The Food Part

Cambodian food is never considered Cambodian without the peppermint leaves. It just makes the food taste odd. Peppermint should stay as a candy flavouring, that's all it should do.

We tried the fried spider on our way up to Siem Reap. We were told by Sakett that it is like crab meat and is very tasty. And we should have known better that he is not known to be very honest in non-serious matters. 4 of us shared the one spider we bought, we threw the remaining 4 legs of the 8 and the body away.

Then there was the tukalok, our favourite fruit smoothie. The ice-blended mix is a riot of flavours. One moment you taste pineapple, another you sense durians, in another moment you discover traces of other fruits in their as well. Cambodia also had the sweetest dragonfruit I've ever eaten. I am disappointed each time I eat the fruit again in Singapore.

Our hopes for the 'amoc' was also artificially inflated by Sakett, who told us that 'amoc' was food for the kings, and made from ingredients that are very rare and hence very tasty and fit for eating only by the nobles. Well, either he bluffed or we expected too much. It just feels like a very well crafted curry by a good cook. But still it was pretty nice to eat.

As part of the set meal that accompanied the 'amoc', there was the sticky mango rice. It was a great dessert! The mango was very sweet and the sticky rice was laced with lethal saccharine that provided a 'high' and strong craving for more.

We also tried 'pon tia korn', something we told ourselves that we die die must try, if not we could not consider ourselves never been to Cambodia. It is duck foetus, half cooked inside it's egg shell. It's pretty hard to swallow, and stomach. I had to share with Hailiang to finish just one egg.

The Extended-Play Part II

We took a bus ride up to Siem Reap, a ride slated for 8 hours on the road; a record for me. 4 hours up to Malacca is already torturous for me liaoz, 8 hours is double the pain. Somemore it is said that the actual journey might take even longer, depending on the road conditions. We were extremely fortunate to make it in 6 hours, in time before the sun sets.

The bus operator was recommended to us by this helpful Chinese family who ran a restaurant in a neighbouring hotel while in Phomn Penh. They made such good and affordable food that we went back there time and again despite our short stay there. Well, at least they provided us a much desired departure from our own cooking and the minty Cambodian food. Of course, we wouldn't go without getting the 千金 of the household into the picture. It's been a long long time since we last saw decent looking female specimens of our kind. Thanks to them, the bus operator was willing to make an exception, to pick us up at our hotel that morning. After hearing the horror stories from the rest of them of their experience on their bus rides (some of them had to sit on stools in the aisle of the bus!), we were very thankful for their recommendations.

We began the bus ride with a hangover that lasted too long, from 2 days before to be exact. Hailiang was still reeling from the effects of over-toxication, Henry and Chinyee had no appetite, I was still feeling alright but somehow I know all's not going to go well in moments to come. It didn't help that we attempted to eat fried spider during one of our scheduled stops. I could not stomach anything more than one small joint of its leg, although it did not taste revolting (it just tasted very salty). We spent our first night at a forgettable and expensive place, and we almost left the place with all our heavy backpacks until they relented and gave in to our bargaining. We watched the Euro 2004 Final that night, but fell asleep before the match ended. Greece won the game and became the champions of European soccer.

There is only one attraction at Siem Reap, and boy it was a really big one, that is The Ruins of Angkor. We spent a whole 3 days in there and strictly speaking, we have yet to finish touring it. Armed with a guidebook on the ruins, bought after hard bargaining by Henry, and the mini van we chartered, we explored the temples and various structures. Henry became our commentator and guide throughout the 3 days we explored the Angkor. This picture was also taken on the recommendation of the guidebook, the only angle where the tips of all the 5 spires of the Angkor Wat can be seen, with a human subject inside. There are many many many many many temple ruins in the Angkor. They dot the whole area that we had to spend 3 days to finish seeing the major attractions and special ruins. The place we visited, was so densely covered by the forest that when it was finally by some French explorers, it was structurally dangerous to cut off the trees that grew into the rocks. Heaven knows what happened to all the people there. We only knew the theives were here before, many of the sculpture's head were chopped off, presumably sold to collectors all over the world.

