In this travel book, Andreas Altmann describes his trip through Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam in 2004/2005. It is not possible to separate this work from the author. I've read another book by him and knew what to expect: He is very open and direct when condemning capitalism, mass tourism, most religions, people he considers hypocrites, and so on. I agree with him very often, but not always, and these passages can be a little annoying sometimes because he definitely comes across as a little full of himself.
Apart from that, this book was a joy to read. The writing is engaging and interesting. While there are no chapters, most passages are rather short, and it's easy to just read and read and get absorbed into the tale.
Altmann hardly visits tourist attractions, but tries to meet the local people as often as possible and writes about these encounters. Usually, he meets colorful characters such as writers, unconventional monks, taxi drivers who tell him stories, etc. Another part of the book describes how he travels to Phuket directly after the Tsunami as one of the first helpers.
There are also a lot of reflections on Buddhism (which I loved to read), as well as passages about the history of the countries, especially the Khmer Rouge and the Vietnam War. As these are always tied to the places the author visits, and the people he meets, they are always very interesting.
Most fascinating to me was to compare Altmann's descriptions of Cambodia with my own experiences of a trip that happened about twelve years later. I have no idea if it really changed so much in that time or if Altmann simply enjoyed painting such a bleak and horrid picture. Probably, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. ( )