Tuol Ta Aek

The second city of Cambodia. Couldn't be more different from Phnom Penh, less busy, quieter streets, more Cambodian but very hot! I travelled here by the Royal Cambodian Railway which was slow yet beautiful, a great way to see the countryside. The train ran through the outskirts of Phnom Penh and villages, it felt intrusive in some ways but I think the houses were built after the railway!

An afternoon of orientation and getting lost. I ate the best meal I've had so far in Cambodia, vegetable Lok Lak, I've not seen an assortment of vegetables like that in a long time!

Day 2, I decided to go on a tuk tuk tour with Philay who was my lift from the station yesterday. The tour was with two others and was a fabulous day. Philay was funny and interesting and he had lived through the sad years, lost family members and his school was used for the detention centre S21!

Places visited :
Lotus market, a food market including the normal meats and veg and..... frogs, skinned, headless and still jumping, eels (still wriggling), fish still alive and flipping into our path, rats , mice and cockroaches, all for culinary purposes. I didn't take many pictures but warning...... There is one that might offend, I'm only putting it on here to remind me of the day.. Look away if you must!
Ek Phnom Pagoda, a cow farm (massive ears), lotus farm, Samroung Knong detention centre and killing fields (one of 300 in the country), the bamboo train, the golden gate bridge :-) and the famous bat cave.
All amazing and hope the pictures do the day justice. It was a great day and amazing to meet Philay and hear his stories and life in Cambodia.

Day 3 and 4 in Battambang were filled with kayaking, a cycle round the city, a visit to the circus school, new friends and a cooking class.

The circus school was very sweet. It's a school created for vulnerable children after the war, or was originally set up in a refugee camp on the Thailand border but moved to Battambang when the refugee camps were closed down. They train children in performing and creative arts, they then perform at the circus in Siem Reap once they've graduated. I didn't take many photos as I wanted to watch and take it in, look it up if you want to know more, Phare Ponleu Selpak.

And the cooking class, motorbikes to the market to get ingredients (sorry Mum but it was on the back of a local and part of the tour!) Toot took us through the menu and all the ingredients, a few that I had not heard off but he gave us alternatives to use! I started the class with just me as the pupil but then was joined by a lovely couple from the Netherlands which was much nicer. Cooked the whole meal and ate it afterwards!

Loved this city, lots of lovely memories made.Read more