love taking risks, traveling in restricted areas, having that unique sense of discovering a place so exotic that it's almost like going to another planet. It is not only getting the photo which motivates me, but the whole experience of living in another culture with unbroken traditions stretching back to the beginning of recorded history.

The two countries I'm immersed in now are Cambodia and Myanmar (which Americans know as Burma). In the former, even though Angkor Wat is a World Heritage Site, the average person has never been exposed to its glorious architecture and Khmer art because the country has been ravaged by Civil War. Myanmar has been off-limits to most travelers because of a restrictive military dictatorship, ironically protecting a rich heritage from modern influences. Burmese culture is intricately interwoven with Buddhist thought, and the countryside is bejeweled with the glint of golden shrines.