Results tagged “Cambodia” from Intelligent Travel Blog

For many people, Southeast Asia conjures up images of ancient stone temples, vibrant colors, spicy cuisine and warm, musky rains breathing life into lotus ponds.

But imagine instead hiking for miles shin-deep in mud, fending off bloodsucking leeches and existing on a diet of tarantulas and cockroaches, while risking infection, heatstroke and malaria. Not exactly your typical camping trip. For most people, such an excursion would sound treacherous and even insane, but for young herpetologist Perry Wood Jr.  it's simply a passionate pursuit of knowledge in the name of science.

When Perry (aka JR) Wood began studying Southeast Asian amphibians and reptiles more than eight years ago, he never imagined the rough trails and beautiful landscapes his fieldwork would lead him to. As a graduate biology student specializing in taxonomy and molecular systematics, Wood regularly makes trips to Malaysia, Thailand, and Cambodia in an effort to identify new species in what he explains is an understudied region for herpetological diversity.

Guarded by giant seven-headed serpent gods high on an obscure mountain, in backcountry disputed by Thailand and Cambodia, is an ancient sacred site that's not on the regular tourist map.

 

Surrounded by landmines and bunkers from the Khmer Rouge era, and still caught up in today's border disputes, Preah Vihear, or "Holy Monastery," is a mysterious place few westerners have been able to visit.

 

Jon Ortner, photographer and author of the book "Angkor, Celestial Temples of the Khmer Empire," shares his first encounters and impressions of the thousand-year-old sanctuary in this essay of words and photos composed especially for NatGeo News Watch.

Contributing Writer Cathy Healy sorts out how one person's trash can turn into the trip of a lifetime.

The Pope flew into New York on the same day that Adi Carter was flying out, so TSA was tense. Two guards called her over and started to search her luggage. "What's this?" demanded one guard, pulling out a bag filled with 10 pounds of crumpled plastic and cardboard.

TSA relaxed as the traveling yoga teacher explained that this was all of her trash (not garbage, not junk mail) for the past three months. Adi was on a double campaign: To inspire everyone she met to stop being so wasteful-she'd cut her own trash by nearly five times-and to raise $20,000 for the Cambodian Children's Fund, which shelters and educates children who were living in garbage dumps.

 "You're amazing, girl!" said one guard, waving Adi through. "Go save the planet."

They didn't know the half of it.

Our dear assistant art director Stefan Caiafa is currently on an overland trip throughout Southeast Asia. But his travels were put on hold in Cambodia for several days as the recent political unrest swirled in Bangkok, where protesters have just ended their week-long blockade of the area airports. Fortunately, Stefan made the most of his ample time there by providing us with an outline of how to find sustainable ways to travel in the environmentally precarious region. We got word from him that he's already on the move, and we were glad to hear that the standoff is over, meaning more than 300,000 stranded travelers will be able to fly home.

Five Sustainable Travel Tips to Angkor, Siem Reap, & Environs

Tip 1. Don't Go!!! Well, not now at least. This is serious advice, as there are a few reasons why travels to Angkor and Siem Reap should be postponed, not the least being the sheer volume of tourism taking its toll on the sites:

Angkor Complex - Several foreign governments (including those of France, Italy, South Korea, India) are contributing funds and personnel towards restoration and conservation efforts within this World Heritage site. This does mean that several important temples, including Angkor Wat, have light scaffolding and closed-off sections. Some of these initiatives are due for completion in 2010 at the earliest. While the temples are still utterly impressive, a visit might be more so once several of these projects have been completed. The upside for those traveling now involves viewing first-hand as workers repair parts of the important temples, and scientists document the bas-reliefs for assessment (a plus for conservation enthusiasts like IT readers). The downside for visiting Angkor Wat currently: the central section, which includes the five iconic towers, remains closed to visitors and has scaffolding on one side. Also, the main draw, "Churning of the Sea of Milk" bas-relief, has parts of it undergoing restoration, which are closed off to the public.

Siem Reap - This is Cambodia's hub town for visiting the Angkor complex, which lies only a few miles north. Siem Reap is a rather sleepy town, though future development is palpable: Several large-scale hotels and resorts are currently being built, making the streets a tangle of tourist buses, motorbikes, and construction crews. Unfortunately, these new, mostly self-contained resorts verge on the generic, offering few opportunities for exploring authentic Cambodia. Siem Reap is, in effect, on path towards becoming a town of Club Meds. Visitors might at the very least wish to wait for the dust to settle before venturing here.