I am recently back from a family trip to the countryside near the capital of Pursat province here in northwestern Cambodia.
🥪 Good Morning Sandwich & Wife 🤷♀️
From here in Pramaoy to the the countryside just beyond the regional capital of Pursat province, it took about 3 hours in the Ape. We left late Saturday night, arriving in just enough time to say hello and go to sleep. In the morning @sreypov prepared a family favorite, bean curd skin sandwiches.
I took my sandwich to greet the missus and get ready to be observed and taken in by both the in-laws and locals. I had been previously told about a women there with an alcohol problem there, and just as expected, after spending no more than 10 seconds with her, I was told a mini version of her life story, then she began crying while occasionally lifting her shirt to itch her boobs.
I don't have many pictures to show of the people, mostly because I was being observed like an animal in a zoo by some of my in-laws and their neighbors. Even during breakfast there was a particular lady whom basically said something to me in Khmer that I can loosely translate as follows....
Holy s*it!! You're a Frenchman! You speak Khmer! I've never actually come face to face with your kind before. Oh my god, look at your face and your nose, can I watch you eat breakfast!? Honestly, if you don't mind, I 'd really just like to sit and watch how you consume food.
🤭 I Have A Good Sense Of Humor
I managed to get through breakfast while feeling a bit like a spectacle the whole time. Several of the in-laws were well aware of the ridiculousness, constantly checking on me to make sure I wasn't too annoyed by anything or anyone. I reassured I too have a good sense of humor, and then cute little guy above came to give me a visit.
While wandering around not long after sunrise, I saw Monkey-B meandering in the front yard, and the caged bird was in eyeline, so I snapped the above shot. I don't like seeing caged birds, but I must say the cage is a genius reuse of old pedestal fan shrouds.
😼 MEOW!!
Even though I felt a bit like an alien at times, I wasn't the only ginger in the village. The above ginger kitty came and cuddled me at night, waited for me to wake up in the morning, and also gave me lots of awesome shots.
I think that is something unique about us gingers, we transcend species. This ginger kitty and my ginger self both share the struggle of being orange in a white, brown, and black world.
☸️ Wagon Wheels In The Kitchen
The kitchen of the house we stayed at had some massive wagon wheels within, a sign of a way of travel slowly dying out in the countryside. Although these folks like just a few seconds from a paved road, way out in the boondocks you can still see ox carts here and there, but most are sporting rubber car tires and steel rims.
🐶 Just One Mistake Please
This cute little puppy was irresistible, and of course we gave him nibbles of our sandwich. This little guy was very interested in vegan food, looking ready to snatch the whole sandwich and run if Srey-Yuu made the slightest of sandwich-eating miscalculations.
🥬 Larb Tofu For All 🍚
Larb tofu, or tofu larb depending on where you are in the world, is a legendary dish found in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and perhaps Vietnam and southern China too. It's generally a spicy salad made with undercooked minced pork as the main ingredient, but of course our Ital version replaces this ingredient with fried tofu, and it is out of this world.
🚶♂️ Walk Off The Calories 🚶♀️
After a larb lunch we were invited to see the houses and properties further down the road. Basically all the folks hanging out with us wanted us to personally visit their homes, and all of them within a 2-3 minute walk of each other, so it was very easy to wander around and make more personal visits with everyone.
🐃 Unsettling The Livestock
Maybe I am paranoid, but even walking past this water buffalo, it felt as though it opened its eyes as wide as possible, completely shocked by my presence. He didn't stomp the ground or make any aggressive gestures, but I could sense he was not going to let me out of his sight.
🐕 A New Mama
Upon arriving at the first house, I noticed a majestic canine mama taking care of her of 2 puppies. The black one caught my eye because it was nursing freestyle, preferring to go at the nipples upside down and under the back leg.
The little pups were so cute, and it seemed as though they were just beginning to develop some eye focus. Random Cambodian dogs are among the smartest canines on the planet, so don't let their not so fancy looks fool you.
I couldn't resist taking a short video for GIF purposes. They are just too cute, and mama is obviously exhausted with her responsibilities.
🥥 Coconuts For The Road 🛣️
By the time 3pm arrived, we knew it was time to start making preparations to hit the road back to Pramaoy. The girls had to be in school bright and early the next morning. We departed with many cucumbers, longbeans, and when we told the ridiculous prices of coconuts here in Pramaoy, they sent us with two branches full of ripe and unripe coconuts.
There were some adventures during the day that I will share in the next post, but this pretty much covers my time with the in-laws. I think I was a hit, and now that everyone is comfortable with me there, I think on my next visit I will have more privacy and distance when I desire. All in all they were very nice, and two ladies in particular have a dry sense of humor very similar to mine, so they made the time pass very quickly.
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What a different life then what you had in Suriname. Good thing you have a good sense of humor. I had an experience some what like that when I went into a small town in the interior of Mexico and I was at least a foot taller than everyone and the only white person. I had sprained my ankle and was sitting in a park bench when my family went shopping. A group of kids came and sat around me looking at me and I'm sure they had never seen a foreigner.
