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The Kingdom of Cambodia , formerly known as Kampuchea is a country in South East Asia with a population of over 14 million people. The kingdom’s capital and largest city is Phnom Penh.
A citizen of Cambodia is usually identified as “Cambodian” or “Khmer,” though the latter strictly refers to ethnic Khmers. Most Cambodians are Theravada Buddhists of Khmer extraction, but the country also has a substantial number of predominantly Muslim Cham, as well as ethnic Chinese, Vietnamese and small animist hill tribes.
The country borders Thailand to its west and northwest, Laos to its northeast, and Vietnam to its east and southeast.
Source
- Kyvong-Luang Prabang
Video by Boon Vong, frame by frame movie using a DSLR: 2008 Boat Race in Luang Prabang, Laos. Also visit his website for beautiful photos of his recent trip to Laos.
- Happy Days
When I visited giiid’s blog this morning, it’s nice to see that they also use bicycle as transportation, with the high price of gas, I wish I could ride a bicycle here also, but our road is not made for bicycle since we have very few bicycle lane in our area, there is none to get to my work place. So not surprise that her city, Copenhagen, Denmark is number 3 most friendly cities in the world for bikers, below is a photo from her post Copenhagen pigeons.
Copenhagen photo by giiid at my2008blog.wordpress.com
Of course the city that takes the number one spot is where Darly lives, well, not in the same city, but in Amsterdam, which is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands. Below is a photo from her post City of Bikes.
City of Bikes photo by Darly at Saolao.net
I’m kind of surprised that China didn’t make it on the list, might be because the list is for the “most bike friendly’ and not the ‘most bicycle population’ because China has the most population in the world, followed by India, then the United States. As for bicycle in China, According to the Earth Policy Institute, a Washington-based environmental think tank, of the 130 million bikes manufactured worldwide last year, China made 90 million and exported two-thirds of them. About 9 in 10 bikes bought by Americans are made in China, read the rest of the article Bicycles a mainstay in China.
This is an interesting read, here are the 11 Most Bike Friendly Cities in the World
Biking is a great way to become intimate with a city and get exercise at the same time. There are many amazing cities for biking throughout the world - these gems allow you to explore the city at ease and safely. The 11 most accessible and bike friendly cities are listed below, but these are merely a sampling of the bike friendly paradises that exist throughout the world. (Please scroll to the end of the article for a look at the factors that went into determining this list.)
1. Amsterdam, Netherlands
Amsterdam, a.k.a. the bike capital of the world, has 40% of all traffic movements by bicycle. They have created a bicycle friendly city that promotes a healthier, more active lifestyle for its residents. An extensive network of safe, fast and comfortable bicycle routes has been developed, the road safety of cyclists has been increased, a
theft-prevention program was set up as well as the number of bicycle sheds increased.
Amsterdam is undertaking an ambitious capital-improvement program that includes building a 10,000-bike parking garage at the main train station.
Highlights: Designated street lanes and traffic signals. Bicycle safety concerns. Biking is core to its transportation infrastructure. Rent public bicycles. Underground sheds and outside racks, which hold thousands of bikes under guard. Large bicycle culture.
2. Portland, Oregon, USA
Portland has a varied bicycle network that connects all parts of the city. This network has proven successful in dramatically increasing bicycle use. Portland also has a strong bicycle culture where all types of cyclists can find opportunities to enjoy riding a bicycle. Portland’s Create-a-Commuter program is the first project in the United States that provides low-income adults with commuter bicycles as well as a session on commuter safety. The bikes come outfitted with lights, a lock, a helmet, a pump, tool kits, maps and rainwear.
Portland’s bicycle network has grown from 60 to 260 miles since the early 1990s. Bicycle use has quadrupled over the same period without any increase in crashes. The city still has 38 miles of bike lanes left in order to achieve its master plan. But in some neighborhoods bike commuters are as high as 9%.
