Into Cambodia

I’m a little behind on posting because it’s been a whirlwind few days. We flew from Ho Chi Minh City to Siam Reap in Cambodia Monday morning to start the next segment of our tour. 2 couples and me continued on from our last group, and we met up with 2 more couples, so now it’s a party of 4 Canadian couples and me, the token American, plus our CEO/chief experience officer Ratha.

Our group of 9 on the Cambodia leg of the journey

After meeting up on the hotel rooftop for introductions and drinks/snacks, we headed out on tuk tuks for a little tour around town and dinner. Tuk tuks are basically a little 4 seat covered carriage pulled by a pulled by a scooter like a rickshaw. The company we used is fully owned and operated by Cambodian women - a big plus in my book. Siam Reap is not large or particularly crowded, so it’s nice reprieve from the mayhem of Saigon.

Me and Ratha (our guide) on our first tuk tuk ride

Dinner was at Spoons, which is part of an organization that helps underprivileged young people train for careers in hospitality. It was great food made even greater because of the support it provides to the community. As you can see below, I enjoyed it!

Tuesday morning, we got back into our tuk tuks and drove into the countryside just outside town. The paved roads of town gave way pretty quickly to dusty and bumpy dirt roads.

A view from our tuk tuk.

First stop was a local market, where we met up with a chef who would be helping us learn to cook Cambodian food that morning. The market wasn’t that large, but had a great variety of produce, fish, meat and sundries. It functions as the supermarket for the area.

He brought us back to his hometown, where he and his family run a home stay, restaurant and cooking school. After meeting his wife and son for some tea and snacks, we set off on a walk around town. The people here live even more primitively than those we saw in northern Vietnam villages. Most have no running water, some no electricity. They cook with wood and charcoal. The homes consist of a thatched roof, maybe a few exterior walls, dirt floors, and no private spaces. Chickens, ducks, and other small animals roam free, in and around the houses. Toilets are shared. Inside, the kids sleep in hammocks and if lucky, there is a bed for the adults. Each family concentrates on growing one or two things, and collectively, they survive.

After our walk, we returned to make lunch. This class was phenomenal. We each made our own meal, which included a mango salad with chicken, amok, which is a fish curry, and sauted bananas.

We made our own curry seasoning for the amok, using local ingredients we’d purchased at the market: fresh turmeric, ginger, shallot, garlic, lemongrass, and more. Here is the progression from whole to chopped to paste after a good session with my mortar and pestle!

The curry paste was heated with fresh coconut milk, and the resulting sauce was used to cook the fish and Buddha tree leaves we had julienned.

We also julienned mango and carrot, sliced garlic, shallot and onion along with basil and other herbs, and made a delicious sweet and spicy dressing for our salads. This was topped with sautéed chicken we marinated in the curry paste.

For desert, we caramelized palm sugar, added a little coconut milk, and cooked up banana pieces.

Everything was really delicious!

And I was proud of my work - even got a “diploma”.

After feasting on the lunch we’d made, we hopped in the tuk tuks and went back to the hotel to change for the afternoon’s activity: a 25k bike ride through Siam Reap and the surrounding countryside.

The ride was tough. I don't think I’ve ever ridden that far. And I’d slept poorly the night before - less than 4 hours. And it was brutally hot. And the roads were mostly unpaved, frequently bumpy, and always dusty. But I’m really glad and REALLY proud to have done it! Here I am before, during, and after…smiling throughout!

We stopped a few times along the way. Most unique was at a pagoda, home to many Buddhist monks. The site was beautiful, with many statues and carvings surrounding the pagoda.

But the highlight was meeting a monk and having the opportunity to be blessed by him, receiving a string bracelet I am continuing to wear. He is 72, and had become a monk when he was 57. He lit incense, blessed holy water, and chanted as he sprinkled it over us and the bracelets.

Then we individually were called up and he chanted more and tied on the bracelets. He was not allowed to touch women, but did a pretty good job getting this on me!

After the pagoda, we stopped by a country restaurant to have a cold one and watch the sunset over the lotus ponds before making the final push back to the hotel. No beer ever tasted that good.

When we FINALLY made it back to the hotel and washed off the road dust, I met my travel friends Mike and MiMi on the roof for cocktails and tapas.

Called it a night by 9:30 since we needed to be out at 5 am the next morning for sunrise at Angkor Wat. More on that soon!