Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Cambodia is an intriguing and exotic place, we found this out quickly in our first hour in the Phnom Penh. Walking out of our guest house, I was surprised to find an elephant strolling down the street followed by some saffron colored monks.


Shortly thereafter, we walked past a gas station. Since there are very few real gas stations in Cambodia, most motorcycle drivers buy their gasoline in one liter beverage bottles from stands on the side of the road.

Finally, we walked past a food market where a number of vendors were selling bugs - grub worms, crickets, beetles, and tarantulas. These are a very normal part of the Cambodian diet and reflect a period of time where resources were scarce and people ate anything they could just to get by.

Of course, when in Rome...

In case you were wondering, they taste a bit like soft shelled crab.

Not all Cambodian cuisine is so strange, most are stir fried or curried meats and vegetables. The national dish, amok, a coconut and lemon grass curried fish served in a banana leaf.

We left Phnom Penh by boat, headed for Siem Reap. The six hour trip follows the Tonle Sap river north to the eponymous lake - Siem Reap is on the north side.



We passed a number of bamboo shacks and fishing villages along the river.



The lake, however, was so large that we couldn't see anything but water for the last three hours.