I am pretty sick of hotel breakfast, so I venture out to see what Cambodia has to offer. This was a nice attempt at Eggs Benedict. The food here has definitely been better than Laos but it’s still not as good as Thailand. I dare not suggest this in the bus as the tour guide, relaxed in all other regards, holds a lot of hostility towards Cambodia’s western neighbour in the context of the current war.Bus ride today is not too long, about three hours. I am starting to feel a bit sick of the large distance covered on this tour. It’s significantly longer than advertised because the itinerary was changed to exclude anything 250km of the Thai border. I kill time being a good student. Today I master the words for ‘hot’ and ‘iced’ (to assist ordering coffee), counting to 100 and how to say ‘tasty’.First activity is an afternoon cycle around the village. It’s dry season and very sandy. Surprisingly difficult to cycle in patches. I felt a bit like Ewan and Charlie battling the sandy roads on their KTMs. Somehow I am sweatier than the labourers.A hit of sugar cane, stat.Escape is futile. Death is coming for us all.Who do you think you’re mooing at? This guy has a wooden plank attached to the back of his tractor that he stands on to ski over the rice paddies.On our cycle tour we stop off at a house where they make rice flour noodles to sell at the market. One of the ladies, less industrious than the others, takes an interest in me after I can report my age in Khmer (sahm siep mouy). She starts asking if I am married and if I want a Khmer husband. This is all translated with reluctance and embarrassment from the tour leader. After Cycle Tour, it’s straight away onto Walking Tour around the fields during sunset. Trying to wear us out so as to submit to homestay life.In the morning this man would have climbed up the palm tree, cut the tree and tied a container around the incision so that sap will drip into it. As the day heats up, the sap ferments. At sunset, he collects the spoils: palm wine. Homestay dinner. This lady was a cutie. She is a Khmer Literature teacher to primary school children. She made a spread of: fermented fish, fried salted fish, rice cakes, greens and a meatball soup. Served with rice and the noodles bought a few hours ago. There are a few homestays in the village and the tour company rotates through them. Some months no one stays. A busy month is two bookings.
I’m going to be honest. I wasn’t aware that there was a war going on between Cambodia and Thailand. How long has that been happening and why did it start. Does it involve the military or is it a civilian clash.
The farm and bike riding photos could be anywhere in arid Australia in summer. I started sweating just looking at these pictures.
Are there many tourists in these areas.
Sugar cane = happy
Fish trying to escape = sad.
You could write a novel about the struggles and meaning of life based just on the fish photo.
HSC question. Compare and contrast the fish’s desperate attempt to escape with a famous historical figure.
Cait, your comment about the work ethic of the lady making noodles is a bit tough. I would struggle living her life for a week.
Cait, does Declan need to be concerned about losing you to a Cambodian gentleman.
After all his flirting it’s time for you to join in.
The home stay food looked a1. Did you mix much with the family and could they speak English.
Cambodian bachelorette is on!! I wonder what the attributes of a Khmer husband are?
Watch out Declan Cait is obviously hot international commodity. Though imagine trying to explain your job to the Khmer man Cait?
I wonder how long the rice noodles last and how often the markets are. How do they package or store the noodles for sale?
I really like that you are trying out the language. Did you get the phrasebook from Steven in Blackheath?
You haven’t said much about your guide. How are you finding him?
Favourite photo: the palm wine collecting. I have never heard of this. Have you tasted it? I wonder if you can tap the same tree every day?
Special mention for your cooking teacher. What a beautiful smile. Food is just the most joyous thing to share. How pungent was the fermented fish?
Is this a happier homestay than at the chiefs house in Laos?
Loving the posts. You are keeping the photo and writing quality high. It’s so interesting. Sending love and hugs xx
Cambodia and Thailand war I think has been going for about a year. They’ve been enemies for the last 1000 years so my understanding is there’s always a bit of a skirmish going on. You’re not allowed to cross the Cambodian/Thai land boarder as a tourist now because it’s not safe. The military is involved. F16s have been bombing Cambodian land. I think it’s a bit one sided as Thailand’s military is x3 larger than Cambodia.
There were no tourists in the country side town.
Haha that’s very funny about the fish HSC prompt.
The noodle lady asking all the questions was getting side eye from the main lady. Her lack of attention to the task at hand was definitely noted. I’m not sure you’d fit in too well in this team, dad..
Declan has always been a proponent of learning basic phrases in another language so it’s really all his fault! I wonder if Declan is being flirted with at home while I’m not there..
We did mix with the family. Allegedly they could speak some English but they were very shy. All discussion was translated by the tour guide. Except for a twelve year old nephew that dropped by that could speak english and asked, “why do kids get brain rot from AI and not dogs”.
Mum: We got to ask a few questions of the hosts and mine was ‘what do you like most about each other?’ The lady said that she liked that the husband was committed to the family and didn’t go out and drink. So I suppose they are the desirable aspects of a Khmer husband!
I think the Khmer man would quickly understand that he didn’t need to plow the rice fields and my international commodity status would jump higher still!
Rice noodles are weighed and packaged in little plastic bags. I did try and ask that about how long they last and I got alternating answers between a day and a week.
