Published 2004
★★★
Laube managed quite a writing career for herself, spinning her far-flung holidays into travelogue after travelogue. I read Behind the Veil (in which she took a temporary job in Saudi Arabia) some time ago, and I was curious about Temples & Tuk Tuks because I've found so little travel literature covering Cambodia.
The energy is good here, but on the whole I think I would have preferred this—and would be more likely to continue with Laube's books—had Laube been living and working in the countries (in this case Cambodia) she visited rather than just visiting; as far as I can tell, Saudi Arabia is the only country for which that was the case. Because Laube was here and there and all over the place in Cambodia, that makes it hard to get to know individual characters and their stories; instead, a large amount of the book's real estate is dedicated to descriptions of the guest houses she stayed in and meals she ate. And that's...fine...but not really where the stories I'm interested in are.
If there's anyone out there going from country to country as a travelling nurse...please go find yourself a publisher, because I'd read the hell out of that memoir series.
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