Battambang!

Pretty view of leaving Pnomh Penh.

After a very long minivan ride we arrived to this beautiful bed in Battambang. The woodwork here is stunning.

Love is in the air, we just have to breathe.

The Black Buddha

gorgeous archway

I have a thing for trees dripping with vines.

The serpent is a Naga, very prominent on religious works.

Elephants!

Day 2:

Mom and Dad make a graceful exit back to Canada and clean air.

We had to see my parents off, with much sadness. We then found a tuk tuk driver named Sal, I cannot recommend him highly enough. He made Battambang so special for us. Somewhere in these photos I'll be posting his contact info if you ever find yourself in his hood. A good driver makes all the difference in the world. All we asked Sal to do is show us his city, and mentioned we like animals and food.

Handsome dude

beautiful river through town

knew my daughter would love this dress

love in a tuk tuk

roadside stands selling food are everywhere. 

at the "Golden Gate Bridge"

Papayas!

more golden gate bridge

pickling daikon st a lovely farm we went to

lemongrass growing, the entire property smelled amazing

boys swimming at the Muslim village across the river. When the call to prayer went out it sounded so pretty

limes!

next we went to a mushroom farm. They pack fermented rice into bags and the mushrooms grow out the ends and they keep harvesting them for 6 months before they need new bags. Ingenious.

we went to a hilarious winery, these were the only grapevines

very bad wine

from left, ginger juice (delicious!) berry juice, brandy (very good) and wine (awful)

a tree full of fruit bats. Sal hit the tree for us so they would fly around.

Asian cow.

There were so many steps up to this temple, and a little boy wanting money "fanned" us (kind of hitting us with the fan) and chased us up until we gave him money to go away.

Wat Kor temple

I stand by my choice of pants

hehe

these pavillions are everywhere.. you just lay in a hammock and people start bringing you food

The roosters here are beautiful and all different colours

pig farm

Sal drove us to 3 different homes before a cow would let me pet it. He did not know any of the owners but everyone was so friendly

The kids at the cow place, that's rice drying behind me

Lotus flowers. Flowers are left as offerings for Buddha, the fruits and roots are eaten, the stems can be pulled apart to reveal fine threads they make silk from.

To prepare a lotus for Buddha you must tuck in all the petals like so

our next destination

quite the view from up here

killing caves by the temple

I should have not taken this photo, very disrespectful.

They clubbed people and threw them into the cave here

This monkey was baring his teeth at Chris and acting very aggressively, we had a rough time slipping by him

This guy was feeling the monkeys by had, which all the books warn you against. Monkeys are not as friendly as I thought they were.

Hiking up a mountain

In Battambang there is a huge cave full of bats that people sit at the bottom of the mountain to watch them fly out at sunset. Sal knows a place away from the crowds where they actually fly out about 4 feet from your head and the sunset is unreal.

The bats fly out for over an hour, there are millions of them. And no mosquitoes!

This is Sal.

give him a call if you get there!

Cambodian Adventures - Tokyo (briefly) and Pnomh Penh.

So, hubby and I went to Cambodia for 3 weeks recently. My parents joined for the first 5 days or so but had to go when they got ill.
Buckle up, there's a lot of photos.
We started in Tokyo where we had an overnight layover. We stayed at this awesome hotel at Narita airport that literally has not been updated in any way since 1972 when it was built.

The bed was tiny, but there were two so it was fine.

The toilets are awesome. I would have lived in the bathroom if I had known how superior it was to Cambodian toilets.

Out for a beer to fix jet lag.

The room keys were HUGE! Can't lose that sucker.

It's like they knew us before they ever met us.

So tempted to use it.

We missed his balls??

a lovely breakfast,and still happy and healthy parents.

Off to Pnomh Penh! I really enjoyed flying with Ana Air, it was comfortable with good food and perfect service. Just wonderful.

We found a gorgeous rooftop bar overlooking the whole city.

ICBC! Here, it's a bank.

My first tuk tuk ride, it's my new favourite mode of transportation.

Hubby trying the local flavours.

The view from our air bnb. Beautiful place, sketchy alley to get there.

More rooftop views.

Street view near our place. Sidewalks and streets here are for driving, parking, lounging, drinking, setting up shop, whatever. No rules.

My mom found bacon and eggs!

A tuk tuk driver named Sorya flagged down a coconut truck for me. this was my first of many, and the beginning of a friendship with Sorya. 

Coping with air so thick you could chew it.

"My Mom's Inheritance". Loved the name.

My dad found a bike shop!

My dad said to me, "looks like they're selling nuts or something across the street" so out I ran to try some local food. Turns out they were fresh, warm, unrefridgerated clams of a dubious age. I ate the one the seller opened for me because I could not open the rest. It was good!

The view out the back of the Foreign Correspondents Club. Beautiful old building.

Pretty, but I've forgotten what this is.

rooftop patio for tagine.

Tuk tuk in heavy traffic at night, very.. stimulating.

a tree full of fruit bats! Very noisy and super cool.

a pretty temple in the city

seems they lack trained electricians here...

Cambodian iced coffee and love.

Got my makeup did!

So did mom!

We be hot. They literally and violently massaged concealer into our faces for over 45 minutes. Many coats. It was something.

sparkly horse tapestry, love it!

These markets have grocery stores beat hands down. The smells, the sounds, the feel of the place is indescribable

.

Greens in the market. Wish I had time to cook here.

froggies!

menu at Romdeng.

The pool in the courtyard at Romdeng.

Us at Romdeng, I'm green because Chris just ate a tarantula. I'll do a food post later.

Romdeng is a restaurant / NGO (non-government organization) that takes street kids and trains them for the hospitality industry. Also just beautiful with amazing food. I miss it already.