Thoughts from the Road
I’m on the rooftop of the Seng Hout hotel watching the sunset over Battambang. The Muslim call to prayer is echoing across the river and the ornate roofs of Buddhist temples are glinting in the orange light.
I decided to stay another day here and am glad I did. There’s a restaurant I really like: Jaan Bai, a resturant non-profit with bespoke pottery, delicious food, and a design style that fits right in with the Kinfolk magazines they have stacked in the bookshelf.
Hotel Room (private bath, fan, cable, wifi, pool): $10.
Breakfast (banana pancakes, mango shake): $4.
Lunch (pork bahn mi sandwich): $3.50.
Cappuccino: $2.
Angkor Beer: $0.75.
Dinner (dragon fruit caipirinha, glazed chicken and greens, coconut ice cream): $11.
Total: $31.25.
Dinner was a splurge. It was amazing.
This was an overwhelming place to visit.
More than 300 mass graves dot Cambodia where 1.3 million people were killed by shovels, hatchets and machetes by a genocidal regime in the late 1970s.
My Tuk Tuk driver, who is also a friend of my friend’s here, had never been inside Choeung Ek and walked the grounds with me. He didn’t say much, but summed it up as we were leaving, “This place makes me sad.”
It’s hard to believe a country this friendly and full of life had such a dark and terrifying period.
The photos are by my friend Sascha Faun Winter. More photos here.
Big Sur is one of my favorite places in the world. It has spectacular views overlooking the Pacific Ocean, gnarled windswept Cypress tress clinging to the cliffs, and deep valleys of Redwood forests. I got to backpacking there for a few days earlier this month.
This Point Lobos, a hiking spot right on the coast, where seals were sunning in weirdly emerald bays.
Yes, it sometimes snows in Texas.
We celebrated the New Year in San Antonio, home of the fried brownie and the Alamo. We will never forget.
They call them trailers instead of carts. And yes, they have free wifi.
We made it.