Highlights: Extensive on/off road trails, designated street lanes, and traffic signals. Bicycle culture with Community Cycling Center that offers education and encouragement.
3. Copenhagen, Denmark
The city with the sixth-highest quality of life in the world is also home to the world’s most successful community bicycle program. In Denmark practically everybody has a bike, and for many years Copenhagen has been known as ‘the city of bikes’. The city of Copenhagen plans to double its spending on biking infrastructure over the next three years.
Currently 32% of workers bicycle to work and 50 percent say they cycle to work because it is fast and easy. The city’s bicycle paths are extensive and well-used. Bicycle paths are often separated from the main traffic lanes and sometimes have their own signal systems. Already one city neighborhood, the notorious commune Christiania, is completely car-free.
The city provides public bicycles which can be found throughout the downtown area and used with a returnable deposit of 20 kroner, your money is refunded when you return the bike to one of many racks.
Highlights: Free public bicycles. Streets with dedicated lanes, paths and routes that are either clearly marked or separated from vehicular traffic by curbs. Bike paths and other bike-friendly facilities are a part of the planning of every new or rebuilt road. Large bicycle culture.
- Cycling in Laos
Video and Description by Dennis Koomen: Video of our cycling trip in Laos. It is part of our 2 years around the world cycling trip.
Video and description by Simon Sticker: A film of a journey through what is maybe the coolest little country in the world. From the Capital Vientiane to the far north, to the remote hill tribes of Luang Nam Tha.
Bangkok Talk takes the same boat tour which the Dutch crown prince and his wife made during their royal visit in Thailand.
Prince Willem Alexander and his wife Maxima were one of the many royal quest of the Thai king Bhumibol in June 2006.
- Cheers (Full Version)
NYC was the first State that we lived, we were sponsored by a Chinese Christian Church, and here I am still a Buddhist. I grew up in Brooklyn and Queens, but spent most of my weekends, and went to school in Manhattan, so the city will always hold a special place in my heart. You might wonder as to why I’m not living there right now.
Where I live is not entirely up to me, if it is, then I’d be living in CA right now (might not be able to afford to live there, but that’s another story,) that was the plan after I finished with schooling, but here I am living in the Southeastern part of the United States. Where I live is influenced by my parents, I moved here because of them, they can’t speak English well, and this is where they want to live, and since my mom passed, I still have my dad to consider, and it’s easier for me to convince myself that I’m happier here, than to convince my dad that we need to move elsewhere, the way I see it is that CA is not going anywhere, I can visit the city anytime I want, but my parents will not be here with me forever, take my mom for instance, she passed away January 2007. This might not be the American way of looking at things, but who said that I’m very Americanized, and this is definitely an Asian way of viewing things, but if nothing else, it’s my way of viewing it.
As I’ve mentioned in my earlier post, I still have three sisters living in Queens, and one in Upstate NY, so it still feels like home to me. I do have to say that the city is very attractive to young people, there is so much to do, places to see. My nephew moved to NYC after he graduated from high school, he is currently in school, and also working, and very happy here. He has friends that want to move to NYC, but I think it’s harder to adjust to the city if you don’t have any family, one thing is that housing is very expensive, a small studio is about $1,000/monthly (not in Manhattan), hard to find a roommate since it’s very small, might be only 350-400 SF of living space, other than that, it’s great here.
Above is the Empire State Building, a view from Brooklyn Bridge, and below is a close up view at 34th Street.
My oldest sister told me that one of the best views of the city is from Brooklyn Bridge, and she said that we have to walk pass half, to the Brooklyn side to be able to see the nice view. I wanted to see what she was talking about, and not that I never walked on this bridge before. When I was little, my second sister took us to take picture there several times, but all we did was walked up to the bridge, and when we could see the view of the city in the background, we started taking pictures, and that was about as far as we went.
At this time, my legs felt like they were about to fall off, we walked from Ground Zero to South Street Seaport.
