Roadtrip to Siem Reap (Angkor Wat)

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Another long roadtrip but luckily interspersed with some exciting stops. First was a place nicknamed spider village because it’s where a particular species of spiders breed. They look a bit like tarantulas, but apparently don’t have any poison. They are caught by either digging down into their holes or pouring salty water into the hole ... they are then deep-fried as a popular snack food in this part of the world!! Apparently, only the legs are eaten - Richard and Joan were tempted to give it a try, but the rest of us passed up the offer! They said it tasted a bit like chicken ... this started the conversation about everything tasting like chicken (ref: crocodile later in trip!)

Next we visited a weaving business set up by a Vietnam Veteran from American who had married a Cambodian lady. He had come to Cambodia after the war to help fit people with prosthetics - he said that he realised they weren’t getting to the root of the problems when he noticed people he’d fitted with limbs begging on the streets having hidden the limbs round the corner. He and some others had set up a weaving business to help those who had been injured either in the war or afterwards by landmines - he even employed 3 blind men who washed the finished articles. He had since set up the silk business that we visited. After a really interesting talk about silk production we saw the girls working the looms and then shared some mango and a cup of tea. The scarves they produced were exquisite. Amazingly he has no electricity except a battery powered transistor radio!

Lunch had been organised as a home visit. We were dropped off in a purpose built holiday home-stay near Skun. Unlike the one we’d stopped at in Laos, this was a purpose-built village in the style of a Cambodian one only a little sanitised for the tourists - no animals running around under the houses, flowers, recreation facilities, and better toilets! The idea is that building such accommodation adjacent to a real village causes less direct impact on life here. It’s also used as a volunteer retreat where people with medical knowledge or teaching experience can get involved in community-based projects.

After a demonstration of Khmer rice noodle making we travelled to the actual village by Ox-Cart. Ours were usually used for transporting heavy farming loads. Chuck, Valerie, and I squeezed into the back of one cart and off we set. It was fascinating driving up to, and through, the village with many children running alongside the carts or hopping on for a quick ride. One poor girl was sent back by her elder brother and she stood in the road and howled as we drove away with some of her more fortunate friends sitting in the carts.

After around 40 minutes, we arrived at the house we were to have lunch. We climbed up into the house which consisted of a single, fairly large room on stilts. Sitting in a circle on the floor, food was served in the centre and everyone helped themselves to what they wanted. The local fried mushrooms in breadcrumbs were absolutely delicious. Finally, we took some photos with the owner’s family and friend before we left - there was quite a crowd of them as they’d all come to see the mad foreigners who wanted to eat lunch in their house!

Next stop was a village famous for making stone sculptures. Lined up along the road were sculptures of all shapes and sizes but were all a little impractical for us to get home. I can’t help wondering whether they ever get fed up with carving buddhas! It was so noticeable how larger cars, especially those with huge bull bars on the front, raced through town with little or no regard for people’s safety.

Eventually, we arrived at Siem Reap, checked into a really nice hotel, dumped our bags and dived straight into their swimming pool - a fabulous way to cool down after a hard day’s travelling!

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