Cambodia: Day 4

Yum, crickets

The next morning we were up early, yummed down a quick fresh orange juice, ginger tea and water (which passed through me within half an hour, on the bumpy bus.. how unfortunate.), we ate fresh muesli and fruit with a warm baguette and homemade mango jam. Mum ate her banana porridge with soya milk and we set off on the bus to Phnom Pen. A 6 hour bus ride, sleeping until 5 and a half hours into the journey – but on the way i wrote a bit of this travel log, read my book, and sat back and listened to some funky tunes. Rickie Lee-Jones played, the scissor sisters, Diana Ross – all the great old tunes that you don’t really appreciate when you’re rushing around and not absorbing the lyrics and the true feel of the song.

On our stop-off people munched on fried crickets, cockroaches and tarantula’s while I morishly cracked open pistachio’s that were finished within... 2 minutes? I love pistachio's, but the excitement of getting to the actual nut after cracking open the individual little shells can take over just a bit and you go from a bowl of nuts to a bowl of empty shells.

Cockroaches anyone?

We finally arrived, staying at a sweet fresh hippy guest house, that was quite creepily situated opposite the S-21 prison. We quickly unpacked our stuff and sat down to a delicious red curry and rice, which we shared (the best thing about travelling with another person who shares your taste in food and portions is you can just share anything and save buckets). We then made our way to the highly recommended shop Ambre... I sifted through a few dresses, not too impressed by the selection of rather middle-aged, French coats and shorts. The floor however had two floors that were each divided into different rooms. Some rooms painted lilac with their selection of blue and purple clothes – dresses, skirts, shorts, jackets, trousers. The green room filled with a lush green display and the colours went on. I found one room in which my eyes lit up, so many choices i grabbed them all. And as if by magic, when trying them on they all fit perfectly – it made the decision of choosing two pieces (as they were all from $75 - $150 each!) slightly difficult. Mum was lucky with her choices as well as they fit her slim and trim figure like gloves – the orange silky French dress to the masai-style top to the flouncy beach dress. She chose 6 pieces by the end and i settled on a beautifully simple baby pink crochet dress that i’ll wear for years to come, and a stunning turquoise green bandage dress that’s hem comes just above the knees.

Some scrumptious pig tongues, snouts and the like

That evening we walked to a recommended Khmer restaurant, choosing a delicious sour beef and green vegetable curry soup served with jasmine rice, and grilled coconut wrapped in pork. Though our stomachs bulged we still squeezed in some caramelized banana in warm tapioca crepes and coconut ice cream! Mmm. 









Recipe of the day: Khmer chicken curry
http://www.turkeynose.com/TurkeynoseGoesGlobal/recipes/mains/khmercurry/khmercurry.html