We were up bright and early this morning for a countryside tour I had booked. We were picked up by tuk tuk at 7am, along with a German couple, and two ladies from Japan, and our guide first took us to one of the local markets just on the edge of town. This is the type of market where the locals go and get their shopping - it was so busy and we were the only tourists there!
 |
| Our transport for the day! |
 |
| Busy market |
 |
| Need a new pair of trousers and a pigs head? This is the place to go to! |
It was good to have a guide with us, an American who has lived in Cambodia for the last 20 years, as he got us to try all sorts of street food that we would never of dared try on our own, including a local breakfast of duck egg, rice noodles, rice pattie and chives.
 |
| Breakfast! |
 |
| Fresh sugar cane juice |
After the market we drove in to the countryside, seeing how the locals live - Our guide told us that the people we met were untouched by the tourist industry. We stopped off at many different places, including a stone carvers, incense maker, palm sugar farmer and rice noodle makers.
 |
| Typical local home |
 |
| Peter tasting the palm sugar |
 |
| Making the rice noodles ... |
 |
| ...and me tasting them! |
 |
| Old lady making incense sticks |
We had been asked by the guide if we were ok to go to a dog BBQ as the locals eat dog and we said as it was part of the culture we were fine with that......however, a bit later on the guide said to the whole group that we really wanted to see it and would anyone else mind ..... it made us sound like animals and Peter soon said that we weren't that bothered but everyone else said they were happy to and off we went - the BBQ had EVERY part of the dog on there, including the head, cooking away....we were asked if we wanted to try some....NO THANKS!
It was a really interesting day, and we met lots of friendly locals and sweet children who would wave as we went by on our tuk tuk - it was a great introduction to Cambodia.
 |
| Cute kids! |
The temperature today was 90 degrees but not too humid, and first thing this morning it felt a little chilly! But it soon heated up by about 10:30am although it wasn't as hot as I thought it was going to be (which is a good thing!)
This evening we went to a restaurant called Haven which is a social enterprise and a training restaurant for vulnerable young adults from orphanages and safe shelters, as well as underprivileged young adults from very poor rural areas. They teach young people work skills as well as important life skills to help give them a chance to step out of the poverty cycle. The food there was very nice and we sat outside in the garden - it was a very short tuk tuk ride from our hotel, away from the hustle and bustle of the town.
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment