Advertisement
Begger children....
....around the market place in Phnom Penh.On our return to Phnom Penh we decided to visit the central market place which is basically a bazaar containing jewellery and a wide range of merchandise. there was also some delicious fruit stalls selling a wide range of exotic foods. Sadly there were also a large number of beggar children hanging around the market hoping to get some scraps from the waste that the traders threw out. Although we had become accustomed to the relentless begging that happened throughout parts of Asia, it felt very different here. There was a dire desperation and haunting hopelessness in the children's eyes that will never leave us.
After leaving the market we headed to Boeung Kak lake which our 'OK' guesthouse had tried to put us off going to by saying it was ALL under construction. In truth however, there was some building work but overall business as usual for the guesthouses that function there - yes once again it was good old backpacker fibs all round so beware what you are told!
We bumped into the Aussie lads (Oli & Jeremy) wandering around the restaurants on the lake and all decided to go for a drink, chillout and watch the
sun setting which was a really lovely end to the day.
Next day we were up and packed ultra early, taking a short tuk-tuk ride to catch the long 5 hour bus ride to Seam Reap to see the amazing temples of Angkor. During the bus trip we met a very excited couple from Sweden (Erik & Maddie) who had just recently become engaged and were very into their rock climbing after just coming from several climbing sessions in Thailand. On the way to Seam Reap the bus stopped a couple of times for comfort breaks. One of these stops was at a village called Skuon, affectionately known as Spiderville! Yes you've guessed it, famous for the locals love of spiders which had nothing to do with having them as pets but instead their appetite for the eight legged creatures. So when in Rome... Andy decided to go halves with Erik and apart from the leg hairs getting between the teeth the actual taste combined with the local spices was quite good, a kinda chicken flavour! Warning to anyone fancying a nibble, don't eat the abdomen as this contains the webbing and digestion mechanism of the spider and is
a grey gungy substance - more importantly the locals don't eat it either!
After chatting with Erik and Maddie we decided not to go to the guesthouse originally planned ('Yellow' guesthouse connected with 'OK' guesthouse) and instead go with their one, so when we arrived we jumped into another tuk-tuk with E&M this time bound for the Hilton guesthouse which turned out to be a cracking place to stay. The rooms were clean, spacious and even had a western toilet and limited hot water - a real treat!!!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.09s; Tpl: 0.009s; cc: 9; qc: 56; dbt: 0.052s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
