Day 24, Phnom Penh -> Homestay (1/2 way to Siem Reap)
Woke really early to meet in the loby at 7:30am, took the Public bus again to their lunch spot, then got us and our bags off and transferred to a Private bus. We ate at the same resturnt though. I got a "pork bun" Looked somewhat like a regular pork bun, tasted like minced steamed pork and vegties and had 1/4 of a HB egg in the bottom! Wasn't expecting that but it was pretty tasty, I also had chicken noodle soup, very bland with ramen noodles and veggies in it. At least when it's bland you know there is probably not any MSG.
After lunch we walked across the street to a local market where I saw Beetle nuts and Green leaves (apparently the old people chew the combo to keep their teeth strong??), also roasted clams with salt and chilies (teensy, about 1/2" in diameter) some of our group tried them but I was a bit wary of seafood sitting out in the sun for hours. Ew.
Long had us try pounded rice (turns into flakes like coconut, but tastes odd, very rice intensified), Sour leaf, (not bad, just as it sounds, it's in a lot of food here, so good to know what it is fresh), sticky rice and toasted banana in banana leaf, and also fresh squeezed sugarcane juice. Tasty and almost citruslike. There were a lot of people and stalls and meat out in the sun, P and I both bought some fruit, Wax Jambu (or Rose apple as long calls them) for me, and P got Chinese apples and local bananas. They had Jazz apples from the US in one of the stalls, funny.
Then back across the street and onto the bus and onwards toward the Homestay. So far everyone in Cambodia (other than the somewhat pushy sales people) have been amazingly friendly.
We stopped at Sambor Prei Kuk Comservation Project (temples) on the way to the homestay and the local guide who had met us at the lunch stop showed us around. We were met at the temple by a pack of children trying to sell us scarves, persistent buggers, we had 9 of them trailing us the entire time. Probably ranging in age from 6 to 13 or so, though they looked younger. We met up with another group at one point and the total of children reached 20. When we split up again though we were back to our original 9. :P Pretty neat ruined temples, some partially restored. It was a very beautiful walk, many of the temples were covered in vines and crumbling. After the 2nd or so building the guide and I started picking up trash we saw lying around and dropping it in the trash bins, eventually many of the kids stared to help us. I did eventually get talked into buying a cotton scarf from the one that was helping me pick up trash at the end. Such a pushover I am. Oh well who wants a pretty pink scarf? :P
Back in the bus we headed to the little village where the homestay is. With 9 of us we were too many for one house so we split up. Long and 4 of us in one house, the other 4 in another house across the way. Our house was raised on stilts, with the animals beneath it. They had a western styke toilet on the ground level (though you flush it with a scoop of water from a tank), along with the still for making rice wine, and the pigs, and chickens, and puppies, and dogs and cattle when they came in. In the house, up a VERY steep staircase, was a big room with cloth seperated "cublicles" with a pallet and a pillow that we were sleeping in along both sides, with a open slatted floor area in the center. Looked like the couple's room and the kitchen were in the back. I didn't go explore. It felt odd. They didn't speak ANY english at all, though they had 2 daughters who spoke a bit of english. The girls were 13 and 16. The 13 year old wants to be a doctor.
After getting situated and dropping off our day packs, we went wandering through the village with the guide to explore. Saw sunset over a bridge (and TONS of trash under it, god) and then wandered down near the river to get better sunset shots. Walked back in the dusk to arrive at yet another house for dinner. Directly between the two houses we are staying at, it had the most room outdoors to set up tables for us to eat apparently.
Dinner was Chicken soup that had an odd taste I didn't care for, Stir fried veggies that were great, Steamed rice and deep fried fish bits that were also wonderful. They brought tea to the table as well as beer, the tea was pretty horrid. Ew, haven't the foggiest idea what kind of tea it was, but it tasted rancid. After dinner they brought out a new fruit I hadn't had before called Milk fruit, has a milky juice, Color runs from green (not quite as ripe) to deep purple, though the sap from the rind is glue sticky. I highly recomend eating it with a spoon rather than biting in, the sticky lips was annoying though the taste was good.
After fruit Long brought out a CAKE! :) Piotr cut the cake but there ended up being so many family members who wanted a piece that we all only got a teenst taste. Oh well it was good.Since it was fully dark by thew time we started dinner, we all stayed around the tables and chatted for a bit where there was light, then gave up and retired to our houses about 7:30ish where we tried talking to our host family. Gary had brought some whiskey so we shared, but it was too strong for them. Around 9 I gave up and turned in.
Woke at 2:30 needing to go to the bathroom, it was an adventure to get down the steep stairs, around all the junk under the house and to the toilet, then back without breaking my neck. When I got back (very glad for bright moonlight) Gary, Tim and the large pig below the house were having a snore chorous. It took me a bit to fall back to sleep for the need to giggle.
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