For the last three weeks, I’ve been in kind of a daze. We raised the 13k we needed to build a school in Cambodia in the first week of Passports with Purpose. Working with bloggers, sponsors, PR folks, and a whole network of people that love to travel, we raised enough money to build a school in seven days! Then, in the two weeks that followed, we raised enough to give the kids that will attend the school a kitchen garden, a school nurse, and a clean water supply.… continued…
Photo: Cambodian land mine victims making music to raise money outside Angkor Wat
Nothing has quite cracked me open the way our trip to Cambodia earlier this year did. It wasn’t just the history, it was the present, too – the combination of such intense damage and such warm spirits.
Imagine this. We walk into a shop selling beautiful hand beaded crafts and are greeting with a hello that’s like singing and radiant smiles. But the song and the light aren’t at eye level.… continued…
I somehow ended up in Metblogs Seattle‘s “Blarch Bladness Tournament of Blogs” and though I was crushed in the first round, I pretended there were no hard feelings and went to the awards ceremony at Skylark, a place just off the West Seattle Bridge on Delridge. The nice folks from Metblogs provided snacks and conversation, we bought beer and ate some adequate bar food. To Monica@ The Big Blog, Mona @ Kirida, Tracy @ the unstoppable West Seattle Blog, Beth @ Glacier Holder (?), Carolyn @ Poke the Kitty, Dylan @ The Client and Server, and anyone else whose name I’ve forgotten, hey, it was nice to meet you all in person.… continued…
Early morning traffic, Angkor gate
In 1993, after Angkor was added to Unesco’s World Heritage List, just 7,650 intrepid visitors ventured to the site. Last year Sokimex, the oil company controversially granted the entrance concession on behalf of the government’s Apsara Angkor management, sold almost 900,000 tickets worth $25m (£12.8m), with British travellers making up the fourth biggest contingent behind South Koreans, Japanese and North Americans. Three million visitors are expected in 2010. –Guardian
Three million visitors!… continued…