Then to Brooklyn Bridge (It seems like I’m in such a bad shape, but my legs were hurting me before I went to NYC, it might have been that I stood so much to make spring rolls that week and the week before, and by the end of the week, I was worn out, I made over 400 spring rolls.)
I pushed myself, and it is as if I were hiking up the hill, and when I reached half way, the view is amazing.
I have four sisters that live in New York, and three live in Queens, and this visit I stayed with my third sister that lives in Jamaica, Queens. Her family live in a town home; her husband is the one with the freak car accident, and he is doing much better now. She is the one that I wrote about the crying carpet, so I’m a bit curious to see for myself of what it looks like. She bought her house over 20 years ago at a very good price, and now it has more than quadrupled of what she had paid. She renovated her front yard, the kitchen, and bathroom several years back, so everything is in mint condition.
I also posted this bottom portion for Laovoices readers. I think Chinatown is not what it used to be, since 911 many restaurants and small businesses folded, if you never lived in the area, you would not know the difference because it appears that it’s still bustling, and crowded as ever.
My old computer is 8 years old; the last batch of photos took me forever to process, and I was concerned with my next batch, in the back of my mind, I kept thinking that I had to delete some of the old photos, unused softwares, or upgrading the computer in hoping that it’d last me another year, I do have to admit that I used it a lot for blogging and researches.
But things happened for a reason, when I got back from NYC, I knew that my old computer wouldn’t be able to handle the new set of photos that I took, and to my surprised, it wouldn’t turn back on, and when it finally did, it kept cutting off. I knew then that it was time for me to buy a new computer. I order a new computer from Dell on Monday, but will not get it until the end of next week, so I’m blogging on borrow time, no telling when this will shut down again.
My second sister called me one day last week to see if I wanted to go to NYC with them, my oldest sister is buying a co-op and wants us to see the place before making her final decision, it has been 2 years since I last visited, and I kind of missed the city. We drove all night, and got there early Friday morning, the view of the skyline is amazing. It was too dark for me to get a good shot, all I got is the picture of the highway, this was right before we got to my third sister’s house in Jamaica, Queens.
Even though I grew up in NYC, went to school in Manhattan, but every time I look at the skyline, I still find myself amazed of how beautiful it is, I can really picture myself living there again. My other place of choice would be California, I’m still daydreaming about visiting the city again, I was there when I was little for a short time.
My oldest sister new place looks amazing, we were a bit worried about her not finding a place because everything is so expensive, and she is very picky and wants one with a view, and not just any view, but the view of Manhattan. I think to get that, you’ve to pay $75,000 more just for the view, and sure enough, this place cost more because of this view.
It is on the 13th floor, and very typical of most places that they would skip that number, so the first floor of this building is called a lobby, and she will be on the 12th floor. The unit is in good condition, fairly new kitchen, all it needs is new paint, and she is ready to move in.
Created by Randy Reines, Jenny Williams: Our 2007 adventure through India, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.(Runtime: 47 Minutes)
Note from James Quilty: This is a trip to Thailand’s Phu Kradung - “Cowbell mountain” - a protected wildlife preserve in Northeast Thailand. Phu Kradung is a flat topped mountain of waterfalls, deep forests and savannas with wild elephants and raindeer that is only partially open to the public - it is also a very holy place to the Thais.
Video by Rafael. Pics from a trip up-river from Vientiane to Luang Prabang
Video by Rafael. Tribes of the North of Laos. Tribus del norte de Laos.
Video by v!Nc3sl4s, description: this is the video of our motorbike road trip from Hanoi to Sapa in northern Vietnam. We rode 680 km through some of the most beautiful sceneries of South East Asia. We lived with the inhabitants in traditional wooden houses and met the kindest people ever.
Video by Rafael
Video by Annemieke Knowles, a collage of travel photographer Hans Hendriksen’s work
It appears that Laos is gaining a lot of popularity amongst tourists, another great article in The New York Times: 36 hours in Luang Prabang, Laos (click here to read the article.) Below are photos of A Weekend in Luang Prabang, Laos.
