Here are some of our favorite photos from the trip (each photo is a thumbnail linked to a higher quality picture.):
186) Ben Thanh Ward, Sài Gòn, Vietnam, March 1, 2025 - After lunch we hustled back to the hotel where we retrieved our luggage and had a final meet-up with our now ex-guide Minh as he booked our cab to the new hotel where our Cambodia tour would start. It was a quick 15 minute cab ride - out first in one of the Vietnamese Vinfast electric cars - and then a quick check-in for our room. We rested for about 30 minutes then went out to find a Post Office to mail the last of our postcards from Vietnam. Then it was back again to rest for another short bit and then back down to the lobby for the Welcome meeting for the Cambodia group. We met Borey, the Cambodian guide we’ll spend the next week with, and the 14 people we’ll be sharing this tour with - a mix from Australia, the UK, Canada and the US. Two of the people from our Vietnam tour are also on this one so at least us introverts have a couple of people we can hang out with from the beginning. The meeting lasted an hour while we went over the various details of the visas required to leave Vietnam and to enter Cambodia. We also got the itinerary and the emergency contact info. With all the logistics reviewed most of us then went out for a group dinner which was a very nice way to meet some of the fellow tour participants. Now we are back at the hotel to get some sleep to prep for our very early and very long bus trip (on a public bus) from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh. In the good news/bad news department the bed is very comfortable but our room overlooks a very busy street (with a lot of curious businesses with names like "Lucky Massage Spa", "Happy Inn Hotel" and "Passion Suites Hotel" so ear plugs will be a requirement to get to sleep early on a Saturday night.
187) National Highway 1, Cambodia, March 2, 2025 - Our second tour started with our entry into Cambodia! We woke up at 6am in order to get packed, eat breakfast, check out and get our luggage sorted for loading onto a bus. One of the philosophies of Intrepid as a company is to get travelers connecting with the people and cultures so to that end our travel from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to Phnom Penh in Cambodia would be by public bus. So at 7:30am we boarded a Giant Ibis bus in front of our hotel. After we were loaded the bus drove to the nearby bus terminal and picked up the other passengers who would also be traveling to Phnom Penh - a tour group of Indian tourists and about half a dozen other people. The fact that it was Sunday meant that traffic in Ho Cho Minh City was just terrible rather than catastrophic so we made decent time leaving. It probably took about an hour to get out of the city. Then it was another hour and a half to the border crossing into Cambodia. We did the passport and visa dance correctly and were stamped out of Vietnam. We then went to a restaurant/duty free shop in the no man’s land between border checkpoints for lunch. It was mediocre at best and expensive since we were a captive audience. While we were eating the bus stewardess was getting all our Cambodian eVisas converted to approved entry cards. Once lunch was done we all went through Cambodian Immigration to get our passports stamped. Then it was back in the bus for our first glimpse of Cambodia. My first impressions were that Cambodia is a much poorer country than Vietnam and that it had a much lower population density. Having a quarter of your population wiped out 40 years ago will do that. The road we were on was paved but every side road was dirt. There were many small towns along the main road but nearly all of them were one or maybe two story. There were far fewer scooters and motorbikes and a lot more big trucks. Clearly Cambodia imports a lot from Vietnam. Unlike Vietnam but like Thailand there is a tradition of spirit houses here so there is a small shrine, usually painted gold, in front of every house. And the temples have a completely different style than those we’d seen in Vietnam. Cobra snakes are a big part of religious decoration in Cambodia in the same that dragons were in Vietnam.
188) National Highway 1, Soeng Village, Cambodia, March 2, 2025 - We drove for about two hours and then the bus stopped at a truck stop so we could use the restroom and buy snacks. (The bus service provided a croissant and a bottle of water in the morning and a cold can of coffee latte in the afternoon.) The rest stop provided me a chance to look at Cambodian snacks and that was also different. Fewer packaged/processed goods and more natural or baked goods - cashews, dried fruits and homemade crackers seemed to dominate. We were back on the bus for another two hours after then break which put us into Phnom Penh around 4pm. I checked my weather app as we pulled into town - 91 degrees F and 91% humidity. Ooof! The bus dropped us off at the central bus terminal where we immediately hopped on a smaller tourist bus for the trip to our hotel.
189) Tuk-Tuk Tour, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 2, 2025 - We checked in to the hotel but only had an hour to rest before we were back down in the lobby for our first excursion in Phnom Penh - a 2 1/2 hour tuk-tuk tour of the city.