I got the phrasebook in Phnom Penh when I arrived.
The guide has been really good. He’s been very informative and is passionate about Cambodia. I like that the Intrepid guides seem to all be normal people with a pretty normal background for their country. He spent many years working on the farm with his parents while he went to school, then learnt English while working at a Marriot Hotel (where he had the fateful meeting with Angelina Jolie). Then has done this job for ten years. At meals he’ll have little interesting titbits about the country. Like that his kids have never seen the beach because it’s expensive to travel the 400km, and that his son (now 17) wants to be a police officer but that he can’t afford the ‘express service’ fee to apply.
We weren’t allowed any palm wine because there were flies and spiders floating in the muck. Not Intrepid sanctioned. Not sure about how often you can tap the tree, that would be interesting.
Fermented fish WAS pungent. I tried some and did not go back for seconds.
Haha we didn’t end up doing the chiefs house because Somhak cancelled our hike to vote (spoiler, the incumbents won, again). This was better than the other homestays though.. protected from animals and the mattress were good quality.
I’m going to be honest. I wasn’t aware that there was a war going on between Cambodia and Thailand. How long has that been happening and why did it start. Does it involve the military or is it a civilian clash.
The farm and bike riding photos could be anywhere in arid Australia in summer. I started sweating just looking at these pictures.
Are there many tourists in these areas.
Sugar cane = happy
Fish trying to escape = sad.
You could write a novel about the struggles and meaning of life based just on the fish photo.
HSC question. Compare and contrast the fish’s desperate attempt to escape with a famous historical figure.
Cait, your comment about the work ethic of the lady making noodles is a bit tough. I would struggle living her life for a week.
Cait, does Declan need to be concerned about losing you to a Cambodian gentleman.
After all his flirting it’s time for you to join in.
The home stay food looked a1. Did you mix much with the family and could they speak English.
Cambodian bachelorette is on!! I wonder what the attributes of a Khmer husband are?
Watch out Declan Cait is obviously hot international commodity. Though imagine trying to explain your job to the Khmer man Cait?
I wonder how long the rice noodles last and how often the markets are. How do they package or store the noodles for sale?
I really like that you are trying out the language. Did you get the phrasebook from Steven in Blackheath?
You haven’t said much about your guide. How are you finding him?
Favourite photo: the palm wine collecting. I have never heard of this. Have you tasted it? I wonder if you can tap the same tree every day?
Special mention for your cooking teacher. What a beautiful smile. Food is just the most joyous thing to share. How pungent was the fermented fish?
Is this a happier homestay than at the chiefs house in Laos?
Loving the posts. You are keeping the photo and writing quality high. It’s so interesting. Sending love and hugs xx
Cambodia and Thailand war I think has been going for about a year. They’ve been enemies for the last 1000 years so my understanding is there’s always a bit of a skirmish going on. You’re not allowed to cross the Cambodian/Thai land boarder as a tourist now because it’s not safe. The military is involved. F16s have been bombing Cambodian land. I think it’s a bit one sided as Thailand’s military is x3 larger than Cambodia.
There were no tourists in the country side town.
Haha that’s very funny about the fish HSC prompt.
The noodle lady asking all the questions was getting side eye from the main lady. Her lack of attention to the task at hand was definitely noted. I’m not sure you’d fit in too well in this team, dad..
Declan has always been a proponent of learning basic phrases in another language so it’s really all his fault! I wonder if Declan is being flirted with at home while I’m not there..
We did mix with the family. Allegedly they could speak some English but they were very shy. All discussion was translated by the tour guide. Except for a twelve year old nephew that dropped by that could speak english and asked, “why do kids get brain rot from AI and not dogs”.
Mum: We got to ask a few questions of the hosts and mine was ‘what do you like most about each other?’ The lady said that she liked that the husband was committed to the family and didn’t go out and drink. So I suppose they are the desirable aspects of a Khmer husband!
I think the Khmer man would quickly understand that he didn’t need to plow the rice fields and my international commodity status would jump higher still!
Rice noodles are weighed and packaged in little plastic bags. I did try and ask that about how long they last and I got alternating answers between a day and a week.
I got the phrasebook in Phnom Penh when I arrived.
The guide has been really good. He’s been very informative and is passionate about Cambodia. I like that the Intrepid guides seem to all be normal people with a pretty normal background for their country. He spent many years working on the farm with his parents while he went to school, then learnt English while working at a Marriot Hotel (where he had the fateful meeting with Angelina Jolie). Then has done this job for ten years. At meals he’ll have little interesting titbits about the country. Like that his kids have never seen the beach because it’s expensive to travel the 400km, and that his son (now 17) wants to be a police officer but that he can’t afford the ‘express service’ fee to apply.
We weren’t allowed any palm wine because there were flies and spiders floating in the muck. Not Intrepid sanctioned. Not sure about how often you can tap the tree, that would be interesting.
Fermented fish WAS pungent. I tried some and did not go back for seconds.
Haha we didn’t end up doing the chiefs house because Somhak cancelled our hike to vote (spoiler, the incumbents won, again). This was better than the other homestays though.. protected from animals and the mattress were good quality.
Very happy you’re enjoying the blog!!