Hole In The Donut Travels

Some of my most enduring travel memories are inextricably linked with music. As I trekked a jungle trail connecting temples at the Angkor Wat complex in Cambodia, I happened upon a group of musicians performing traditional Khmer wedding songs. They sat or squatted on a crude raised wooden platform in front of exotic instruments, producing [...]

Between moving out of Sarasota and traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday, I have been somewhat silent for the past two weeks. But things are settling down now and I can’t think of a better reason to get back into the swing than to tell you about a wonderful charity effort being mounted by my fellow [...]

Music is one of the joys of traveling. In SE Asia I discovered Cambodian wedding songs. Hindu legends set to music charmed me in Bali. And music in Tanzania and Zanzibar was an amazing melange of drums, rhythm, and harmonizing voices. In years past, the only way to sample music around the world was to [...]

When I began this trip I decided I would select three words that best described each country I visited. Initially I was going to wait until the ed of the trip and compile them all into one post, but I have decided to do this immediately upon departing each country, as the reasons for [...]

My driver insisted that I do something special during the three-day Khmer New Year and suggested that I attend a performance of the traditional Khmer Apsara dance before leaving Cambodia. One of the mini themes developing during this journey is that I find myself attending cultural performances unique to each country. In Vietnam [...]

To my surprise I have discovered that Cambodia is very westernized, with many people speaking excellent English. Other than the occasional country person who still wears a traditional headdress, the clothing of the Khmer (Cambodians) is mostly western. The traffic is civilized. They have a good infrastructure, many modern conveniences, and their construction [...]

Little did I know when I arranged to visit Cambodia that I would be doing so during the Khmer New Year celebration. While the crowds at the temple ruins are bad on any day, the traffic during the New Year is truly horrendous, so I have concocted a plan to avoid the worst of the [...]

For a total of $34 US, I hired a tuk-tuk driver, who will be at my disposal for the next three days, carrying me back and forth between my modern, elegant hotel and the ancient temple ruins, located six kilometers north of town. Initially I thought the entire ruin complex was named Angkor Wat but [...]

I wanted to go to Cambodia for one reason only – to see the Angkor Wat Temple Ruins in Siem Reap. Reputed to be among the most beautiful ruins in the world, Angkor Wat has been discovered by tourists in the last few years and each day they descend upon the complex by the [...]