190) Tuk-Tuk Tour, Phsar Thum Thmei (Central Market), Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 2, 2025 - Our first stop was Phsar Thum Thmei ("New Grand Market") which was built by the French in 1937. The stalls were starting to close for the evening when we arrived but there were still enough open for us to get an idea of the place. Flowers, clothes, fruits, nuts, bugs (larvae, crickets, grass hoppers and spiders), seafood and lots more. Cashews are one of the main crops of Cambodia so Jonna bought a bag for a snack.
191) Tuk-Tuk Tour, Phsar Thum Thmei (Central Market), Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 2, 2025 - In addition to the packaged good, there was also prepared food available including seafood from the coast.
192) Tuk-Tuk Tour, Phsar Thum Thmei (Central Market), Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 2, 2025 - Every culture has their food that is very different from what we usually encounter it the "west" and Cambodia has inexpensive protein in the form of insects, arachnids and larvae. This booth had crickets, tarantulas and grubs. Not gross but definitely different.
193) Tuk-Tuk Tour, Phsar Thum Thmei (Central Market), Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 2, 2025 - The central area inside the market building was reserved mainly for expensive goods like jewelry.
194) Tuk-Tuk Tour, Wat Phnom Daun Penh (Mountain Pagoda), Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 2, 2025 - From the market we got back in the tuk-tuks for a drive to the Yeay Penh Statue. This monument tells the mythic founder of the city and there are decorations around the monument telling the story of the magical discovery of some statues which caused the building of a hilltop temple which then grew into Phnom Penh. Across the street from the statue is the temple of Wat Phnom - the modern temple built in the location of the one from legend. It is a beautiful building with typically elaborate decorations and statues which typify Cambodia temple architecture. The inside of the temple was closed for the night but we could walk around the building and see some of the outside shrines. We also got to watch the flying fox fruit bats flying through the garden surrounding the temple. The bats have wingspans a few feet across so very cool to see arcing overhead.
195) Tuk-Tuk Tour, Wat Phnom Daun Penh (Mountain Pagoda), Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 2, 2025 - One of the outside shrines had a sculptural wall telling the story of King Sisowath who reunified Cammbodia in 1907 after the western portion of the ancient Khmer empire had been take by Siam (Thailand). The statue of the king looks down on a giant lawn clock originally gifted by the French in 1960 and then later renovated by the Chinese in 2000.
196) Tuk-Tuk Tour, Wat Phnom Daun Penh (Mountain Pagoda), Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 2, 2025 - In the park below the main temple we saw a big group of young women doing traditional dance so we headed over to investigate. It turns out that a documentary about Cambodian culture is being shot at the temples near Siem Reap in a few days and this dance troupe was rehearsing. We watched them go through their dance a couple of times, then thanked them for letting us spectate. The young ladies were all very cheerful and thanked us for the applause.
197) Tuk-Tuk Tour, Independence Monument, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 2, 2025 - From the temple we got back in the tuk-tuks and headed to our next destination - the Independence Monument and park. A large marble arch has been built in a major traffic circle on one end of a long park. This monument celebrates Cambodian Independence from the French in Nov of 1954. Our guide Borey told us a little of the colonial history of Cambodia and explained how the King, Norodom Sihanouk, navigated that time to create the modern country of Cambodia. Fittingly, a large monument to King Father Norodom Sihanouk was built right across the street just 12 years ago when King Sihanouk died.
