is merely telling someone "I'm right here!" 7) Crosswalks can be anywhere, including the middle of a round-a-bout 8) The more aggressive you play real-life Frogger the better your chances of not getting run over 9) Drug dealers walking and riding right up to...