What they had in common was youth, a simple look about them, an an apparent will to help without asking for anything in return. They were good-hearted Vietnamese, in our opinion, above any suspicion.

Or would you doubt the intentions of a monk inside a Buddhist temple?

Tana Toraja is a region of Indonesia where death is the greatest cause for celebration. To usher souls to the afterlife, the locals organize massive funerals that last days. And they sacrifice lots of buffalo on the way.

Click to watch video.

Ian Cumming is a big nerd. He’s also a passionate traveler. These two traits combined can only result in something happy.

I’m a fan of Travellr.com, the website that Cumming, an Aussie gent, co-founded. I use it almost every time when I’m going to a new place. I have a link to it on the front page of this blog.

It’s a questions-and-answers service devoted exclusively for travelers. Ask a question about a place and it will tap into its network of self-appointed experts to answer it.

You go to a new country and in a few days you can make a reliable generalization. These people, they are cranky. These others, they are outgoing and festive. Those there, shy and gentle.

Cambodians stumped me. One week in and I couldn’t condense the national psyche to any nugget worth its air.

I was in a country with fast-paced cities, mind-blowing architectural aesthetics (ever seen a Khmer pagoda?) and a proud heritage of a bygone empire. But the people were a total mystery.

When selling bootleg books didn’t work, the boy turned to begging for food. He looked 12 and was still perfecting his pity pitch.

After four days in Siem Reap (and another week in Sihanoukville), I got used to saying no to child sellers and beggars. I read enough articles to know giving them money does more harm than good:

Coming from the country of soccer is wonderful. From Zimbabwe to Vanuatu, you can be sure that your nationality will be instantly recognized – even loved – by the people you talk to. And that admiration will be instantly transferred to you.

Coming from the country of soccer is horrible. Especially if the wounds of defeat are still gushing blood. Or if, like me, you understand piddles about sport.

In one of the least-traveled islands of Papua New Guinea, you can find virginal beaches, expert-grade diving and surfing, back-flip into an emerald river, and feed a class of friendly eels.

A raw, challenging bush hike that (almost) anyone can do.

The Highlands of PNG is the farming heartland of the country, where produce is grown and flown to the coastal zones.

Here’s a quick look at how Highlanders grow and prepare their food.

And so life ordained that our stay in the inhospitable city of Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea would be associated (and spiced up) by a host without peer: Rob Sajko.