198) Tuk-Tuk Tour, Royal Palace Park, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 2, 2025 - One thing that stood out in Independence Park is how Cambodians come out at night to enjoy large communal spaces. There were kids playing soccer, families having picnics, young adults strolling in little groups, tuk-tuk drivers lolling about chatting. It is so intensely hot during the day that the cool of the evening is when people socialize. Then we got back in the tuk-tuks for the final leg of our tour - to the Royal Palace Park. As the name suggests this is a large park directly in front of the Royal Palace where the current King lives (Note: the King is ceremonial in nature, like the Royal family in England. Political power rests with a democratically elected Prime Minister who is always from the dominant Communist Party - though technically there are something like 16 other small parties which play minor roles in politics.) The roads in front of the Royal Palace are closed to motorized traffic every evening and the second tier roads around the park are closed on weekends so tonight it was a big pedestrian place that was lovely to walk around in. Thousands of people out strolling with lots of polite laughter and singing and lively conversation. All while colorful lights and little children’s toys and tiny dogs and kids on bicycles (or miniature electric cars) zoomed around. The most obvious feeling is how much smaller Phnom Penh is than Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. HCMC is around 13.1 million people. All of Cambodia is 16 million and Phnom Penh is around 3.5 million. Big by the standards of most US cities but spacious compared to Vietnam. And the people are quite happy - some surveys rank Cambodians in the top of the happiest people in the world. So the atmosphere was really light and friendly. (That said, guide books warn that minor crime like purse snatching, pick pocketing and money scams are common so happy or otherwise we still kept a firm hand on our bags.) We walked the length of the park and then found a restaurant that could accommodate all 16 in our party. The food was good and while it was expensive compared to Vietnam it was still cheap by US standards. I had a vegetarian version of the national dish and Jonna had a papaya salad. Add a bottle of water for Jonna and a fruit smoothie for me. The total was $17.75. Oh, and the total was in US Dollars because Cambodia is dual currency. The official currency is the Khmer Riel but most prices are listed in US dollars since that is the preferred currency. We celebrated the birthday of one of our tour members but the called it an early night when the table next to us fired up the karaoke machine. Four of us walked to the edge of the pedestrian mall and found a tuk-tuk driver who said he’d bring us to the hotel for $3. But once we started driving it became clear that a) he was drunk and b) he had no idea where our hotel was. Jonna managed to use Google maps to navigate him in the right direction from the back and once we got close we had him drop us off. We walked the rest of the way and chalked it up to a travel adventure.
199) Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 2, 2025 - One clear sign you are in southeast Asia: In addition to "No Smoking" signs in the hotel elevator there is also a "No Durian" sign. Our first day in Cambodia was a success. It is an interesting culture (91% Buddhist means a calmness that is palpable) and a much less frantic environment than Vietnam.
200) Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 3, 2025 - Today, as expected, was a heavy one. We started easy enough sleeping in until 7:30 and then grabbing the usual hotel breakfast. Most of the options are Cambodian food so fried noodles, fried rice, rice soup, stir fried veggies and fruit. The fruit juice was currant juice which was a new choice. After breakfast we met up in the lobby to board a bus for our visit to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, commonly known as Security Prison 21. When the Khmer Rouge took control of Cambodia in 1973 they emptied out all the cities forcing all the population into the rural areas to farm. The idea was to create an agrarian society where everyone was the same. However, the second way to achieve that end was to kill all the intellectuals. What had been a large high school in Phnom Penh was converted into a prison. Doctors, teachers, business people, members of the Cambodian Army and anyone who disagreed with Pol Pot’s philosophy were brought to one of 164 security prisons spread around the country. In these prisons they were interrogated about what then had done before, what they believed and who they knew. Accusations and charges were made and then torture used to get confessions. After 2 to 4 months in the prison the "criminal" was brought out to one of over 300 extermination centers where they were executed and buried. Records were kept of everyone detained (though some of the records were destroyed in 1979 as the Vietnamese Army captured most of Cambodia and pushed the Khmer Rouge into the mountains along the border with Thailand. This extermination system, combined with mass starvation when the agriculture plan proved insufficient to feed the population, resulted in around 3 million people (one quarter of the entire population) dying in just three years. Security Prison 21, previously Tuol Svay Prey High School, was believed to have had approximately 20,000 people pass through over three years. It is now a UNESCO site to preserve this tragic place for posterity - there is much to learn here but the lesson is difficult.
201) Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 3, 2025 - While some of the rooms have been cleaned most of the buildings were left as they were when the prison was liberated in 1979. A row of cells used to house particularly important prisoners were left as they were and each one has a photograph showing the room, usually with a dead body on the bed, as it was found. Heavy, heavy.
202) Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 3, 2025 - Photos of many of the victims have been found but the paperwork that identifies each photo was destroyed so there are walls inside covered with the nameless photos of victims. The look on the faces in the mug shots is chilling.
203) Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 3, 2025 - There are four remaining buildings - the prison actually spanned many more blocks. Three of the buildings were converted to museum space while one was left unchanged so visitors can see the layout of the prison rooms. The museum displays were pretty graphic - photos, paintings and first person testimonials of what happened in the prison.
204) Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 3, 2025 - This building was used for female prisoners. Each of these brick boxes housed a prisoner who was chained to a bar along the floor of each cell. There was no door and guards patroled the hallways. Truly degrading conditions.
205) Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 3, 2025 - When the prison was liberated by the Vietnamese army in 1979 there were only 23 survivors. Later research has identified a total of 179 survivors out of the approximately 20,000 people who were sent to the prison. The displays were, for me, dispiriting. I understand indoctrination and child soldiers and forced enforcement but fundamentally it is beyond my abilities to comprehend how one human can torture or kill in cold blood another human. That this was happening at such a large scale and on such a personal level and was happening to everyone: men, women, children and babies... It is ghastly. How an individual, much less an entire country can survive this is also astounding to me. We spent two hours at Security Prison 21 and, at least for me, it was a very sobering way to start the day.
206) Choeung Ek Genocidal Center, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 3, 2025 - We boarded the bus and had a 20 minute drive to our next stop: Choeung Ek Genocidal Center (better known as the Phnom Penh Killing Field). This land was a Chinese-Khmer graveyard before 1975 but after the Khmer Rouge took control this became the main extermination center for Security Prison 21. As I mentioned earlier this was one of over 300 extermination camps that existed in Cambodia but it has been turned into a memorial and museum so it is the place to go to learn about how they operated.
207) Choeung Ek Genocidal Center, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 3, 2025 - It is estimated that about 20,000 people were killed and buried at this site. The entire field is filled with burial pits but only about half the site has been excavated. The remains of 8,895 were found at that time but bones, clothing, personal items and killing tools continue to be found after rain storms or as walking paths within the site wear down the ground. We saw a few different places where these items have been collected as they are found. Pieces of clothing were visible sticking up out of the dried mud at various places as we walked through the site. It is raw and sickening to experience. A few of the pits have been fenced off and have descriptions to help understand what you are seeing but at any point you look across the field and can see all the undulations that indicate just how many mass graves are at this site.
208) Choeung Ek Genocidal Center, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 3, 2025 - The museum has detailed information about the key Khmer Rouge officers and information about the five members who have been brought up on Crimes Against Humanity charges. The museum also had a 15 minute film that talked specifically about how this camp operated. Horrifying. This tree, supposedly the site were babies were killed, is now a living memorial with trickets, meditation beeds, toys and other items left to commemorate the dead.
209) Choeung Ek Genocidal Center, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 3, 2025 - Finally, we visited the memorial stupa in the center of the site which has glass sides where the bones that have been found here are interned. Seeing row after row of skulls - thousands of them - is overwhelming. After 1 1/2 hours at the Killing Field we re-boarded the bus in an even more somber mood than earlier. As the (air conditioned!) bus drove us back to Phnom Penh both the day tour guide and our Intrepid tour discussed how the lives of their families had been impacted. Beyond the killing they also told stories of the forced marriages, the impact of destroying education and medical systems, and the effects of the famine. Everyone in Cambodia in the 1970s and 1980s were affected. Back in Phnom Penh our guided turned our attention to modern Cambodia: How happy people are now. How Cambodia is pushing forward trying to improve economically. How Cambodians are trying to find new ways to define themselves based on the glory of their Angkor history instead of the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge. I can’t say I cheered up completely but at least I quit dwelling on man’s inhumanity to our fellow man. We had lunch at a tourist restaurant - $17.50 for a two meals and two drinks. By mid-day it was warmer and drier than it had been yesterday. At 12:30pm it was 93 degrees F with 50% humidity. After eating on a shaded outdoor patio we were happy to again sit in an air-conditioned bus for the return to the hotel. Jonna and I formulated a plan to go out in the afternoon to visit the National History Museum but once we were back in the cool hotel room we lost our motivation. Instead we chose to nap, relax and think about what we'd experienced that day.
210) Mekong River Cruise, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 3, 2025 - At 5pm our group collected in the lobby for our evening outing - a sunset cruise on the Mekong River. A group of tuk-tuks took our group through the city to the riverside. We boarded a private double deck boat which immediately pulled away from the bank and started a slow cruise downriver giving us a nice view of the city skyline. We also got to see river freighters carrying loads downstream, fishermen pulling in their lines or putting out their nets, the constant stream of ferries bring people into Phnom Penh from the other side of the river and all the other sunset cruise boats cruising along the banks. As the sun set the sky lit up but so did the skyline. Many of the buildings were lit up with colorful lights: Temples had spot lights illuminating their golden spires, skyscrapers with massive screens showed giant videos and boats turned on flashing LEDs that reflected off the water.
