The dinner menu at the Aspara had the usual interesting items such as 'Soap' and 'A Fried Monk' not to mention 'Chicken Amok'. The waiter couldn't tell me what amok meant, but I tried it and it turned out to be, not a crazy chicken running around with a cleaver, but chicken pieces in a soup made with coconut milk and lots of spices and coloured a kind of caterpillar-innards green that was very tasty.
Deciphering the menu is half the fun in this mysterious land only just now opening to tourists and travellers. Despite its horrific history, Lydia Laube finds that Cambodia is an ancient, beautiful country populated by friendly, generous people who like to ride motorbikes very fast around corners. Join Lydia, squashed into a taxi with nine or so others, for an unforgettable adventure in Asia.
Lydia Laube never says no to adventure, whether that means galloping a horse across the Mongolian plains or hopping on a cargo ship to Madagascar. Born into the farming community of Caltowie in the mid-north of South Australia, Lydia trained as a nurse in Adelaide, then set off to see the world. Her debut book,
Behind the Veil: An Australian nurse in Saudi Arabia, was an instant bestseller, and she has become one of Australia's favourite travel writers.
Read all of Lydia's travel adventures in chronological order (in pdf format):
Behind the Veil
The Long Way Home
Slow Boat to Mongolia
Bound for Vietnam
Llama for Lunch
Temples and Tuk Tuks
Is This the Way to Madagascar?
Lost in Laos
From Burma to Myanmar
