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| Uh, Aaron, you have something crawling on your back! |
Wednesday, February 20, 2012
Day 12: Phnom Penh
Meals included: 1 breakfast
Activities
Drive through Cambodia's picturesque countryside to reach Phnom Penh. You'll notice a change of pace, as you arrive in Cambodia’s capital. A relaxing drink at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club is a great way to start your evening.
*****
Russ is currently reading, They Killed My Father First, and relating to me the atrocities the Khmer Rouge inflicted on the Cambodian People after the fall of Viet Nam in1975. We will be going to the museum and killing fields tomorrow. Can't say we are looking forward to our learnings tomorrow, but it is a part of the historical cruelties we as a species inflict on one another.
Today was a leisurely ride through country side observing roadside dwellers going about their daily lives. I wish I could report how green everything is, but it is the dry season, and much of the land is a faded green. A fine dust flies through air when disturbed by the donkey carts and motor scooters. There are no sidewalks and no litter containers, possibly not even a collection service. The land is strewn with plastics, bottles, bags, tarps, jars.
It's a mess and with few exceptions there is little evidence of cleanup by residents or the thousands of lean-to and tent vendors. The Cambodians are valiantly struggling to earn a living and make ends meet. Unlike Thailand and Laos where the cost of goods and services is very low, Cambodia seems a bit dearer. For tourists, it is still lower than what one expects at home, but for the Cambodian families day to day expenses are higher. The American dollar is the currency of choice. Food here is about twice as much as we found in Laos.
It's a mess and with few exceptions there is little evidence of cleanup by residents or the thousands of lean-to and tent vendors. The Cambodians are valiantly struggling to earn a living and make ends meet. Unlike Thailand and Laos where the cost of goods and services is very low, Cambodia seems a bit dearer. For tourists, it is still lower than what one expects at home, but for the Cambodian families day to day expenses are higher. The American dollar is the currency of choice. Food here is about twice as much as we found in Laos.
So today we had a couple of interesting stops. One was to an old bridge built 800 years ago during the of Angkor and is still standing as a main bridge today.
The second stop was in a town known for its unusual product of fried tarantulas. Eigjteen year old Daniel was somewhat keen to try one until he saw them, but went ahead with a nibble anyway.
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| Buy them live and cook yourself |
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| Stir fried tarantula with spices |
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| Spider Man Daniel Nibbles at Tarantuala |
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| Grasshopper legs don't work like dental floss |
A few of our group allowed the de-venomed creatures to crawl on them. And Jan tried the fried crickets. Personally, Russ and I were happy to just step back and observe.
All is well with the Worrall Travel R's.
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