Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, is as fascinating and steeped in history as it is chaotic, and is now just picking up the pieces from its disastrous history over the last few decades.

Narrow, potholed back streets run off frantic roundabouts and wide European-style boulevards, a mark of the French who ran the country from 1864 to the 1950s. Driving becomes a game of scooter dodgems with the added diversion of finding the two-wheeler most loaded down. At last count, the winner was eight people — and a cow.

But as this New Zealand Herald story reports, from the regal Royal Palace (still the King’s residence) to the heart wrenching Tuol Sleng Museum (which chronicles the horrors of the Khmer Rouge), there is plenty to see in Phnom Penh.

Allright, perhaps not the best places to travel with the greenback, but at least the places that are far more affordable now than they were a year ago when your Benjamins were worth their worst, as listed by Forbes (whose basement dwelling number-crunchers looked at all countries where the USD gained 15% over the past year and figured out where the dollar now goes the furthest and where cheap flights can still be had).

Hungary comes in at number one, with the dollar gaining 30% and airfare coming in under $600; Sweden and Poland came in at number two and three respectively with the dollar gaining 31% in Sweden and a whopping 50% in Poland (airfare around $700 each). For the full list of 15 click through here.

The Guardian’s posted this great video about the best places for street food in Istanbul. Check out the fish sandwiches served from the “sultan boats” near the golden horn at 4:46. Not recommended for those with weak stomachs.

• L.A. to Tokyo for $473 (including taxes!) with Singapore Airlines (!). I mean not only is it a great price, you’re flying one of the best airlines in the world. Hello, Singapore Air, I’m always talking you guys up, when you gonna throw me some free tix my way? How about at least a tote bag?

• NYC to Lima for $473; Miami to Lima for $283 (plus tax). Good news in light of the discovery of another Inca road leading to Machu Picchu.

• New York to Moscow for $459; Charlotte to Paris for $596. And you’re going to need the extra cash, especially if you’re visiting Moscow, consistently one of the world’s most expensive cities. Can you say hostel?

I know I’ve written about this topic quite a bit in the past, so it’s always good to see others reinforcing my views (as they should, of course). Mary, over at The Lost Girls, has listed her own five reasons why you should travel alone.

Beside the somewhat selfish reasons we think but don’t necessarily tell others (get to do what you want, when you want to; the chance to spend some time away from everyone you know), my favorite is #3: Meet New People Constantly.

It’s true. Think you’re shy, reclusive, bad at meeting new people, or have no interest in making random friends? Try plopping yourself 5,000 miles away from home without knowing a soul and I guarantee you’ll be striking up conversations with everyone from the panhandler on the corner to that 80-year-old backpacker from Austria who naps in the hostel lounge. Probably not happening when your buddy from back home is constantly by your side.

With over 21 public reserves within its borders (not to mention the scores of others located in bordering Mozambique and Botswana), safariing in South Africa can be both accessible and affordable, you just need to know where to go.

The Sydney Morning Herald names their three top spots for game-watching and nature-gawking on the cheap.

1) Kruger: Home to the Big Five, Kruger is by far the country’s biggest park and has 12 camps spread about for you to crash in after a long day of hippo-watching. (That should be their motto, what do you think?)

2) Addo Elephant National Park: One of the only parks in the country where you have the chance to glimpse southern right whales and great white sharks, tents can be had in this Eastern Cape preserve.

3) Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park: Emsbok (a big desert antelope) can be seen in this park located in the Kalahari; cabins running on solar energy are only natural in this desert outpost.

Who needs scuba gear, diving experience, or for that matter, oxygen, when you can freedive in the “diving mecca” of Ka Tao in the middle of the Gulf of Thailand? And as discovered in this Times piece, you too can be exploring the depths of the sea like an experienced pearl diver in as little as two days of practice during your trip. It also helps if you’re experienced with the ways of yoga and meditation — two requirements usually not asked when signing up for scuba lessons — so as to help regulate breathing.

“By the end of the two-day course, I was comfortable at 20 metres, a depth that had sounded inconceivable 48 hours earlier. Plus, I was able to dive Ko Tao’s newest underwater site. A boat had recently sunk — without casualty, thankfully — creating a modern wreck around which a kaleidoscope of tropical sea life was investigating.”

