"Cambodia Ruins People, Man!"

It's like India, or maybe Cuba, meets Bourbon Street New Orleans. You've got the grunge + the weird, the hustlers, the booze + the girls. It's sex, drugs + rock 'n roll here baby and anything's available for a price. (Photo: This is what you have to warn people against!)

There are ALOT of expat's here and we've been warned that Cambodia ruins people. When everything's for sale it seems too easy not to say "Sure, why not?!" With that in mind, it's not SO surprising to discover that the Russian mob is laying down LOTS of cash for resorts and "hostess" bars and the Japanese are buying whole islands for casinos. Cambodia's still growing, but it's "boomed" and you'd have to be willing to lay down some cash and deal with stiff competition to make a go of it here. (Photo: Man-powered "cyclo", cycle rickshaw)

Sihanoukville - December 31

The Khmers were out in full-force tonight, vastly outnumbering the falang/tourists, kicking it down for western New Year which they don't even celebrate by their calendar, or so we thought! They were shooting off roman candles out over the ocean which we could see down the long stretch of sand. We walked along, feet in the surf, past sandcastle-style Angkor Wat's and Happy New Year 2007's on the beach, lit by candles, with the background soundtrack of dance music changing as we passed bar after bar. When midnight struck, we were surprised by the moment and found ourselves separated - Ironic considering how glued at the hip we've become on this trip, and actually had to run towards each other for the token kiss as the fireworks began firing off with fury. Later - At one bar, a Khmer dude was spinning fire at professional level while we boogied down. Eventually, their amp started to go and then so did we. Such is the way things seem to happen by luck and chance here.

Check the "link" for more Sihanoukville area photos.

Phnom Penh - January 5

The Central Market - A pale yellow, peeling, art deco showpiece is one of the best preserved French colonial buildings remaining in the city. The market itself is not so exciting on the surface - Tons of vendors all selling the usual junk, but if you wander the many lanes you'll see electric-blue legged lobsters, crabs dueling in a bowl, and fried insects! Including large tarantulas with egg sacks filled to bursting. (See photo) Another wild, but a bit more tantalizing site were large, flayed squid grilling over coals, then sliced up and served over rice with a sweet chili-lime sauce. Smelled good, but not enough to lure us out of our vegetarian diets.

Check the "link" for more Phnom Penh photos. And for something a bit more tasty, try this one at home, it's practically the national dish of Cambodia - Amok Recipe (Note: Put lots of basil leaves in the bottom of the banana-leaf cups. You can also substitute the fish with cubed firm tofu or veggie chicken + mushrooms)


Tonle Sap Delta- January 8

Leaving Battambang, we cruised through scruffy little riverside villages for a solid two hours or more before the stilt homes became fewer and far between and the river began to curve in long, lazy S's. This was the area of the REAL fisherpeople. There were fish traps of every shape and size - Spheres, long cylinders with a spiraling vortex in the center to better catch the fish, and the grandaddy of them all, a huge, cantilevered contraption with net that is lowered in to catch fish by the scores (See photo) - and every stilt home or houseboat we passed had someone cleaning the catch. All along, kids waved and screeched out "Goodbye!", hands flailing wildly, as our boat slowly cruised by. By the looks, things haven't changed much here in a very long time. We passed many small settlements and at one point opened onto an entire floating city where the delta widened. About midway through this 8 hour cruise we both popped in our I-Pods. I put on my Burningman daytime set which was just about perfect (and more than a bit reminiscent) for the slow, scenic unfolding of river life as we people-watched in the warm sun.

Check the "link" for more photos from the Tonle Sap delta cruise

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