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Grizzly Adams & Fireflies in the Cambodian Jungle?!?

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Here I am with only about a month left to go in my trip around the world and I am finding it increasingly difficult to knuckle down and write for this blog. It is an ongoing epic struggle against laziness but here goes nothing... Krong Koh Kong, Cambodia (Aug 4-9) I took a bus from Phnom Penh to Krong Koh Kong , a town on the Cambodian coast, which happens to be a hop, skip and jump away from the Thai border and, according to Lonely Planet, has a nice variety of scenic places to visit nearby. Unfortunately, the most notable option, Koh Kong Island, turned out to be off the menu due to it being the rainy low season, so instead I decided to book a $35-overnight excursion into the jungle nature reserve area through my accommodation, the Blue Moon Guesthouse. I was quite eager to do a bit of trekking through the jungle undergrowth as it would be my first hike after being hospitalized for pneumonia in Bangkok but fate, apparently, had not had its last guffaw at my expense. Insert long
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Visiting Phnom Penh is a CAPITAL idea!

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Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Aug 1-4) And now for something tragically different... Cambodia's capital city, Phnom Penh , took me on an unexpectedly powerful emotional journey. I spent just over two full days there which were in complete contrast to one another - Day One had me weeping like an inconsolable baby who has lost its pacifier whereas Day Two had me giggling like someone who had inhaled too much nitrous oxide (aka "laughing gas" which IS available for bargain basement prices in Southeast Asia). Forgettable it was decidedly NOT . I stayed, once again, in a mixed gender dorm room at the (highly recommended and socially advantageous) Mad Monkey Hostel, located within walking distance of a number of the city's tourist attractions and a short tuk-tuk ride away from everything else. I was fortunate, on that first evening (full of non-stop laughs listening to tales of getting drunk and then ending up naked...IN PUBLIC) to befriend a couple of my dorm mates who t
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Angkor Wat...Woah...Wow.

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Siem Reap, Cambodia (July 27-August 1) If only I possessed the necessary skills/talent to write an epic romantic sonnet along the lines of Shakespeare professing my undying love to the ancient land of Cambodia... Alas, an entry on an insignificant travel blog on the Internet will have to suffice. Upon finally being released on July 24 from "prison", i.e. Bangkok Hospital, I resumed with 100% enthusiasm (if not full physical capacity), my worldly travels. As I had lost 2 entire weeks of travel, I decided with sincere regret to forego Vietnam in favor of a couple of weeks in Cambodia, home to one of the most important and wondrous archaeological sites of the world... Angkor Wat . To visit it, one must travel to the city of Siem Reap, which is fairly easy to reach overland in a day from Bangkok, as long as you don't mind rising with the roosters! There is an incredibly cheap ($1.50!!) train from Bangkok's main train station, Hualamphong, that departs at the unearth
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The Good, the Bad & the Ugly of Southeast Asia MedicalCare-Part II

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The sad...sick...saga...continues... Luang Prabang, Laos (July 7-11) Once our boat docked in Luang Prabang, Marco, Suzie and I temporarily parted ways as I had booked my own accommodation at the Muonglao Riverside Guesthouse via www.booking.com. It was a bit costly ($25 per night) but I figured that my poor battered body needed a few days of extra comfort. Plus! It had a balcony and I am a total sucker for balconies! We all agreed to meet up the following evening for dinner once I had had a chance to get some medical attention. I discovered that the Luang Prabang Provincial Hospital was actually a considerable ways from the center of town so I was, instead, brought to a clinic that was known to have a doctor who spoke English. This doctor, who proudly informed me that he had received his medical training in China (err...so?), also happened to be the Deputy Director at the aforementioned Provincial Hospital, so I figured I was in the best medical hands within a 500-kilometer radius
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The Good, the Bad & the Ugly of Southeast Asia Medical Care-Part I

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Apparently, being continuously on the road for 9 months can take an incredibly physical toll on one's body. I learned this the hard way starting nearly 3 weeks ago while in Chiang Rai , Thailand. Prepare yourselves by popping some aspirin for during the majority of this next lengthy blog entry I will be regaling you with my journey through the good, the bad and the ugly of Southeast Asia's medical care services. It ain't all that pretty, cough cough, in places, I must warn you, but in the end, I landed at the swanky Bangkok Hospital, which is as close as I have come to staying at a 5-star hotel during this entire trip. So it all began with a headache and back pain on June 25 in a northern town in Thailand... Chiang Rai, Thailand (June 23-29) My intentions in Chiang Rai were to do some trekking in the hills and perhaps a foray into the non-opium producing area of the Golden Triangle. Alas, it being low season, I was unable to find any trekking tours being organized at
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