Out and about in the Countryside

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Geo: 12.4924, 106.025

Yesterday we left Phnom Penh bright and early and headed north. The first stop was Skuon, the spider centre. Actually it was just a market that sold fried spiders, cockroaches, scorpions, and other creepie crawlies - what a shame I had decided to turn vegetarian for the day. I couldn't even bring myself to hold a tarantula and was quite happy to be back on the bus and out of town.

It was fascinating driving through the countryside, plenty of cows, lots of people traveling in all manner of transport, usually hanging off the back of a laden truck. There were water lilies, rubber trees, bananas and a whole lot of other stuff I have no idea about.

We had lunch at the town of Kratie and then took the ferry to the island of Koh Trong for our family home stay. We hopped on our bikes, no gears and possibly no brakes, but wire baskets at the front and rode a couple of km to our home for the night. Many of the houses are on stilts to protect from snakes, floods and to provide air conditioning. Ours was no exception. It was a great evening, all together in the one room, luckily no one snored.

Most people left the island during the Khmer Rouge regime and were able to return in the 1980s. They acquired land on a first come, first served basis, but with a limit on how much they could claim, based on the size of their family.

This morning we were up with the roosters and after breakfast of omelette and baguettes, thanks to the French influence. We did a bike ride around most of the island, a bit of a look at some of the vege gardens and animals and then back on the ferry again.

This afternoon we are 'at rest' at Steung Teng which is beside the San River. We are getting up to near the Laos border and will travel there tomorrow. But this afternoon is laundry, the blog, because Linda is waiting to read it and then a wander next door to the Buddhist Monastery.

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Comments

[Margaret]

I bet you bagged the brightest pink bed , just to make you feel at home?Being a vegetarian in a town that eats bugs is a wise move.