While the tourist crowds are just starting to hit Laos, the beguiling ancient capital of Luang Prabang still feels as if it’s on the cusp of discovery. The night market, left, is beautifully art-directed — a red canvas canopy covers each vendor while rice paper lamps glow over Laos silk scarves and Hmong embroidery.
Locals sell their crafts along Sisavangvong, Luang Pragbang’s main walking street.
Mount Phousi — visible from most of Luang Prabang — provides an easy orientation to this compact city of roughly 30,000 people. Hike up the snaking, steep 328 steps — or 355, but who’s counting? — to reach the top.
“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” Buddha
Video by Annemieke Knowles, a collage of travel photographer Hans Hendriksen’s work, with Lao classical music by “Thiphakon”
Video by Annemieke Knowles, a collage of travel photographer Hans Hendriksen’s work
Video by Annemieke Knowles, a collage of travel photographer Hans Hendriksen’s work, with music by Yaad Sangeet
Video by Annemieke Knowles, a collage of travel photographer Hans Hendriksen’s work, with music by Urna Chahar-Tugchi
Video by Annemieke Knowles, a collage of travel photographer Hans Hendriksen’s work
Video by Annemieke Knowles, a collage of travel photography by Hans Hendriksen, with music by Flute Master, Wang Chun Jie
Where in the World is Matt Lauer? Where else, Laos (click) [to watch slide show on right hand side], TODAY’s Matt Lauer takes a quick tour of Vientiane, the historic capital of Laos, the latest stop on his 2008 “Where in the World is Matt Lauer?” tour. One of my co-workers learned a thing or two about Laos, actually it’s Lao, so she said, and the Today Show this morning is broadcasted from Laos, that is so cool.
The land of Laos: Affordable and undiscovered, by Peter Greenberg, TODAYShow.com contributor
Laos is a true magical mystery tour. Few Americans visit. Fewer understand it. However, more and more savvy travelers are slowly discovering this small country.
Not too long ago, Vietnam was like this — before diplomatic relations with the U.S. were restored in the 1990s. The same could be said for Cambodia. Both Vietnam and Cambodia have recently exploded as tourist destinations.
And now it’s this former kingdom’s time to enter as a preferred destination in Asia. Ten years ago it was a backwater country, still trying to recover from its own 1975 revolution which ended a 600 year-old monarchy.
The government — slowly but surely — has opened the doors to the outside world. And the world is curious to see what is there.
Laos is a landlocked country between Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Burma and China. It’s lifeline is the Mekong River, which forms a large part of Laos’ western border with Thailand. Centuries ago, it was the Kingdom of Lan Xang, or Land of a Million Elephants.
On the surface, little has changed. Laos is still a farming country specializing in rice. The official language is Lao, but English is widely understood in the cities.
The best part about traveling to Laos is that it’s affordable, but not overrun with tourists. But word has spread about Luang Prabang “the Shangri-La of Southeast Asia,” so it’s more developed and filled with backpackers and vacationers. This 700-year-old town can get very crowded, and it is quickly transforming into a more structured, organized tourist destination. But not all travelers make it to the current capital city of Vientiane; southern Laos is practically undiscovered so you’ll find even fewer crowds and better deals in places like Pakse. Read the rest of article and to watch videos here. Darly also uploaded all the clips at Laovoices.com.
Screen shots updated 5/1/2008:
High Definition videos of Luang Prabang, Laos by James Quilty at Vimeo.
- Mee and Tho’s Luang Prabang
Mee and Tho are children who live on the other side of the Mekong river from Luang Prabang, the ancient capital of Laos. Each day they cross it to sell trinkets to the tourists and help their family in the markets. We met them at a museum devoted to traditional Lao houses where they and their friends hang out and attend art classes on weekends. Mee and Tho offered to show us their Luang Prabang. This is the first of a three part series. The traditional music is from the album “Music of Laos: the Buddhist Tradition.”
