Cambodian Markets - Suprisingly Clean!

The food markets had all the typical fruits, vegetables and river weeds. The butchery section held the usual pork, beef, chicken and fish sections. Standard cuts and inners open to the air, displayed on tables with the flies buzzing around. Personally I was impressed by the cleanliness. The fish and seafood was the most surprising, if the fish were not sold alive they were packed on ice (in Phnom Phen). We didn’t experience a small village market where I’m sure the conditions would not be quite as savoury.

The spice section of the markets was very small in relation to neighbouring Thailand and Vietnam (even Laos). The shrimp paste and fermented fish piles are mountain high and stench as strong.


There are some good snacks available, the baguettes are filled with papaya salad, chilli, cheese and a meat substance (Cambodian pate). I large baguette, more than enough to fill an empty belly for $1US.

Bundles of sticky rice sticks (packed into bamboo, sugar cane or corn husks), sticky rice cakes and sweet bread items are available for 1000 riel (about 25 US cents).

Fresh fruit drink stands and sugar cane stands (sugar cane is piled high in the streets) are seen scattered around, 1000 riel an cup.

Crossing the Cambodian Border

From Bangkok’s main station take the 5.50am train to Aranyaprathet, third class only. The seats are hard and it can get pretty crowded but the windows open and you can watch rural areas of Thailand go by with the wind in your hair. The rice paddies are a beautiful distraction over the 6hr trip.
The trip costs 47 baht.

From the train station at Aranyaprathet take a tuk-tuk to the border for 80 baht. Without fail the tuk-tuk driver will take you to a tout to get your Cambodian visa (THIS IS NOT THE BORDER, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO FILL OUT ANY FORMS OR PAY ANY MONEY). This is the first scam along the way! Get back in your tuk-tuk and go to the border. At the border walk through Thai immigration, once through keep walking for about 150 meters to the Cambodian immigration. The route is a little confusing past big casino’s with people approaching you wanting to guide you, offering you taxi services and visa services. IGNORE THEM AND KEEP WALKING. (more scams)

You can get a Cambodian visa at the border it costs $20 US, do not pay any more. If you have a chance get your visa in Bangkok before heading to Cambodia, it will make the crossing a little easier for you.

Once through immigration you enter the town of Poipet. A typical border town, here you will be approached by people wanting to take you to a taxi. A shared taxi to Siem Riep cost $60 US (4 people can share this).

On the way to Siem Riep (about 3 hours) the taxi will make a toilet stop. Everybody is on commission and yes water does cost $1 US.

Ordering the Right Balance

While there are similarities, Cambodian cuisine should be taken in its own right. Khmer recipes go back to the days before the introduction of the chilli, so are consequently much milder than most Asian food.The best of Khmer food is about balancing your meal as a whole. Where single Thai dishes might attempt to balance spicy, sour, sweet and salty in a single bowl, Khmer food goes about achieving the same balance through multiple dishes usually a sour soup, a curry, a fried fish, steamed rice.

Ingredients

Spices
Prior to the 16th century, the chilli was relatively unknown in Asia until the arrival of the Portuguese. It was many years before chilli was introduced to Cambodia. Tamarind, is a common ingredient in sour dishes such as soups. Star anise is a must when caramelizing meats in palm sugar like pork in the dish known as pak lov. Turmeric, galangal, ginger, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves are essential spices in Khmer cooking, such as stews and curries.
From India, by way of Java, Cambodians have been taught the art of blending spice paste using many ingredients like cardamom, star anise, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and turmeric. Other native ingredients like lemongrass, galangal, garlic, shallots, coriander, and kaffir lime leaves are added to these spices to make a distinctive and complex spice blend called "kroeung." This is an important aromatic paste commonly used in Cambodian cooking. and stews.