211) Mekong River Cruise, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 3, 2025 - We spent two hours on the cruise and our tour guide did a very nice thing - just as the sun set and the sky was glowing pink she asked us to spread out so we had some space alone and to think about the day. The boat cut its engine and we had a quiet moment to reflect on everything Cambodia has been through while gazing out on what it is busy becoming. It was a poignant moment.
212) Phnom Penh Night Market, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 3, 2025 - After the cruise Jonna and I decided to walk back - about 20 minutes. Along the way we found an Indian Restaurant - perhaps of questionable quality. The food tasted good but there were also some signs that maybe it wasn’t the best place. Thankfully, we didn’t get sick and regret our dinner choice. At least the price was right - $12 for a dinner for two. Just around the corner from the restaurant was the night market. It was gritty and dirty but also a very local part of Phnom Penh in contrast to the tourist areas. We also stopped en-route at a convenience store where I got snacks for tomorrow and an ice cream bar for tonight. We got back to the hotel around 8:30pm which gave us time to pick up the laundry we’d sent out yesterday for cleaning and to shower off the sweat and bug repellent from today. Tomorrow we leave the capital to see some of central Cambodia.
213) ពូមីងធ្វើឆ្នាំង (Pottery House), Khum Srae Thmei, Cambodia, March 4, 2025 - p It was time to pack up and head to western Cambodia. So we woke up at 6:45am in order to get breakfast at the hotel, reorganize our luggage, and check out. At 8am we filed onto a big bus and started to drive out of Phnom Penh. After a couple of hours we made a quick bathroom stop and turned off the main road to drive to the village of Svey Chrum. Here we visited the home of Nem - a traditional potter. She showed us how she makes clay rice pots based to the technique passed down from two previous generations of women potters. She doesn’t use a potter’s wheel but instead uses two wooden tools: one that is round like a ball with a small handle and the other that is a bamboo paddle. She rolls out clay, then forms it into a tube. Next she inserts the round shaping tool and beats on the outside of the clay to stretch the clay onto a spherical bowl shape. Next she shaped the rim. Then she finalized the shape of the bowl and added decoration. Then she finished by stretching the side around to form the bottom of the bowl.
214) ពូមីងធ្វើឆ្នាំង (Pottery House), Khum Srae Thmei, Cambodia, March 4, 2025 - p Behind her studio she has a "kiln" area where she builds a big fire to bake the pots. There is no kiln structure just a big bonfire built on top of a stack of pots. She can make about 10 bowls a day and each sells for $1.
215) ពូមីងធ្វើឆ្នាំង (Pottery House), Khum Srae Thmei, Cambodia, March 4, 2025 - p Her husband and son operate a small sugar palm plantation which they showed how to boil palm juice down to taffy-like sugar.
216) ពូមីងធ្វើឆ្នាំង (Pottery House), Khum Srae Thmei, Cambodia, March 4, 2025 - p The husband scaled a set of 30 foot high palms to show how he harvests the palm juice. They also showed us traditional music instruments and an old design for wooden cow "bells". It was a great side trip and they seemed like a very sweet family.
217) Romcheik 5 Artspace & Café, Battambang, Cambodia, March 4, 2025 - Then we were back on the bus for a short drive to a restaurant for lunch. A boring sandwich for me but Jonna got a soup that she said was perfect. After lunch we had another two hours on the bus to arrive in Battambang. This is the second largest city on Cambodia but at 1.5 million inhabitants it feels small compared to most of the places we have visited. I checked my weather app as we pulled into town at 3pm - 98 degrees and 43% humidity. Sweltering! We checked into our room but then decided to brave the heat to walk to Romcheik 5 Art Space Cafe which our guide had recommended. Good call! We walked through the grounds of a Buddhist temple on the way there and then found the Art Space was a gallery with three floors of contemporary Cambodian art. After the two art museums we saw in Vietnam that were both heavily curated to provide a propagandist message it was refreshing to see art work that seemed much freer in expressing political, social and cultural messages. We particularly enjoyed the work by Hour Seyha which was in both their regular display gallery and as a featured artist in their temporary gallery. The art in the galleries was both larger and more expensive than made sense for us to buy while traveling but we did buy a smaller piece by a local artist that was on display in the attached cafe. We walked back on a different path through the temple and got back just in time for our evening outing with the tour group.
