Goodbye Siem Reap, Hello Bangkok

From mama pigs by the outhouse to skyscrapers, mega malls and an extensive subway system, I was not fully prepared for the culture shock I would feel transitioning from Cambodia to Thailand. And just when I had learned a few phrases in Khmer, I need to forget them all and try to learn some Thai. Sawasdee kha! 

To wrap Cambodia, thanks to all the work the teams did after we left, we were able to finish both houses and latrines and have blessing ceremonies that got the families off to a good start. Not only will their houses better protect them from the rain, they are solar powered so they have light and a fan inside. Cooking will happen downstairs and there is also a water filtration system. It's quite a change for both families. 

Saturday, the team went to Angkor Wat. It's not just the temple you've seen in all the photos, it's a complex of over 72 major temples. We started outside the gate to watch the sunrise then began our tour at the main temple before taking a break back at our hotel and visiting two more - including Ta Prohm, which many will recognize as the Tomb Raider temple. It was a wonderful way to wrap up my time in Cambodia. 

Now in Bangkok I have been navigating the subway system semi successfully and yesterday I went on a whirlwind tour of the Grand Palace, Wat Pho and Wat Arun. All stunning in their own ways. The Grand Palace houses the Emerald Buddha, which is very cool but photos aren't allowed. Wat Pho is where the famous reclining Buddha is. He is 150 feet long - that's half a football field! Amazing. And Wat Arun is another spectacular structure covered in people wearing rented traditional Thai outfits and having their photos taken. 

After all that I met my friend Matt for dinner and he showed me around his neighborhood. We met at work 27 years ago and after promising I would visit him in Thailand, I finally made it. 

Today I walked around a less touristy, more hipster neighborhood and I'm getting ready for a food tour of Chinatown. Then it's off to Chiang Mai. What a whirlwind.

As always, the photos are showing up most recent to oldest in a giant stack below. The first picture is a bit of a spoiler alert for the subway sign I took on the Bangkok train when I first arrived but still worth including!

Feel Good Friday - APOPO Revisited

Six years ago, I wrote a post about APOPO, not knowing that one day I’d have a chance to visit the APOPO Visitor Center in Siem Reap. That makes today a perfect time to revisit this organization.

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Morogoro, Tanzania, the mission of APOPO is "to develop detection animals technology to provide solutions for global problems in developing countries." They do this by training African giant pouched rats and technical survey dogs, nicknamed HeroRATs and HeroDOGs, to detect landmines and tuberculosis using their extraordinary sense of smell. 

Cambodia remains one of the most landmine-contaminated countries in the world, with an estimated 4 to 6 million mines and unexploded ordnance still buried in the soil. Since beginning operations there in 2014, APOPO has destroyed 8,008 landmines, 43,932 items of unexploded ordnance, and returned more than 73 million square meters of safe land to local communities.

These results are made possible by the speed and accuracy of the HeroRATs. The rats can detect the scent of explosives and search an area the size of a tennis court in just 30 minutes, a task that can take a human deminer with a metal detector up to four days. Each rat undergoes about a year of intensive training before being deployed to real minefields. In December 2025, 20 mine detection rats completed accreditation in Cambodia, increasing the team's capacity. 

Beyond landmine detection, APOPO has expanded into new lifesaving applications. HeroRATs now detect tuberculosis in Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Mozambique, identify wildlife trafficking products at commercial ports, and they're developing search and rescue capabilities for disaster response. 

APOPO has had a big impact in the communities they serve. They’ve destroyed more than 170,000 landmines and explosives globally and returned over 132 million square meters of safe land to communities, freeing more than 2.5 million people from the threat of explosives.

You can support APOPO in many ways. Adopt a HeroRAT to sponsor their training and work, make a donation, shop for merchandise, or visit the Visitor Center in Siem Reap. You can also amplify their message on social media by following APOPO on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or YouTube and share stories of these hero animals with your network.

Speed Building in Siem Reap

Can 15 people really build two houses in 4 days? You can if you've got an organized plan and friends in the neighborhood. 

I arrived in Siem Reap on Sunday and met up with the rest of the volunteer crew. We learned we'd be building houses for two young families under the supervision of the Volunteer Building Cambodia foremen. Our team started by tearing down the house one of the families was living in (the family on the right in the photo below). That only took 45 minutes and repeated shaking off the insects that were also living there and falling out as the walls and roof came down.

I spent most of the day painting my pants, shirt, hat, gloves and also some siding that will go on the house. There are only two VBC builders and the rest of the helpers are people in the neighborhood. Our favorites are a badass grandma and a man we have dubbed Paris Fashion Week because of his Coco Chanel bucket hat and sunglasses. After our crew leaves around noon, these people keep working to make sure we're on track for the 4 day schedule.

Day two started with a blessing before the ground breaking so that it would be a safe build for everyone. Too bad that didn't happen on day one when two of the volunteers had to go to the clinic - one for severe dehydration and the other to get 4 stitches in a cut on her arm. They are both okay now and it was an excellent scared straight way to remind us all to stay hydrated and be careful.

After the blessing, we raised the frame that was assembled while we were visiting the Hero Rats at APOPO. More on that coming up on Feel Good Friday. I spent the rest of the morning painting, varnishing shutters, and helping build scaffolding. It's all going very quickly and I can't wait to see what gone done after we left today.

We finished our day with a visit to the market and a cooking class where we made spring rolls, chicken amok and pumpkin custard inside pumpkins. All very delicious.

The photo dump is below. I'll add photos of me as I get them from other people. In the meantime, please enjoy the stylings of Paris Fashion Week.