Vegetables
Many vegetables used in Khmer cuisine are also used in Chinese cuisine. Vegetables such as winter melon, bitter melon, luffa, and yardlong beans are found in soups. Oriental squash can be stewed, stir fried or sweetened and steamed with coconut milk as a dessert. Vegetables like mushrooms, cabbage, baby corn, bamboo shoots, fresh ginger, Chinese broccoli, snow peas, and bok choy are commonly used in stir fry dishes .

Fruits
Fruits in Cambodia are very popular! The durian is considered the King, the mangosteen the queen, sapodilla the prince and the "milk fruit" (phlai teuk doh ko) the princess. Other popular fruits include: the jan fruit, kuy fruit, romduol, pineapple, star apple, rose apple, coconut, palmyra fruit, jackfruit, papaya, watermelon, banana, mango and rambutans. Although fruits are usually considered desserts, some fruits such as ripe mangoes, watermelon, and pineapples are eaten commonly with heavily salted fish with plain rice.

Meats
Fish is the most common form of meat in Khmer cuisine. Dried salted fish known as trei ngeat (???) are a favourite with plain rice porridge. The popular Khmer dish called amok uses a kind of catfish steamed in a savoury coconut based curry. Pork is used to make sweet Khmer sausages known as twah ko. Beef and chicken are stewed, grilled or stir fried. More unusual meats include frog, turtle, and tarantulas; enjoyed as everyday delights in Cambodia.

Holiday in Cambodia

The trip from the Thai/Cambodia boarder to Siem Riep was an adventure to say the least. We shared a taxi with an older South Korean couple with limited English, our taxi driver had just as few words, mostly his name and where we were going (we paid $15 US each to make the 3hr journey).

First impression of a country when you come thru a border town will rarely be good, the town Poipet was no exception, dusty, dirty busy with cars, buses, minivans and pickups full of people coming and going. Up the road a little were horse drawn carts and cattle roaming free across the so called highway, (the horse drawn cart was a new one for us, we'd never seen on the streets of south east asia before).

Driving through small communities on our way to Siem Riep it became apparent to us that Cambodia was another poor country where people survived on their own self sufficiency.
On arrival to the out skirts of Siem Riep we were swooped on by tuk-tuk drivers (later we were to learn this was a common occurrence once you got on the streets) offering to take us to our guest house. Sure, great hastle free, out of the taxi, into the tuk-tuk and onto the guest house of our choice. IF ONLY! We were taken to the wrong guest house, when asked to be taken to the one we asked for we were told it was a long way away so the charge was $2 US (which may not sound like much but most Cambodian's live off less than this a day). Ok, ok just take us where we want to go!

We get 10 metres down the road and there is the sign to our guest house. We yell to the drive to stop, STOP, we'll get out; he wants to circle round, NO NO WE'LL GET OUT. After stuffing us about he decides he still wants his $2, (which he isn't getting), we grab our backpacks and start walking to the sound of the swearing tuk-tuk driver. THAT'S RIGHT HE WAS SWEARING AT US BECAUSE WE DIDN'T PAY HIM $2 FOR A 10 METRE JOURNEY!

By now I was hoping our trip to Cambodia was going to get better than our first impressions of the place.

Shiva, Pushkar

I saw Shiva no more than three brief periods of maybe 15-20 minutes each, before he invited me to his cousins wedding in Pushkar, a 40 hr train ride from where we were in Gokarna, on the Karnataka coastline. And with my ever cautious western mind, I needed some time to think about this amazing offer from a virtual stranger. After a few days lazing on a nearby beach, I decided that I would be crazy to turn down this opportunity. In making this decision, I had changed the entire plan of my visit to India. Instead of covering both coastlines of the south, I would instead head north to the deserts of Rajasthan, and afterwards onto the cultural Hindu heartland of Varanasi, then North east to the Himalayan region of Sikkim. It's always good to keep an open mind!