Haha, so funny, when we were in Ecuador the locals thought Pov was Quechua from and I was a Colombian rasta. Even though gingers were rare in Ecuador, Latin Americans and Latin America feels very European, so I don't feel out of place visually until I start speaking my terrible Spanish, then curiosity arises.
Mexicans are very short in general, so I could see how our vertical-ness would make us stand out. In Quito there is a large Lebanese Muslim population, and apparently many locals thought I was Ecuadorian-Lebanese too. I do hope to visit Mexico one day, it was almost on my list of places to visit, but I always said I'll do it when I'm older because it's close to the USA and family.
This was a fun read. Sounds like you were showcased on a carnival, as some kind of exotic freak ;^)
Don't tell me you're referring to the boob itching alcoholic and the one who wanted to observe you like a biologist would observe an animal ;^)
Great write up, very visual and lovely pictures my friend
um abraço
In their defense I am a bit of a freak even in Kentuckiana, my native land. Yes, the boob itcher that made my stay quite intense, our interactions were hilarious to a few of the ladies that could understand my bizarre sense of Khmer language dry humor. I'd love to hang out with these ladies a little more sans the distracting one that kills the vibes.
That was a very entertaining post. I love the interest in you and your eating. Hilarious.
The countryside and the serenity of it all is intriguing. It's simple and full of coconuts at a ridiculous price. Not to mention cute dogs and cats. A perfect life as far as I'm concerned minus scary buffalo. I would rather see him in the distance roaming wild.
We still don't know why coconuts are so expensive here. I assume because we are up in altitude a bit and only certain species will grow well here. Also it seems the local hustles are cassava and papaya, both of which several Chinese factories are processing and sending to China as various snacks and products. I don't trust water buffaloes or cows until I've given them a piece of fruit.
LOL, he might know that there is an american coming. I remembered when I was a child riding on water buffalo that worked on the rice field plowing the land. Bufallo is a tame animal but when he was angry, he could attack anyone who was close to him.
You're right, they can be as fun and friendly as dogs, but hey have to know and trust you first. Especially in the deep countryside, the livestock aren't accustomed to anyone not from the village.
Ok so the duggie said, wuf wuf wuf... Wait lemme translate that.
" Hey you french Hooman. Want a piece of me?"
And then Ginger said, meow... Meow..mmmm... Meow
" bonjour "
Those aside, the sandwich looks really appetising!
This made my day, I need a ginger kitty in my life ASAP.
I will eat too, bring a little here ha ha ha.
It seems to me that living a simple life is very simple, I like the natural scenery all around. The cat in particular seemed very cute, the mind wanted to touch the cat a little. It seems that you have to follow a very tight schedule.
Yeah, because it was my first time there and my first time meeting about 80% of the people there, I had little free-time. In the future when they are more used to my presence I'll be less of a novelty and attraction, and therefore hopefully will have more downtime. The kitty was so lovely and well-behaved.
Nature for the best. With less pollution in many form. Nature surely is the best medicine for us in many ways. Such a great life sir 👍🏻. This is what I call enjoy and feel the nature.
It was nice to visit that place, and even though they're in the countryside there, our town feels more rural because we are so small and isolated. The countryside there is just outside the capital, so shopping and medical care is a little easier there than here in Pramaoy.
There's pros and cons in between too. Most importantly is transportation. In case of emergency sir.
Haha, couldn't stop chuckling over someone wanting to watch you eat! Much better than the xenophobic reaction of the woman at the school meeting, anyway.
Indeed, I prefer to be a bizarre and silly attraction anytime over that. Besides, I had an audience with a good sense of humor, so all in good fun and family times.
You really make me miss those days I used to live in Asia! Days are just so good, and the ordinary things for locals are extraordinary for foreigners.
That's very true, although 12 years here has pretty much killed the novelty of ordinary everyday life. However, that doesn't mean everyday life doesn't make for an interesting Hive post for those who aren't familiar with Cambodia.
You are pretty much Combodian now! 12 years is a long time! Do you sometimes miss the Netherlands?
Cambodia is indeed like home at this point. I am originally from the USA, but have traveled a bit in the Netherlands.
Ohh I am sorry, I thought you mentioned somewhere that you were Dutch! My bad!
I like your way of life But I don't like the idea of some people there, And I think it's everywhere. How does Bean curd skin sandwiches taste?
This is true everywhere unfortunately. Even back home in the USA I still see folks occasionally throw trash out their car windows despite having enough education to know why that's wrong. The bean curd skin sandwiches are lovely and easy to make, great road food for tuk-tuk trips. We simply slice the bean curd skin in strips and stir-fry it with shredded carrots, onions, chilies, etc. Then you can add whatever extras in the sandwich you like such as cucumbers, pate, tomatoes, soy sauce, chilies.
I really enjoyed reading the contents of your post this time, maybe one day I will tell the story as well as you
Haha, you are already a more talented writer than you realize, and I really like your sense of humor.
It was enjoyed day! Now, we have so much coconuts fruits.
Yes, and we are still enjoying those coconuts.
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At this house all the animals got along very well, but of course they have all grown up together.