Culture Earthquakes and Everything Inbetween

After an extremely exhausting 24+ hours, I've finally made it to Cambodia. To say there was a culture shock would be an understatement. Try culture earthquake. After twenty minutes in the country, I was loaded into a tuk tuk and taken on a whirlwind 40 minute journey through Phnom Penh. I spent the entire journey fearing for my life, with a death grip on the side of the tuk tuk.

Before I get onto my initial impressions of Phnom Penh, I'll backtrack to my initial impression of Asia when I got off the plane in Taipei. I felt like I entered another dimension. Images like the photo below greeted me at every corner.

Now fast forward to my initial impression of Southeast Asia. Flying in, it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.

Islands like this appeared out my window as we approached Vietnam. Do I know what they are? No, but damn they were neat. Update: With the help of Reddit I've learned that this is Penghu County, an offshore part of Taiwan!

As we flew over Vietnam and Cambodia, I could see the mighty Mekong in all its glory. Images like this greeting me as I flew over the country made me more excited to explore all its wonders. The next three months are going to be shocking, but amazing at the same time.

The heat and the humidity are unlike anything I've ever experienced. The moment I stepped off the plane it hit me and I started melting. I think it's safe to say Canadians have no idea what summer is.

I've been in Phnom Penh for two hours, but I can already coming to Cambodia was the best decision I've ever made. Coming in a close second ... packing Ziploc bags of toilet paper.