- Mee and Tho’s Luang Prabang - The Mekong
On the second day Mee and Tho show us the morning market and we take a journey along the Mekong to see the Buddha caves and the waterfalls. We end the day watching the semi-annual boat races. This is the second of a three part series. The traditional music is from the album “Music of Laos: the Buddhist Tradition.”
- Mee and Tho’s Luang Prabang - Almsgiving
On the final day of our trip to Luang Prabang, Yui and I cross the Mekong to visit Mee and Tho’s villiage, Ban Xiangmen. We participate in the almsgiving to the local monks and meet with the senior monk who shows us the ancient temples Wat Chom Pet and Wat Long Khon. Ban Xiangmen is almost as rich with history and architectural beauty as Luang Prabang. This is the third of a three part series. The traditional music is from the album “Vision of the Orient - Music from Laos”
Updated Photos 5/1/2008:
Wat in the last clip at 4:43 with the animal in question (Screen shot 1) that the Thai interpreter claimed that it is a symbol that Laos was once ruled by Thai King, which I don’t believe it is the case. In Buddhist iconography, we find the lions (Singhto) in their role of dharma protectors supporting the throne of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas. They are also found at the entrance of the monasteries and shrines. I think the lions here are symbolic of the bodhisattvas, the “sons of the Buddha” or “Buddha’s lions” holds true here, and not the sign of Thai King. See full explanation in comment, below are screen shots, and photos by James Quilty at Flickr.
Screen shot 1:
Screen shot 2:
You can visit his blog at Notes From Thailand, and I also added him to my blogroll for future visit.
I posted 2 posts at Laovoices.com using the new release version of WordPress 2.5 and it’s totally new from what I’m used to. I can’t seem to find my way around, and it’s like moving into a new house. I was hoping that we would not get the new version since we’ve the free version of WordPress, but I guess I was wrong, it is available for us today. So this is a random post of testing the new features…taking you to Luang Prabang, Laos.
- Kyvong-Luang Prabang
A flower on a Buddhist grave in Wat That in Luang Prabang, Laos photo by Adam Cathro.
- Bounkham - Siang Khene Lao
Memories of Laos video takes us to various parts of Laos… Vientiane City Tour: The famous and sacred structure of That Luang Stupa, Patuxay Monument, which is well known as Vientiane’s own Arc de Triumph. The Vientiane Central Market of Talad Sao where the Laotians and tourists shop for textiles, Lao sinh and souvenirs. The former royal temple of Wat Prakeo previously housed the famous Emerald Buddha Image. The oldest Wat Sisaket with thousands of miniature Buddha statues. Vientiane City Tour to the village area to see peaceful Mekong River and how the Laotians lead their daily lives. Visit Ban Sikhaitha and Ban Lao (Lao Traditional house), infrastructure constructed purely by wood.
Then heading out of the city to Vang Vieng, along journey, enjoy beautiful traditional villages along the road, sightseeing around Vang Vieng.
Greatest thing about the video, memories can be shared. Enjoy.
Video embedding is disabled; please click here to watch Memories of Laos
Laos Water Buffalo, Southeast Asia, 1968, this was taken almost 40 years ago, photograph by Wilbur E. Garrett.
A herd of water buffalo charges down a dirt road in rural Laos. In Laos, one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia, domesticated water buffalo are used for their meat, hides, and milk, and also for plowing and transportation.
(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, “The Mekong: River of Terror and Hope,” December 1968, National Geographic magazine) Source.
In 1975 the communist took over Laos, hundreds of thousands of Laotians fled our homeland as refugees to our neighboring countries, one being Thailand, and then immigrated to various parts of the world. As I recalled while living at the Camp in Thailand before coming to the US, my parents and others had to answer a series of questions as to their profession whilst living in Laos, and of course as we all know that Laos is a predominately majority agriculture country therefore many are farmers. As farmers, one had to own water buffalo(es) for plowing the land for farming, and one of the questions that were asked was, ‘How many teeth does a water buffalo have on top and bottom?’ I think it doesn’t take a genius to answer this question, but it does take a real farmer because most of us don’t pay much attention to water buffaloes even when they’re smiling at us.
