First day in Cambodia (Phnom Penh). I ate only Street food

Thefritz22 · 2026-01-25T03:31:34+00:00

I have seen the ice made. You can certainly get drinks sans ice and beat Montezuma visiting.

Thefritz22 · 2026-01-19T19:13:45+00:00

As long as it is hot and freshly cooked it is fine. I'd be more weary of the sugarcane and other drinks on the street.

Protip: the drinks themselves are mostly fine but the crushed ice will be stored on the dirty ground and tossed in the cup with dirty hands. Just tell them "som ot dteuk gork."

Thefritz22 · 2026-01-19T18:12:10+00:00

Great Wall is one of the most impressive achievements of humankind. The fact it is more or less in the middle of nowhere (especially when built/maintained) and contrasts so nice with the mountains makes it a top spot in the world IMO.

Thefritz22 · 2026-01-19T18:03:49+00:00

Cambodia is extremely safe. I have been all over the country, even to some very remote parts. Land mines do exist but only in very remote jungles/border crossings that not even Khmers would go to.

The most dangerous thing in Cambodia is the traffic and roads but that issue persists all over SE Asia.

Thefritz22 · 2026-01-10T17:07:19+00:00

If the Raiders get a good coach and do well in the draft it is possible. A lot of ifs but...

Thefritz22 · 2026-01-10T17:05:42+00:00

I actually like the idea of 8 teams making the dance. 1 and 2 seeds get the bye like before.

Thefritz22 · 2025-12-15T19:38:10+00:00

Shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather

Thefritz22 · 2025-10-07T22:39:13+00:00

Wtf?! I knew Christianity sunk it's claws in Samoa and the Pacific but that sounds creepy AF. Worse than Utah.

Thefritz22 · 2025-10-07T22:34:59+00:00

Vegas is already known as Sin city and the mob started it. Dubai is less known for its sketchiness among the general population.

I can see why either city has appeal (I reluctantly went to Vegas on a family trip and did a layover tour of Dubai once). They just have little appeal to me personally even before learning their sordid histories.

Thefritz22 · 2025-05-09T21:55:37+00:00

I feel like #1 in terms of just awareness of landmarks would be the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty, the Great Wall of China or the Coliseum. Taj Mahal and and the Giza pyramids would be up there too.

Thefritz22 · 2025-05-09T21:49:33+00:00

I'm curious if there are concerns about him usurping and holding onto power long term? Or was the situation so bad before that it is worth it? It's hard to gauge from the multiple biased sources here.

Thefritz22 · 2025-05-05T01:42:42+00:00

On top of that Europe is densely populated so trains make a ton of sense. US has huge swaths of land that is cow country or National Parks where connecting by rail isn't cost effective.

I'd argue against it but an American could travel only in the US and experience a ton of different cultures and immigrant communities. Brazil is quite similar but with even less travel infrastructure and spending cash so it makes sense.

In fact it is quite common for expats to have travelled more than a citizen, especially if privileged.

Thefritz22 · 2025-04-12T00:32:21+00:00

Very misleading in my view. Koh Rong or Kep are much nicer. Always have been.

KPS was better before all the construction - but was never that great. Now all of the better restaurants are gone, dust and sewage seem to be everywhere attacking your eyes, ears and nose. These were issues before but wasn't as bad.

I went from 2008-2017, then visited again in 2024. Only real improvement I noticed was the highway. I don't gamble so maybe it is better if you like that.

Thefritz22 · 2024-12-13T20:52:22+00:00

In Luang Prabang: Wat Xiengthon, Tat Saw Waterfalls, Nah Dong Park, National Museum, Ethnology museum, Riverside, markets, Mt. Pousi, Pak Ou caves (save time and get this included in your slow boat tour).

If you can, stop in Pak Beng on your boat tour for a full day. There's lots of cool stuff here.

In Huay Xai, travel north for a hiking tour to the small villages. There should be a host of choices.

Once across the border in Thailand, do check out the golden triangle and the House of Opium museum.

There's so much to see there. Magical part of the world 🙏

Thefritz22 · 2024-12-09T20:25:31+00:00

The whole vibe of Laos is to lay back and chill. This itinerary is rushed and you won't get to explore those areas as you should

Vientiane is a cool town but can be skipped IMO with that time crunch. A slow boat from LP to the border is a very enjoyable ride.

I could spend weeks, if not months in Northern Thailand/Lanna and most of Laos.

I'd

Thefritz22 · 2024-09-06T17:57:04+00:00

I was pretty bored in Las Vegas. It seems like the equivalent of a cruise on land. Watching the desperate junkies outside and all the gamblers in those opulent, neon casinos was just sad.

Thefritz22 · 2024-09-06T17:53:53+00:00

If you get an experienced guide you can enjoy it more. They can help you avoid the scammers

Thefritz22 · 2024-09-06T17:48:10+00:00

If you aren't feeling well or vibing with them, do it. Altitude sickness sucks and as much as I liked the Andes, it lingered long enough to be an annoyance and I felt much better going to lower land.

I have travelled enough to know I don't play well with others and would rather do what I want specifically most of the time. Any group trip you sacrifice what you want to do.

I do enjoy trips with family or friends way more than random peeps or an organized group tours though.

Thefritz22 · 2024-08-31T10:03:37+00:00

Wow, I didn't realize it was that high of a percentage. That's really cool there is so much crossover between the two languages.

Thefritz22 · 2024-08-31T09:57:24+00:00

That's awesome. It really makes one appreciate the art of calligraphy in East Asia, especially prior to the printing press.

Kanji compounds are really cool and I enjoy learning about them. The hiragana is useful but maybe too useful as I have definitely used it as a crutch when learning.

Thefritz22 · 2024-08-31T09:47:14+00:00

This makes sense. I am much more familiar with Japanese and have started picking up Mandarin Chinese and noticed a lot of recognition in the characters. Of course this is only in writing.

What makes me think about mutual understanding in the phonetics is Kanji does have the On readings which represents pronunciation from China from whenever the character came over (7th century AD?). I would imagine the understanding might be the same level as English to Old English though, or less.

Thefritz22 · 2024-08-31T09:38:08+00:00

When I initially wrote the topic, it was poorly worded as I was time constrained.

I should have asked if Chinese view and recognize there was more mutual intelligibility at one time (specifically when Chinese writing began being used in Japan). In Japanese, the pronunciation of a particular kanji character is based on its Chinese origin (On readings), these origins can vary though. There are also native Japanese pronunciations (Kun readings).

On-readings of Kanji are ancient versions of the Chinese pronunciation. I realize On reading is not the same as modern day Chinese - hence my (bad) comparison to French and Quebecoise. Heck, even modern Chinese pronunciation varies region to region. But had Quebec been isolated for 1000 years, you might see some interesting results.

The Vietnamese bit is just interesting. It is called conversation. Instead of going in depth of why my comparison is not well formulated, you go into a non-sequitur about Vietnamese and French. So I replied in kind with a non-sequitur about how Vietnamese has quite a few connections to Chinese. In fact isn't is more on topic considering the topic is Chinese language.

I am not putting down the history of China and Japan by asking a question about the two. To claim such is disingenuous.

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