Gigantic, scary cockroaches, that's what. I'm not saying they should keep you away, but those are the biggest damn cockroaches I've ever seen. I get all crawly just thinking about it.
Copyright © 2009 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.
I had a cousin that lived for several years in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. The advice she gave visitors, if they had to get up for any reason during the night, was to turn on the light and then stay on the bed, with their eyes closed, for a good solid 5 minutes. She said "you don't want to see what's on your floor at night". Those tropical climates....
I lived for 3 years in Panama. Granted it is not the South Pacific or Asia, but it is on the equator and is a tropical climate. Subject to many of the same unique experiences. Such as insects big enough to turn their heads and look at you as if they are trying to make a decision on what they are going to do about you.
I personally found using a mixture of powdered sugar and boric acid to be quite effective. It is relatively harmless and easily attainable. It works by disrupting the metabolism of the insect, they die of starvation and dehydration.
Just mix the powdered sugar and powdered boric acid together and then you can inject it into cracks in walls and foundations, under items such as ovens, etc. The bulk of the insect problems should be cleared up within two to three weeks.
I would add child prostitution to the list of things not to love.
Coming from a veteran of downmarket NYC rentals, that's a heck of a testimonial.
NYC roaches? Our tree roaches here in Texas step on THEM.
Apparently, Australia has us all beat on the roach front.
Have you seen one of them fly yet? Yes, they fly. Fast.
ah, yes... I thank you, our beloved, intrepid, Ace Reporter, for experiencing insects of large proportions without us.
I mean, give me a critter over a godlike alien any day, but I'd prefer to skip both...
also? er, watch out on that deet containing stuff... over the course of your trip, you may be making yourself sick.
How do they compare with our southern Palmetto bugs? We experienced them for the first time on Hilton Head, when our older son turned on the bathroom light our first night in the vacation rental house.
When my wife called the realtor the next morning to report the "roaches of unusual size", she was told: "My dear, those aren't roaches, they're palmetto bugs." My wife then replied: "My dear, I'm from New York City; and, I know a bleep-bleep roach when I see one."
Fortunately, "Otto the Orkin Man" came to our rescue. Probably no such luck in Cambodia.
I know this question will sicken you further, but are there any dishes that you can buy made of roaches?
Everyone has a roach story, which makes me think any size is too big. I fought with some in Cambodia for sure, but for me the winner was the cockroach I saw fighing a rat in the "Upper Class" waiting room in an Indian train station. The rat won, but it wasn't a forgone conclusion.
Australia always wins scary animal contests. And they keep discovering new ones.
But the central/south american flying cockroaches are fun.
Think of it as comforting that they are far to large to crawl into your ear and lay eggs while you sleep - unless they have a looooong tube that they inject deep into your auditory canal. That would suck.
Sweet dreams.
Southpaw - These http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madagascar_hissing_cockroach
aren't as heavy as the ones in your link, but they can be longer, and they make hissing sounds
The best though was in Asia where a bunch of my friends and I were going killing almost all of the bugs that bite in the building. Then we came across a few of those beetles that are sometimes used in Southeast Asian versions of cockfighting. We just basically went "fuck this shit" and walked away. You can't kill those things with anything smaller than a baseball bat without getting a face full of bug guts sprayed in your face.