218) Tuk-Tuk Tour, Battambang Central Market, Battambang, Cambodia, March 4, 2025 - This was a two hour tuk-tuk tour of Battambang. Traffic was nearly at a standstill as kids leaving school and people getting off work clogged the road beside the Sangker River. It took a little while but we eventually made it to Psar Nat - the Central Market. This was another French building (the French basically forcibly moved the traditional open air markets into enclosed European style markets) built in the 1930s. It had not been as well maintained as the one in Phnom Penh and looked pretty run down from the outside. Nonetheless, it still functions so we walked through to see it. Along the way we got to taste some traditional Cambodian foods - a desert made from coconut milk, palm sugar, tapioca, and lotus seeds.
219) Tuk-Tuk Tour, Battambang Central Market, Battambang, Cambodia, March 4, 2025 - In the fish market the non-vegetarians tried fermented fish balls with chili. These are apparently a very popular snack in Battabang and the sheer quantity on display would back up that claim..
220) Tuk-Tuk Tour, Pub Street Murals, Battambang, Cambodia, March 4, 2025 - On the other side of the market we got back in the tuk-tuks and made a drive down a street, Pub Street, that was decorated with murals back in 2023. We stopped at some of them to learn the messages in the murals.
221) Tuk-Tuk Tour, Pub Street Murals, Battambang, Cambodia, March 4, 2025 - Compared to many large cities Battambang doesn't have as big a problem with graffiti so these murals were generally free from tags which was nice to see. I doubt public art in many western cities could survive for three years without being tagged beyond recognition.
222) Tuk-Tuk Tour, Damrey Sor Pagoda, Battambang, Cambodia, March 4, 2025 - Next we walked into the Damrey Sor Pagoda complex where we got to visit the main shrine. This Buddhist temple was built in the 1890s and shows architectural and artist influences from Europe, Thailand and Cambodia. It would normally be closed by the time we arrived but a very kind caretaker opened it up so we could look around.
223) Tuk-Tuk Tour, Damrey Sor Pagoda, Battambang, Cambodia, March 4, 2025 - The outside has artistic imagery from Hinduism and Christianity while the inside has huge paintings that tell the story of the life of the Buddha.
224) Tuk-Tuk Tour, Sangker River Farm, Battambang, Cambodia, March 4, 2025 - It was back in the tuk-tuks but now for a 15 minute ride out of town to the village of Wat Tamim. We arrived after sunset but one of the tuk-tuk drivers was related to a woman that owned a pomelo farm and she stayed out at her fruit stand so we could sample the two types of pomelos she grows: one with white flesh that is sweeter and another with pink flesh that is more sour.
225) Tuk-Tuk Tour, Sangker River Farm, Battambang, Cambodia, March 4, 2025 - Jonna was particularly enamored with the preserved lemons the lady sold. They were combination of tart citrus and acidic pickling juice with a little sweetness added for contrast.
226) Tuk-Tuk Tour, Lok Ta Dambong Kra Nhoung (Ta Dumbong Statue), Battambang, Cambodia, March 4, 2025 - We also got to see the swinging suspension bridge built over the Sangker River used to connect this village with villages on the other side. It was now dark so we headed back to Battambang. However, the tour wasn’t over as we had two more stops. The first was at the main roundabout coming into town to see the giant statue of Ta Dumbong Kro Nhong - a mythical protector of the area.
227) Tuk-Tuk Tour, Governor's Residence, Battambang, Cambodia, March 4, 2025 - Then, for our final stop, we drove to the Governor’s Residence. It was closed but we got to see the architecture (it was built in 1905 by an Italian designer) and hear why it isn’t particularly liked by the locals (it was the house of the Thai governor during a time when this province was under Thailand’s control). The best part of this stop was the woman sitting on a tiny stool with a cooler next to her. We asked our guide and she said the woman was selling coconut cakes. We went over to her and got a huge smile in return. To reciprocate we bought one and watched her make it: a thin crepe made from ground yucca. Then a big handful of chilled coconut. Normally, there would be a tablespoon of sugar but we waved off that part. Then a healthy dollop of coconut milk and about a tablespoon of ground sesame seeds. The crepe is then folded like a mini-burrito. It cost all of $.50 and proved Jonna with a sugar-free desert later in the evening. Finally, the tuk-tuks brought us back to the hotel. It had cooled off considerably in the evening so two hours out in the city wasn’t too bad but once Jonna and I walked into the air conditioned hotel room we knew we were done for the night. We ordered room service ($18) and called it a night.