So one month later I met up with Shiva in Pushkar. Everywhere I went I was offered food and chai. I was introduced to Shiva's entire family, and shown around the families farm. All his friends and relatives were incredibly welcoming. The hospitalty shown towards me was very heart warming. Life has been very tough for the farmers in Rajasthan for a few years now, like many farmers the world over. One of my favourite meals was a few varities of of chapati, a dahl (all prepared over an open flame in a mud hut come kitchen), and some deliciuos, rich buffalo curd which was fresh that evening. I was served first and made to eat twice as much as anyone else. Even though times are financially difficult and very frustrating for Shiva's family, I was amazed by their generosity and happiness. Food has never tasted so good as when it has come from someone who cannot afford to share it. This is one meal I will always remember.

This is not so much a story about the wedding, that is another one entirely, but more about friendship and generosity. Shiva just wanted to share with me, a complete stranger, some of his culture, to have a new friend. Our friends are one of the most important gifts we have in this life.

A Day on the Train, Mumbai

It begins early with the chai and coffee "wallahs" that parade up and down with their fresh brews and their own unique way of yelling out their goods. I mean, does anyone really feel like a chai at 4am, apparently so! These guys are closely followed by the food vendors with fresh samosas, vadas (a lentil pattie), fried veg cutlets or some other tasty morsel. Sometimes you are lucky enough to be sitting with a family, and when it's lunch time, everyone eats, including you. It is normally a chappati based meal with rice, a dhal and a potato curry style dish. Most of the time it comes from a family who speaks very little english, but they are only too eager to share with you their family meal. Sometimes your swamped by a carriage of small children, who after a few minutes of shyness, are climbing all over you, laughing and smiling.

When you travel in the unreserved third class, you may have to stand for quite some time before getting a seat. That could be in the aisle, next to the toilet, or hanging out of the open door. Those without tickets sit on the roof, not recommended! Even though you may not have a seat, theres still plenty of smiles and conversation on offer. A friend and I decided to catch a peak hour passenger train in Mumbai(Bombay), with our backpacks! That turned out to be one of the hardest workouts of my life. I'm not the smallest guy in India by any stretch of the imagination, but there were times when I was convinced my feet weren't touching the ground. Quite a few people were surprised that we were attempting that in peak hour, a few even asked, " What the hell are you doing here?" Even under the immense crush, there was still more conversation, plenty of smiles, and even a few lifes, as well as a few pickpockets!

If you can manage to excuse yourself from a conversation, you find yourself staring at the mesmerizing scenery. The south is a vivid green, splattered with hundreds of coconut palms, rice paddies and glistening rivers. The north is a vast desert, with wild rock formations, towns popping up like an oasis and camels shading themselves under sparse vegetation. Sometimes you pass through tiny villages, close enough to the living room of a family house that you can see what's on television. On the toy train from Darjeeling, we passed by a guy bathing himself on his front step, close enough that you could have taken his soap from him! No place to be shy in India!

Travel around India can sometimes be a painfully slow experience, but the train system is a huge network that provides so much fun and beauty. It is such a huge part of the Indian experience.

The "Humble" Samosa

Walking through the local market in Bundi, I came across a large crowd surrounding a little stall. Behind the "hungry" eyes were three men. Two of them were making fresh samosas, whilst the other guy was fishing out about 50 piping hot samosas from a huge wok of oil. He would then place a samosa on a piece of newspaper, squash it, then pour over 2 sauces, one a spicy, sweet, tangy one, the other a dahl.

One of these super fresh, swimming samosas cost only rps3 (AUS 0.08c). It was no wonder there was a huge crowd hanging around! It made me reflect on the take away food business, and how important it is in a place like India. It provides everyone with nutrition, great flavour, and all at an affordable price. I'm sure there are many people who look forward to this little stand opening every afternoon, and I was surely glad I had stumbled across it too!

The variety of snacks deep fried on the side of the road in India is immense. The flavour, freshness and price are the three things which stand out the most. All you need is some form of table, a wok and some oil, and your open for business. You can spend all day wandering and not set foot inside a restaurant, and still be well fed and entertained. This amusing side show starts early and finishes late, and will cost you only a handfull of rupees, plus your life story told on repeat.