Like all major attractions around the world, there are many local hawkers selling souvenirs and drinks and such at the entrances. I decided to bring home a piece of Cambodia printed on a t-shirt at one of the many entrances of the temples, the condition is that they leave me alone to take a few pictures and I will go visit their stall when I am done. Problem is, they all look the same to me. I followed a different girl back to her stall and bought the tee I fancied. To my great misfortune, the girl whom I agreed to patron saw me buying from another stall and launched a tirade of abuses at me, in English. See the Western influence around this region?

The ruins of the Angkor sparked me to ponder about the dedication of the ancient people to their religion. What level of commitment these people were up on, that drove them to build these architectural greats, considered difficult even by today's standards and technological advancements? Of these shrines, the Neak Pean is by far the most mind boggling structure that utilized physics, fluid dynamics and water damming to create water sprouting sculptures without any mechanical pumps. The others were built to leave u admiring the intelligence and the determination of those who built them. What could have driven them so hard to cough up the money, time and effort to build them?

Over in Siem Reap, our best buy was the guesthouse stay. Hidden in an obscure corner, it offered us great rates and rooms although the lady boss pissed me off on our last night. Although power failure usually occur only when I am showering, the stay there was nontheless cosy and relaxing. Our van driver also made our stay there very enjoyable, we tipped him generously when we left.

We ate all sorts of food in Siem Reap, partly discovered on our own, partly as recommended by LP. Soup Dragon was our favourite haunt with its tasty steamboat, the corner shop in the back alley made the best pumpkin rice, the local market made tasty fried noodles and popiah. The roadside stalls were very exciting as well. But looking back, the hygiene conditions were so bad I couldn't imagine myself eating in there again. I also bought what I considered a good investment, a 65L Lowe Alpine backpack of my own.

The Extended-Play Part I

Some of us extended our stay in Cambodia to tour the country. I extended my stay by 7 days. Of the 7 days, I spent the first 2 in Phomn Penh and the rest in Siem Reap.

This picture of a back alley is taken from the window of the hotel we were staying. Phomn Penh is just like any typical Southeast Asian city; bustling, messy and dusty. We were often warned to stay indoors after dark, especially after midnight, and there are good reasons for that. There was one night we stayed out particularly late at a bubble tea place. And when on our way back to the hotel, I saw many street urchins by the road, looking dazed and sporting blood-shot eyes. They were sniffing glue openly. Who knows if they might hurt us for money or what. Somemore we had female company with us, we could not take flight as fast as we would have wanted should anything happen. Although it is likely that I would be the slowest runner anyway.

One of the 'attractions' in Phomn Penh is the Tuol Sleng Musuem, where the infamous tortures by the Khmer Rouge took place. All those piles of skulls you see in news are found here. This used to be a school compound, when the Khmer Rouge took over Phomn Penh, they used this place as a interrogating centre. Nobody sent here was known to leave that place alive. The evidences of atrocities was only discovered when government troops took over Phomn Penh again and stormed the complex. The Khmer Rouge had no time to end this poor guy's pain when the troops stormed in. The victim was chained to the bed and tortured with electric shocks, and found bloodied and badly burnt, and barely alive. The barb wires fencing up the corridors are there to prevent the prisoners from commiting suicide by jumping. There's a undescribeable, uncomfortable atmosphere when we were touring the 'facilities'. The torture 'tools' were left intact, the little 'chambers' where suspected 'traitors' are holed up in are presented as is, and all the carefully documented of the records of the victims by the Khmer Rouge are on display. All of the victims had there photographs taken while seated on a chair specially designed for that purpose; it had a stick on the backrest that will prop and position your head upright. This place, in short, is the closest replica of hell on earth. It's a horrible time recalling what I saw in that compound. It's heart wrenching to see mankind inflicting unneccessary pain on another man, citing the excuse of protecting ideals.

We also visited the Central Market and the Russian Market. This is the famous clock tower inside the Central Market. You can get anything here, anything. Hailiang bought his maglite here, I bought my Cambodian Phrase Book here. The Central Market is a legacy of the French influence in the region.
The architectural style of this building is very unique to the region. But most of our shopping exploits are done in Russian Market instead. I bought all my fake LP there, my North Face waterbag, 2 multitool knives and all the souvenirs for family.

Phomn Penh is a pretty happening place. Lotsa things to eat, try and enjoy. The riverside is full of dining places, and the city is dotted with internet cafes. In part II, we bus up to Siem Reap.