Were we in Cambodia? Does eating Tarantula count?

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On the bus to Laos, February 14, 2015



Well of course we were, you might say! After all what are those visas and stamps in our passports which we waited so patiently for at the Ha Tien border crossing at the Southern tip of Vietnam. The questions really comes to my mind because we have been in three tourist ghettos in Sihanoukville, Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. The currency has been the US Dollar: it was not until our last night that we got a menu quoting local Riel.



It could be compared with business travel as you could have been anywhere in the world at times. Now that is probably unfair given some of the sights we have seen but then take for example our first location: Koh Rong Samloem. We spent three days relaxing on an isolated beach on this small island South of Sihanoukville in the Bay of Thailand (http://www.koh-rong-samloem-island.com/sandy-beach-koh-rong-samloem.html). Don't get me wrong it was wonderful. We swam in the warm water, read books on the beach and supped cocktails or beer in the only restaurant bar. Our hosts were two Western Australian ladies and two local workers. There were only ten beach bungalows, all well equipped with Western loos, and with 500m of white beach it was never crowded. At least there was no wifi. Otherwise, it could have been the Carribean, Southern Thailand or a host of other locations. We all know that the world is getting flatter, and in so many ways that is a good thing. One hopes some ripples remain.



The only access was by boat and on the return journey we had to cross the island on foot with out packs to get picked up in a sheltered bay. That morning there was a strong on shore breeze so the local boats did not want to round the point to our lee shore.



We had glimpsed Cambodia on the way there; fresh banana fritters on the street market by the border next to the cock fighting area (it is legal in Cambodia and not in Vietnam); locals on the minibus which also did an inter town postal service.



We stopped one night in Phnom Penh. A taxi for the four of us from Sihanoukville negotiated down to $45 was quicker and not much more than the bus would have been ($40). The roads were good and it delivered us quickly to the tourist hub in Phnom Penh just South of the boat dock on the river. It was the sign of the times that the hotel we targeted from the LP latest Shoestring edition (2013) had already changed hands. The new owners, now calling it something else besides Otsaka Ya, had kept it clean although we ended with a discount when the air conditioning did not work properly.



Rene and I were still on the look out for exotic food and he found the Romdeng restaurant run by a hotel training charity that fitted the bill (http://friends-international.org/shop/romdeng.asp). With its charitable background and top end pricing it was also a magnet for the modern tourist. I am not sure it was the deep fried tarantula or the beef with red ant sauce which attracted them. It was us! The tarantula was served whole and was smaller than I expected (do they shrink in the deep fat frier?). The skin was crispy and the insides like shrimp and not very substantial. It was the only place we had it. Was it really a Cambodian dish? Any spider might have been tasty during the Pol Pot years. It certainly was not unpleasant.



The red ants were a bit underwhelming. You could see them and I waited for the tang of formic acid that never came. We have seen red ant sauce served since so there must be something to it. I am just not sure what. Jane and Catherine stuck to crispy pork and seafood (minus their exo-skeletons).



It was just a quick stop in Phnom Penh. The middle aged European men with young Asian women on their arms unnerved me so I was not unhappy to be back on the road so quickly. We took the boat to Siem Reap. This is a seven hour journey, not much longer than the bus with current state of the roads apparently. It only runs in the winter when there is enough water.



It is not a pleasure cruise. There is an enclosed seating area where everyone has an allocated place. Most opt for the back deck which has some shade and the engine noise directly. Catherine and Jane hung out here with their legs over the side. Rene and I went for the front deck. It required a precarious walk along the outside gunnel and then you lounged amongst the mound of backpacks stowed there. There was no shade so I still managed to burn my face despite having a full brimmed hat.



We happily chatted to a Southern Californian, Juan, in his sixties I guess, amongst other things about how he had managed to dodge the Vietnam War draft. He was one of those guys who did not reveal that much and you weren't sure you could believe everything he did tell you. He obviously liked Cambodia because he had visited on and off for months at a time over the last ten years.



After leaving Phnom Penh the housing thinned out. Some floated on the river, others were supported on stilts. It appears that where ever you live in rural Cambodia you have to have a close relationship with water. Halfway into the journey the river opens into the expansive Tonle Sap (lake). This changes area dramatically during the wet season at the end of the year. Interestingly this is partly due to water flowing back from Phnom Penh where the Tonle Sap river joins the Meekong. The lake acts a buffer reservoir and perhaps uniquely the river changes direction between the wet season, when the lake fills with excess water flowing down the Meekong, and the dry season when it drains as you would expect into the Meekong and on to the sea in Vietnam.



After some toing and froing we ended up at a nice hotel, the Siem Reap Riverside (http://kam360.siemreapriverside.net/) which even boasted a small clean pool. The shower was hot, the a/c worked and the omelette and fruit breakfast was included. Pretty good for $20 per room. A great place from which to do two days of heavy sight seeing around Angkor Wat National Park. You need at least that.



We did a sunset and sunrise, which were nothing spectacular (see Pokhara blog for others that were stellar), until Rene picked out two sun spots with his binoculars in the dimming orange orb setting between the trees. A fellow tourist all the way from Argentina could not see them until we zoomed in on the telephoto shot he had just taken and the spots were clearly visible. I had never seen sun spots before and will always remember where I did first.



The temples, and there are many of them, were all built during the height of the Khmer empire from 900 to 1432AD (when it was ransacked by the Thais). They chart the move from Hinduism to Buddhism and often cover both. It was interesting that each have their own identifiable character, the brick structure, the shape, the size, the level of tree infestation, the precision of the carving, while each still have the common elements of the time. It is truly impressive that the old city of Angkor was the first preindustrial city with a million inhabitants when London had 50,000. Most of the city was made of wood and has disappeared leaving only the stone temples occupied by the god-kings of the time. The Cambodians can be justly proud. Many are now tastefully restored with help of Chinese, Australian, French and Indian money amongst others. Angkor Wat itself remains the largest religious complex in current use in the world by area when you include the massive moat and surrounding grounds.



I did enquire about hunting and barbecuing water rats in Siem Reap, a lead I had got from a German traveller who described his experiences to us when we met in India. 'Only in the wet season' I was told much to Jane's relief.



At Siem Reap it was time to say goodbye to Rene and Catherine who flew back to the UK via Saigon. We are on a tourist bus to Laos. Now we have done the tourist spots it might be nice to come back another time and get more under the skin of the real Cambodia and its gentle people. Maybe we could find out then how many have eaten tarantulas or ants for their dinner.



PostScript: the drive across North Cambodia to the Laos border via Streng Treng was mainly through wild woodland and farmsteads. The rice paddies have been harvested to leave only stubble. We also saw many signs of fires that have destroyed large areas either side of the road. Some were rejuvenating whilst at others there was still smouldering logs. We were told it was hunters flushing out game. Whatever, it was unbelievably destructive. We also saw evidence of many small hardwood logging operations. One could not tell if they were legal or not. You always have to be prepared that if you do get more under the skin of a country you might not actually like what you find.

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Photos

Deep fried tarantula
Rene is not suffering from eating a spider. He just picked the wrong time to blink.

Each one has a different character
This one almost looks Greek.

Apparently this has a strong likeness to the god-king who sponsored this temple
Bayon temple has 216 of these images