Two minutes ago, I went to swallow the last bit of tea in my cup when I felt a big morsel hit my lips. It must be a piece of bread, I thought. I looked and it was an overgrown fly with orange eyes and a green body.

I've been meaning to make this list for a while now:

Gross things I've done or encountered while traveling
(insects seem to be the theme here)

- Bed bugs in Cambodia. They look like a crossbreed of an earwig and a louse. They bite often and irritate the heck out of you. Krista was smart enough to identify one, then we found hundreds of them of varying sizes all throughout the bed. I caged one in a drinking glass and showed it to the hotel manager. We sought better lodging immediately.

- Dead rat the size of a cat (really) just outside my door in Bangkok.

- Barbecued rats and squirrel in Laos for sale in the market.

- Crickets for a snack. I ate some late one night in Bangkok.

- Sewer gas. Plumbers in Laos can help poop go down, but they can't keep the smell from coming back up.

- Cambodian fish mongers. Have they ever heard of keeping fish on ice or killing frogs before they skin them?

- Roasted tarantulas. Cambodians have a knack for grossing me out. This is a delicacy sold in many rural villages. Anywhere there's a landmine, there's sure to be a roasted tarantula for sale just a few yards away. If not, you can always buy some sun-dried fish.






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