You're never really in the neighbourhood when it comes to Palau but since we were now in Manila avoiding the rains in Malaysia we thought it might be a good idea to drop in on one of the smallest countries in the world. And believe it or not the single biggest motivating factor for making this detour was a lake that is reputedly filled with non-stinging jellyfish (at least that's what I told DH who has huge jello-phobia issues; they actually do sting but ...

It's hard work wandering the planet and having other people cook, clean, and transport you around. Well maybe "hard work" is overstating the case just a little but we were somehow able to convince ourselves that we needed a vacation from our vacation- we had finished our loop through North Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and we were now back in Thailand looking for a couple weeks of serious beach tourism in the South before continuing on into Malaysia (get...

Our last stop in Cambodia included the floating fishing villages near Kampong Chhnang located on the edge of Tonle Sap Lake. And how do you visit a floating village- via a boat, preferably one that is floating as well. The villages were more complete versions of what we had seen on the way to Battambang and included markets, shops, gas stations, and restaurants. It was amazing to see such a large community attach itself so inextricably to the ebbs and flows of th...

Often times it is the journey and not the destination that provides the big wow. Such was the case on our slow boat from Siam Reap to Battambang. It was an opportunity for an up-close look at some Cambodian communities that rely on the Tonle Sap Lake and the Sangker River for day-to-day life but at the same time have to endure the eccentricities of those bodies of water. During the monsoon season, the flooding of the Mekong actually reverses the flow of the river...

Visiting the Full Tummy Farms Orphanage near Siem Reap was a wonderful experience for us but I wanted to add a cautionary note for anyone thinking of doing something similar. Cambodia has lost a whole generation of parents through horrific wars, ongoing struggles with AIDS and a poor health care system, as well the devastation caused by landmines every year. That said, there have been a number of bad dudes move in to take advantage of well meaning foreigners. Mos...