228) Bicycle Tour, Battambang, Cambodia, March 5, 2025 - Wow, was Cambodia hot. We got a big dose of that on this day. The morning started with a good news/bad news thing. The good news is that our hotel room had an air conditioner which allowed us to spend the night blissfully unaware to the temperature outside. On the not so good side of things after a few nights of comfy beds the bed in this hotel was again a plank and, as a result, I didn’t sleep well. So I was up early at around 6:30am. We went down to breakfast at 7am and found a nice spread of food. Knowing we would have a busy morning I did my best to hydrate up with fruit juice, caffeine up with tea and protein up with eggs. At 8am our tour group met up in the lobby for a 15 minute walk through downtown Battambang to Solsabike Tours - a bicycle tour company with a strong social activism ethos. The group that started the group did so with the goals of showing tourists a unique view of Cambodia but also providing financial support to their local communities. Unlike our trip into the Mekong in this case the financial part is set ahead of time as the booking cost of the tour (which, I realize, can be problematic if a) companies just use the social welfare as a marketing angle or b) as a middleman they don’t equitably share the money in the way direct selling would benefit the local people.) Anyway, as a tour participant it was very relaxing to learn about the unique skills of the locals without having to worry about a sales pitch afterwards. To me this bicycle tour was amazing and probably my favorite activity of this trip. We did an 11 mile loop starting in Battambang but quickly cycling out into the countryside.
229) Rice Paper Shop, Bicycle Tour, Battambang, Cambodia, March 5, 2025 - The first three miles of the ride got off to a great start. The saffron robed monks from the local temples were out with their begging bowls going from home to home collecting food. Farmers were out tending to their fields and orchards. Street vendors were hawking their products from carts and small store fronts. Home carers were sweeping their walkways and pouring water onto the street in front of their houses to keep down the dust. As we got out of town the temperature was warm and rising with the sun beating down from a mostly cloudless sky. Our first stop was a small house and front workspace made from corrugated metal and brick. Central to the workspace was a wood burning stove with two pots on top. The stove was loaded from the top with a large funnel dumping dried rice husks in to keep the fire burning. The two pots contained boiling water which had cloth stretched over their tops. The woman who runs the house was spooning out a watery rice paste on the cloth and then putting a lid over it for about 30 seconds to stream this rice mixture into a round rice paper. Each rice paper is lifted off the cloth and draped over a bamboo tube on a rotating frame. The woman’s husband then pulled the tube off the rack and rolled the steamed paper onto a drying rack made of woven bamboo slats. These drying racks are then put out in the sunshine to harden the paper into the dry rice paper that people purchase to make food items like fresh spring rolls or wrapping around multiple cooked items that need to be dipped in sauces when served.
230) Rice Paper Shop, Bicycle Tour, Battambang, Cambodia, March 5, 2025 - As with the potter we saw the previous day this involves a lot of work for low pay. On a warm, sunny day the family can make about 2,200 individual pieces. These are then bundled into packets of 100 which then sell for $3. If the day is rainy or cloudy they can’t produce so income dries up (excuse the pun) because they can’t air dry their rice paper. We got to learn about the entire process and to watch them crank out about a hundred while we were there. A really fascinating view into the small business that is behind something that is so ubiquitous in the culture.
231) Banana Snack Shop, Bicycle Tour, Battambang, Cambodia, March 5, 2025 - We got back on the bikes and had a short ride to our next stop. This time it was a stilt house surrounded by banana trees. The family that lives here sells fresh banana but also makes a selection of snacks made from bananas (and a couple of other starchy things like taro, potato and plantain.) We got to watch the mother and daughter thinly slicing banana and laying out the pieces into a mat which is the air dried into fruit leather. They also make bite-sized snacks from dried banana with other flavors added like sweetened condensed milk, or sugar, or other fruit. We ate some samples and got to talk with the very cheerful matriarch of the family. We did have a chance to buy some of their snacks but it was never pushed or even advertised.
232) Banana Snack Shop, Bicycle Tour, Battambang, Cambodia, March 5, 2025 - An artsy shot of the various types of bananas grown around the shop.
233) Bicycle Tour, Battambang, Cambodia, March 5, 2025 - Next we were back on the bikes for a little longer of a pedal. Part was on a dirt road and then onto a paved road across a dam over the canal that supplies water to this community. We then turned into an area with slightly larger lots which were used for fruit orchards. Have I mentioned the heat and humidity? Especially next to a big canal? Whoo...
