Farther Than Wisconsin: Cambodia and Laos, 1991
Twenty-seven visa application forms for the People's Democratic Republic of Laos are scattered on the floor of a Chicago apartment. An eight-year-old boy, born in a refugee camp in Thailand, stares out the window at the falling snow, then turns back to me.
"How far is it to Cambodia?" the boy asks.
"Oh, I don't know," I reply. "About ten thousand miles."
The boy ponders this for a moment. "Is that farther than Wisconsin?" he asks.
It was indeed farther than Wisconsin. The articles below describe just how far it really was.
Part One: Half the Fun, My Ass
Part Two: And Then, Things Stopped Going So Smoothly
Part Three: To Laos and Beyond
Part Four: In An Unhealed Land
Part Five: Into the Countryside
Part Six: Around Phnom Penh
Part Seven: To Svay Rieng
Part Eight: Relaxing Days, Very Quiet Nights
Part Nine: A Tale Ten Years in the Telling