Walter Mason

67/2021. Destination Cambodia, by Walter Mason, is a travel book written by an Australian who clearly, despite his protestations, is very fond of Cambodia and its people. This is a true travel book about the author and his journeys and encounters, and he attempts to be honest about the personal lenses through which he sees the country and its people (which is, frankly a relief after all the posturing and pretence from wannabe Great Explorers or Great Writers in the travel genre). Mason doesn't try to be a news journalist or a historian and he assumes anyone interested enough in Cambodia to read his book already knows the basics about the existence of Angkor Wat, which historians are still arguing about anyway, and the horrors of Khmer Rouge rule. He doesn't waste space on ahistorical guesses or exploitative and voyeuristic disaster porn. He's more interested in explicable everyday mysteries such as why ordinary Cambodians have so many sim cards for their phone(s), which he knows enough about to commentate on. The prose is readable and Mason strings his incidental anecdotes together smoothly. Solid personal travelogue writing.… (mere)