234) Fruit Orchard, Bicycle Tour, Battambang, Cambodia, March 5, 2025 - We stopped at a big, beautiful wooden stilt house. The family that lives here grows and sells various fruits. We learned about the history of the family and then were served samples of four different fruits. Thankfully, this was all set up in the shade underneath the stilt house! The mango was outstanding. There was also pineapple, sapodilla and jack fruit. All delicious and I ate enough of the fruit samples that I wouldn’t need lunch!
235) Rice Wine Distillery, Bicycle Tour, Battambang, Cambodia, March 5, 2025 - We were then back on the bikes for another short pedal to a nearby farm. This farm’s main business is raising pigs however they discovered that they could distill rice wine and then feed the leftover rice mash to the pigs so they also make gallons of rice wine each day.
236) Rice Wine Distillery, Bicycle Tour, Battambang, Cambodia, March 5, 2025 - We learned the whole process from creating their own yeast starter, to cooking/fermenting low quality rice into a mash and then distilling that mash into various types of rice wine varying from 30 to 90 percent alcohol.
237) Rice Wine Distillery, Bicycle Tour, Battambang, Cambodia, March 5, 2025 - We declined the samples and tried not to think about the life of the drunken pigs in a dozen or so styes behind the distillery shed.
238) Sticky Rice Vendor, Bicycle Tour, Battambang, Cambodia, March 5, 2025 - From there it was another short pedal to our final stop - a roadside shack with long, narrow fire pit down the middle. The lady that owns this business makes sticky rice. She puts a mixture of rice paste, coconut milk, palm sugar and mung beans into bamboo tubes which are then cooked while propped over the narrow fire pit. Once cooked the bamboo tubes are shaved down to a thin tube which are purchased as a snack on the go. Each tube costs about $1 and she starts making them at 3am each day so farmers, business people and school kids can buy them early in the morning. She had a few left when we arrived at 10am but she usually sells out by noon. Finally, we were back on the bikes for the last 5km back into Battambang. I am not gonna lie, this last bit was brutal. By the time we got back to the hotel it was 95 degrees with 53% humidity and that temp was rocketing upwards. Pedaling back in traffic and with the sun blasting us was bordering on miserable. Over the course of the ride I drank four bottles of water but sweated all of it out. When we got back to the hotel room I had a very satisfying shower and then collapsed onto the bed.
239) Pub Street, Siem Reap, Cambodia, March 5, 2025 - We had 1 1/2 hours before boarding a bus and I thought the guide may have to drag me kicking and screaming from the air conditioned room but I managed to rally in time to pack and check out. We had skipped lunch so I hit up the poolside bar for a soda and that helped spark me awake for the three hour bus ride. The three hour bus trip from Battambang to Siem Reap was uneventful and we rolled into Siem Reap at 5pm. Our first stop, before going to our hotel, was the ticket office for the Angkor sites. These sites are the reason little Siem Reap (500,000 inhabitants) is the most visited place in Cambodia and they have built a big, modern tourist center to handle selling the tickets. We picked up our tickets which required the official taking our photo - the ticket is valid for three one day visits anytime over the next ten days. This means we can use it with the tour for the next two days and still have one more day for the two extra days we are spending in Siem Reap. Score! Next was the drop off and check-in at the hotel. We got situated in our room and then headed back down to join our tour guide for a short walk around the tourist area. We visited Wat Preah Prom Rath which is a large Buddhist temple in the middle of Siem Reap. The temple buildings were closed but we could walk around the grounds. Next we walked over to Pub Street which is right next door to the night market but is a huge contrast since it is a brightly colored row of bars and restaurants packed with tourists. The group decided to stop at one of the restaurants there for dinner but Jonna and I decided we would try something a little smaller so we peeled off and went our own way. We had read a positive review for Tevy’s Place and based on the people waiting to get in it appeared to live up to the reputation. We sat outside in the heat for 20 minutes but eventually got seated inside. The food was very good and based on the reviews I felt safe ordering raw vegetables meaning I had an excellent green salad - something I’ve been missing for the past three weeks. After dinner we walked back to the hotel - it was still hot and muggy out - where we turned on the air conditioner and headed straight to bed. We have a very early morning tomorrow so I was thankful to nod off quickly!
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