Laos water buffalo photo by Solene and Kevin
See what I’m talking about, of course those that lied about being farmers didn’t pass and this delayed their getting acceptance to the US, and other counties as well. Most people just assumed that water buffaloes have a full set of teeth on top and bottom, but the ones in Laos’s only have teeth on the bottom, please correct me if yours have teeth on top 
.
Laos buffalo photo by Natmanda.
Gung Hay Fat Choy, Happy Chinese New Year…May Prosperity Be With You.
Chinese New Year is just a couple of days away; this year is February 7, 2008. It is the year of the Rat, the Rat is the first sign of the zodiac, as Rat people are creative problem solver, imaginative, hyperactive worker respected for its resourcefulness; intuitive with ability in acquiring and holding on to things it values. If you are curious about other animals, and see what your birth animal sign will bring in 2008, you can read Chinese animal predictions 2008 by Michael Hanna, a Feng Shui master.
According to Michael, Chinese astrology is not like western astrology. The whole idea of it is to be informed of what may come and how you can apply cures and enhancers to avoid potential problems and having the information in advance, you can avoid many of the problems that are forecasted. The information will also assist you to be prepared and to make informed decisions that may affect your wellbeing and endeavors. It is important that you know when and how to avoid the bad influences during the year… you will come across websites or other Practitioners who will predict all sorts of doom and gloom for a certain animal in any year, please take this with a pinch of salt and enjoy a great 2008.
I think what I miss most during this time of the year is Chinatown New York, when I lived there, I used to go see the parade, following them from store to store, firecrackers made lots of noise but it was loads of fun. I found some photos of Chinese New Year Parade 2006 in Chinatown New York taken by Emin New York that brought back many of my childhood memories growing up in NYC.
Continued from Part I
This is a translated article from Koosang Koosom Magazine, written by Dek Doi Hongk 5 written in Thai Language, translated by Ginger.
Some days I would go to the farm with my parents to help out. I came from a family of farmers, and we raised fruit crops, such as mangoes, maakhram (tamarine), papaya, lynchee, lumyai (longan fruit), chumpoh (java apple), and the latest that my dad is planting are citrus trees which my dad has some help from his older brother.
My mom grew mostly vegetables, she organically grew hers, so she had many people that would come directly to our farm to buy and her prices are very reasonable, cheap you might even say. We never had to buy fruit or vegetables.
This is a translated article from Koosang Koosom Magazine, written by Dek Doi Hongk 5 written in Thai Language, translated by Ginger.
I live in Mae Fah Luang of Mueang Chiang Rai, Thailand. I’m one of the hill tribes’ people. Our village is very small; we live on high land that is approximately 60 kilometers from Chiang Rai.
As for our village, my grandfather was one of the founders, during that time, they escaped the war from Laos, shortly after that people started to migrate and joined the village. Currently, there are about 200 families living in our village, we are Pow Yout, or also known as Mien.
Music by Maria Taylor - A Good Start
I used to think that if you have a computer and Internet connection, you can travel anywhere in the world, that’s still hold true to certain extent, but the satisfaction of being there is not the same. I envious those that can just pack their bags and go wherever they want. I’ve gone on vacations all the time but somehow it did not feel like I was traveling, I’m not sure if it’s because it’s not the place that I long to be. My mom wanted to go back to Thailand, she spoke about it until the very end, and it was an empty promised on our part, a trip of a lifetime for her, I hope she is there in spirit right now. Life is too short, if there’s a place that you want to visit, don’t wait until it’s too late, I regret that I never have the chance and opportunity to take my mom back to Thailand.
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