Cambodia

One of my favorite things to do on Sunday mornings is hunker down with the newspaper, especially the comics and the crossword (my roommates and I have perfected a system for finishing it in less than an hour ... which sounds like a long time, unless you are like me and actually attempt to finish it by yourself, something I have accomplished about twice in my life). I highly enjoy methodically going through the coupons and supermarket circulars. I also love to read the travel section, a fact imminently more important to this blog than the thrill I derive from snipping coupons. I wonder how the journalists can actually make places like Detroit sound interesting instead of extremely dangerous (um, 8 Mile, anyone?), and if I could ever do the same.

The New York Times has an amazing travel section, going places all over the globe, and today's edition was no different. I'm linking to an absolutely fantastic article on Cambodia 's exploding tourism industry. A good friend of mine is Cambodian; her parents escaped to the United States during the late 70s. She was recently able to return and visit relatives she had never met and is constantly talking up the beauty of Cambodia.

Why Is Everybody Going to Cambodia?

Currently, I am in the planning stages of a trip to Asia and Australia, which will hopefully begin in December (and end whenever my money runs out). This article by Matt Gross not only reinforces the country's alluring appeal, but is extremely well-written. It links the history of the country and the author's modern-day impression of Cambodia, a feat not easily replicated. Reading articles like this is right up there with cutting coupons, in my ever-so-humble opinion.