Advertisement
Published: January 27th 2016
Edit Blog Post
Our Cambodian tour continues! We left Phenom Penh bright and early heading north to the town of Kratie.
Along the way we stopped at a rubber tree farm where we saw the actual rubber that had dripped out of the tree. The latex rubber is white so I imagine they add something for it to become the dark colour we are familiar with. As well we stopped at a black pepper farm where we saw the pepper trees with green pepper corns which are later dried to make black or red pepper. They were very tasty and flavourful.
A highlight for Warren has been the edible insects available in Cambodia. So far he has tried beetles, tarantula, crickets, grasshoppers, snake and frog legs! Most of them are fried with spices, the snake is smoked and the frog legs were cooked in soup. In general we are really enjoying Cambodia food which is similar to Tai but not quite as spicy. They use a lot of fresh herbs in many of their dishes.
As in most countries we visit the people are so friendly and interesting to speak to. Some speak English and if not somehow with sign language
and gestures we are able to communicate somewhat. One of our favourite pastimes is to wander the streets and watch the local people of about their day. Also sipping a beer at a sidewalk cafe is a great way to people watch.
Although tourism is a good thing for Cambodia it can come with its problems. One such problem is with the children. At many tourist sights you are greeted by cute little kids selling souvenirs. At first you think oh isn't that nice, but when you stop and think it's really child labor and means they are not attending school. It is really a sad situation and hopefully in the future the practise stops. The best thing you can do is to not buy from them. There are posters around discouraging tourists from supporting the practise.
The town of Kratie is along the mighty Mekong River which flows from northern Laos to southern Vietnam. The highlight here was the fresh water dolphins. We went out on a long boat to watch for them,and luckily we saw a few. It was such a lovely sight to see them come up for a breath of air. The river is
very wide, beautiful and fairly clean. The name of our tour includes The Mekong Delta so I am sure we will be encountering it again as we travel north. I had some fresh fish from the river which was very good.
A surprising thing about Cambodia is the number of Lexus SUV's driving around especially in the cities. Apparently a sign of wealth and status for the elite is a new Lexus. These people would be government officials and successful business people.
Tomorrow we cross the border and arrive into Laos. Until then!
Mallory and Warren
P.S. The currency in Cambodia is the Riel. $4000 riel per US dollar. As well the US dollar is widely used.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.089s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 8; qc: 52; dbt: 0.0618s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Ron & Kathy
non-member comment
Saskabush Greetings!
We so enjoy receiving each new Blog entry! Wonderful descriptions and photos of the locals and surroundings. We feel as though we have spent time with you on your trip. All your detailed information encourages us to someday visit these amazing corners of the world. Thanks and safe travels!