joseph rosendos travelscope

Part two of Joseph's Mekong River journey through Cambodia and Vietnam finds him in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh where he embarks on a tuk-tuk tour of the city's highlights. He visits the royal palace with its stupas, pagodas and pavilions and pays homage to the country's spiritual heritage, as well as its colonial past. In local markets and restaurants where the fare can range from lobsters to tarantulas, he learns how, with the help of foreign NGOs, the country is recovering from its devastating Khmer Rouge history of war and ruin. Then Joseph follows the Mekong's flow into Vietnam where the Mekong River Delta spreads its seven arms across Southwest Vietnam. Here in the countryside towns, river villages and floating markets he experiences post-war Vietnamese life. As Joseph's Mekong River voyage ends he understands that after centuries of struggle, at the core of Cambodia and Vietnam's resurgence are their resilient people who have overcome the unimaginable time and time again and are now ready to greet the world with open arms.