Upon arrival in Cambodia, we passed 3 days wandering the streets, alleys and markets of Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh.
Although we had read how important rice is to Cambodian cuisine, and indeed we ate our fair share of it, we found that noodles were just as prevalent. A very common dish, one we ate daily, is yellow noodles stir-fried with morning glory shoots and various sauces, topped with a fried egg. What more could you want in a meal? We determined that this jovial woman's street noodles were the best, something a little extra in her sauce. Order at the wok, find an empty stool at a crowded table, get a pull-tab beer from the cooler across the street, and in no time the heaping dish was served. Smother it in spicy, sweet chili sauce and sweat in the evening humidity. Ah...street food.
The Grand Palace lit up in white while flower vendors wait patiently for a devoted customer.
A youngster gives his daily offering as monks pass the alley where our guesthouse was located.
Then stands dutifully while the monks, in unison, chant.
Colorful wat, colorful tuk tuk and bird.
At the Russian Market hunting for cheap clothes, but just ended up eating more noodles.
Independence Monument during rush hour (a.k.a. how many motos can you put in a round-about?)
More street food: grilled chicken wings, eaten with a mix-your-own sauce and plate of fresh herbs and veggies under ice.
Street.
Though there were a number of markets around PP, the "old market", which is essentially all produce, was in the heart of Riverside, the tourist area. It took up a city block including the streets on the perimeter. It was elbow-to-elbow, but full of wonderful colors and shapes.
Peeled frogs, anyone?
Monks chanting at a roadside store.
The glories of street food never cease to amaze: Take a banana. Smash it with a paddle. Dip it in sweet batter with black sesame seeds. Fry until crispy golden brown. Sell for $0.25 to a thrilled American 3rd grade teacher.
Street food on display.
Choices.
This was an interesting sport we saw people playing at a few different parks around PP. Set up a badmitten net. Get an oversized hacky-sack and 3 guys to a team. Play with the combined rules of volleyball and hacky-sack. Here's the clincher; in place of a spike, scissor kick.
After eating and wandering our way through PP, we hopped on a bus headed south for the coast. Kep was a trendy beach town in the 1960's, patroned by wealthy French and Khmer. It has suffered delayed maintenance, but is making a come-back as a vacation hot spot slowly. The town is still quite sleepy with few motos on the roads, the odd cow or pig wandering through the main plaza and sparse but adequate amenities. After the hustle and bustle of PP, Kep was just what we were looking for.
Kep is also known as the crab capital of Cambodia. Kampot, the neighboring province, is famed for it's pepper. Add some lime, and you have one delicious local meal. Needless to say, our first objective in Kep was to get a crab and pepper lunch from a waterfront crab shack.
Our first of many crab shacks; a cement slab on stilts over the water, a basic kitchen and basic dining room with roof overhead. The upscale crab shacks had a fan or two. We ordered crab with Kampot pepper and got a heaping pile of quartered crabs in a sticky and sweet sauce with big clumps of fresh green pepper. On a hot and humid afternoon we had to keep ice in our beer, and with determination (cracking the crab with our teeth) and sticky hands, we finished that pile of crabs happy and full.
A local fishing boat at sunset.
Nic and I (Katie Camera Face) in the rear-view of the king of all hired transportation, the tuk tuk.
Kep lacks a beach that meets the standards of most SE Asian picturesque beaches, but nearby Rabbit Island fills the gap. Our first full day, an overcast morning, we hopped on a boat.
Looking towards town from the dock.
A smiley captain.
Smiley tourists.
The Huck Finn straw hat was a popular choice among local fishermen and boatmen. These two take advantage of the loud motor to flirt out of ear shot on 15 min. ride.
This is the entire beach for this side of the island, about 300 meters of food shacks where chickens will peck at your leftovers and stilted thatch bungalows for rent for a few dollars a night. It was perfect. We had heard that there is a development going in on the other side of the island, but we were too busy reading and swimming to explore much more than the beach where we landed.