This week the NYT drops by what’s got to be near the top of any list of things to see while visiting Madrid: the newly reopened Mercado San Miguel, the city’s mecca for food junkies and people watchers, as well as a top destination for travelers hoping to join in on a tradition since 1916.

Home to 33 vendors ranging from fresh fruit to tapas, the market stays open until 2 a.m. from Thursday through Saturday for the notoriously late Spanish diners. As if you were going to be sleeping at 1 a.m. in Madrid anyway.

Follow Christina on her 62-kilometer trek through the hills of central Myanmar, the country formerly known as Burma.

By Christina Koukkos

The bus from Yangon (also known as Rangoon) crawled away in a swirl of dust and exhaust, leaving Marjan and me standing alone and delirious from lack of sleep on a dark street at 3 a.m. The bus had delivered us to Kalaw, a popular trekking base in Myanmar, three hours early. After just two days, the country was already living up to its oft-repeated comparison with George Orwell’s “1984.” In Myanmar, up is down. Left could be left, or it could be right — the steering wheels of local vehicles, we had noticed, might be on side one or the other. And now the most outrageous evidence so far: a public bus that arrived three hours ahead of schedule.

Marjan, my travel companion, held the flashlight as I squinted at the map in our guide book and led us the few blocks to the Golden Lilly Guest House. Beyond our most immediate need of a place to sleep, our plan was to hire Lilly’s brother Robin, a well-regarded local guide, for a three-day, 62-kilometer trek through the hills from Kalaw to the western shore of Inle Lake. Besides the physical challenge, lovely vistas and chance to interact with local villagers, the trek promised a respite from the tension and paranoia (real or imagined) that we were constantly being monitored by a government suspicious of independent travelers. More practically, the trek promised a transportation option that did not feature the organ-jarring discomforts of bus travel. (more…)

The Chicago Tribune shook down a travel expert from American Express and uncovered ten dirty little secrets to getting deals from the airlines. Some highlights:

• Ever flown first-class? Me neither, but there are plenty of ways to do so without paying more. Last-minute tickets (especially international) as well as booking through travel agents are a couple ways where you won’t pay a penny more for the upgrade.

• Book over the holidays and save up to 20%. I guess the airlines are in a festive mood? Or they’re just trying to make up for the inevitable drop in sales post-holiday.

• Check out round-trip prices even if you’re flying one-way. Airlines hate booking one-way, so oftentimes you’ll slash the price by over half even if you’re not using the return ticket.

Open to the public since only 1974, the Ladakh region in the northernmost tip of India offers the rare chance for the seasoned hiker to trek amongst the world’s tallest peaks, at elevations ranging from 10,000 to 16,000 feet, as detailed in this article from the WSJ.

Just an hour flight from New Delhi, this region is now one of the last remaining areas in the Himalayas where travel is even possible, given the political strife in Pakistan, Tibet’s bureaucratic jungle, Bhutan’s high tariffs, and Nepal’s increasing social unrest.

As to what you’ll find: “Here are dramatic canyons with multicolored walls and villages unchanged for centuries. Many of the mountain-savvy inhabitants are willing to guide visitors safely through difficult terrain and weather. To talk with people who spend half the year in isolation, when villages are cut off by snow, is to meet people from another world.”

Something about travel videos sped up really does it for me. Perhaps especially suited for those with ADD?

Anyway, this video of Istanbul has some amazing shots. Be sure to check out the crazy fireworks show at 0:48.

But even not sped up, Greece still looks amazing. It’s hard to screw up Greece though, isn’t it? Where else in the world do you get sunsets like at 1:57?

• L.A. to Fiji for $365 each way this winter, not that anyone would have any interest going there in January. The only drawback? You have to live in L.A. to take advantage of this deal. (Oh no he didn’t!)

• San Francisco to Bangkok for $676. Despite the spelling error on the site (“Escape the busle (?) of the city to the island paradise of Phuket”), this is still a great deal.

• NYC to Rome for $455. It looks like this one’s through a travel agency, but don’t worry, there’s no actual tour involved. I would not do that to you.