Blinking Trees In Phnom Penh And Other Stories

I’ve been super lax on the blog front, mostly due to some pretty freakin’ awesome weather here in Zurich and the need for some R+R after my assignment in South East Asia.

Here are some highlights from our trip –

First of all, a beautiful blinking tree and girls and boys breakdancing on the riverfront in Phnom Penh – unfortunately I had missed their first performance which was absolutely perfect. They were gracious enough to repeat it for my iPhone camera (but obviously quite exhausted). The quality is bad but the kids are totally alright.

Then, meeting some backpackers along the way, some of them seemed a bit bewildered, asking questions like, “Is there an ATM at the Lao/Cambodia border?” (the correct answer is: no, because the border is basically just a shack in the middle of nowhere) and “what is the currency in Cambodia?” (it’s Riel, and do some eff-in’ research before you travel, dude.) Backpackers all over the world are an endless source of amusement for me.

Other highlights include witnessing a crazy monsoon storm on the Mekong – wow. I’ve hardly ever seen so much rain in such little time. Also, I noticed that everything slightly luxurious in Laos is called “VIP” – as in “VIP bus”, or food, or store or massage. Speaking of massages, there are massage parlors and spas everywhere – some of them have quite funky names, like “Mr Fish (make you happy and funny)” or “MC Massage Magical” (not really sure what the MC is standing for). I caved in and got my first manicure of my life which was also the worst manicure of my life.

I’m still sorting out the pictures and will upload a preview soon.

I recently completed portrait assignments for The Financial Times, Du Magazin and Nido. My next trip is to Japan on September 14th and I’m looking forward to spending some time here in Zurich. There are some other assignments in the pipeline that I am very excited for but can’t yet talk about. Stay tuned and enjoy the summertime.