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Ho Chi Min city/Saigon. An absolute cacophonous riot of a place. Really enjoyed it - full of life and energy. I did a fabulous scooter tour one evening, eating too much and seeing parts of the city outside the tourist zone. Went to the war museum - an incredible presentation of war correspondent pictures and a very confronting and necessary view of the USA’s actions in the war with the bombing campaign and chemical warfare. Also the reunification palace - one of the best modernist buildings I’ve been in I think. Mekong Delta. Behind the happy and welcoming smiles in Cambodia is obviously a deep, ongoing and unreconciked trauma from the Khmer Rouge days. We visited S21, one of the most notorious prisons in PP, from which only 7 adults and 4 children survived. Some 20,000 people died there in 3 years, either starved, tortured to death or taken to the killing fields and murdered. The women the photos you see were Khmer soldiers. Brainwashed as children. We had a talk by one of the survivors and it’s a truly awful awful tale. Phnom Penh and the final villages before crossing to Vietnam. Cambodia is thoroughly delightful. Come visit. I had to share some more temple shots - I heard about another of the major temples, Banteay Srei, or Temple of the Ladies, on the Empire podcast where the host described it as the most perfect little jewel box of a temple. You can’t believe it’s over a 1000 years old - the carving is so perfectly formed and detailed. I also went to Beng Melea, which is a temple in the jungle that has not been restored in any way, so it is covered in trees, vines and moss - a very atmospheric place. And I also took a bike, cycled round Angkor Wat and took more photos. It’s wedding season here, so there are lovely couples everywhere getting their wedding shots taken so I couldn’t resist capturing one of them. Cambodian life. I’ve moved from the city of Siem Reap to cruising Tonle Sap lake and river, which joins the Mekong at Phnom Penh. During the wet season and early dry, the water flowing down the Mekong is of such force it flows back up into the Tonle Sap, I believe it’s the only river in the world that flows in two directions. There are 170 off floating villages around the edges that once the water disappears will be resting on silt or marshland. A lot of the villagers live a very hand to mouth existence, the size of their family dictates how much land they can lease, so growing rice and vege and catching fish for the family is pretty tough work. It seems everyone is trying hard to get their kids into schools to get better jobs - but that means one family we met, the wife is in Phnom Penh working, and will only see her daughter once a year. They work hard at being cheerful, happy and resilient and have been delightful to meet. It’s a great place to visit and to create a real sense of gratitude for what we have in the west and not be so miserable by what we do not. Cambodia. Pretty fucking cool. More to follow once I’ve absorbed a bit more - but I love this place. Ah Asia, how I’ve missed you, with all your chaos, crowds and beautiful people. I have had the honour of visiting the Philippines a lot for work over the past ~7 years, but I think the last time I had a proper exploring holiday here may have been 2015 in Vietnam, or maybe Bali and Lombok after that. It’s certainly a long time since I’ve been able to free range in a big Asian city like Bangkok as the lovely Kevin from company security would have had a conniption if you tried it too much in Manila. Perching on a plastic stool in a crowded market stuffing my gob with dumplings and fried seafood, cold local beer in hand makes me feel like I’m in my 20s again when I loved in Kuala Lumpur for a couple of years. So good!! Really enjoying the architecture and vibe of Helsinki. Not much daylight to be had, but good wandering was had. The capital was moved here by the Russians when they won this territory from Sweden circa 1805, so most of the buildings are neo-classical from the 1800s or a real mix of turn of century art deco/soviet looking constructivist/modernist stuff. People seem nice too.

Photo Gallery

  • Wildflowers, Flinders Ranges, SA
Wildflowers, Flinders Ranges, SA
Wildflowers, Flinders Ranges, SA
La Dolce Vita, Amalfi
Shopping, Amalfi
Holy Week, Grenada, Spain
Valetta, Malta