All the morning traffic to the island were boats with a half dozen or so tourists. Around noon, the locals started to come in. I just happened to be around when this loaded boat was pulling in. Within 50 meters of shore, kids started jumping ship and splashing and playing in the water, while adults laughed and waited to be towed in.
It was the most joyful and eventful boat landing I've ever seen.
The following day we took a countryside tour via tuk tuk. Our first stop was a pepper plantation.
Seeing the countryside from a tuk tuk is a great way to go. They are slow enough that one can still catch the action, there's a great breeze, and best of all, not many blind spots when shooting action shots.
Almost all the soil we saw in Cambodia was red. Since it was the dry season, anything along side the road was also covered in red.
These limestone monoliths have caves in them...which was our second destination on the tour.
This decorated cave has a reclining Buddha (not visible in this picture).
Though we acquired a young guide with good English, we never really figured out what these men were doing there.
There were multiple Buddha statues in various parts of these caves. This one was tucked up high, away from flooding in the wet season.
Sisters who followed us through the caves, attempting to repeat what our guide said.
Salt fields, minus the salt. Our last stop. I was interested to see these fields and see how the process works. As we approached, rolling by a kilometer of flooded dividers, Nic and I began to wonder where we were being taken. When the tuk tuk driver stopped in front of this storage building, he said, "Salt fields. No salt". From what we gathered through his broken English, the fields are only used during the rainy season.
There's the salt!
Back in Kep at the Crab Market, the liveliest place for miles!
We discovered early on the delights of the waffle ladies. The round one has sweet and gooey coconut inside and is a mighty breakfast for $0.50.
Squid on a stick.
The boardwalk = crab market.
Baskets of freshly steamed crab.
We tried another crab shack for lunch and life couldn't get much better: Waterfront table, cold beer, sweet and salty peanuts and cheap, fresh seafood on the menu.
I stepped down from our table onto the exposed rocky shore for a photo of the crab market a few meters down.
A few minutes later a vendor hauls up her goods...
...for the cook to inspect. Se bought 5 kilos for the day.
The road to our hotel.
Another crab shack for dinner. Nic is out of focus, but I wanted to post this photo to give you an idea of what the inside of these things are like, and why "shack" is an appropriate term.
The Kep Market, a few kilometers down the coast from the Crab Market. This is the locals market with produce, sundries and clothing. This seamstress has a good view on her platform.
We had our breakfast of noodle soup here.
Catfish and eel.
Boys play a round of botchy ball outside the market.
Back at the Crab Market, he hustle continues.
This was no place for a gawker. These ladies gave me a grunt and a swing of the arm that told me I had to move out of their way.
Pots of boiling water at the ready for crabs.
We opted out of a crab shack for an even cheaper lunch at the market: whole grilled fish, a mound of rice and sauce for $1.50, followed by a hard-boiled duck egg for $0.25, served with limey salt and pepper.
We rented rusty bikes with low tires (but the guy gave us some money to fill up the tires at the market) and took to the roads. For an afternoon we cruised the road leading out of town and had our own countryside tour. The only thing is, it's a little harder to snap photos from a bicycle.
We passed this house and Nic spotted the boat underneath. The wood worker was there, and I asked if I could snap some photos. He motioned toward the boat while he went to the well, shirtless in his sarong, and took a bucket bath in the mid-day heat. 
Who I assume was his son slowly eased out of his hammock and posed for a picture.
Nic and bikes.
Some American travelers we met told us about the fancy resort that has good happy hour deals. We spent a few evenings with this view, sipping fancy cocktails.
The big island in the distance belongs to Vietnam.
Christmas Eve was our last day in Kep. We decided we need to unwind and visit Rabbit Island again.
There is no shortage of monks in Cambodia, but we were surprised to see a monk's-day-out-at-the-beach. This crew had digital cameras and cell phones in one hand, and cold coca-cola in the other. I was determined to get a shot of them on the beach, and as the approached, I asked if they wouldn't mind. They obliged, standing shoulder to shoulder not smiling, then each took a turn taking a photo with me! But remember, no touching.
Christmas Eve we found ourselves back for happy hour cocktails.
Merry Christmas indeed!
No comments:
Post a Comment