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Post by hwinpp on May 31, 2011 9:26:08 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2011 10:49:23 GMT
You look younger than usual in that photo. Was it the fountain of youth?
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Post by bixaorellana on May 31, 2011 13:15:18 GMT
Oooo ~~ can't wait to see the rest of this, and the enchanted island.
I'm always saying how stuff you show in Cambodia reminds me of Mexico, but Cambodia is light years ahead in roads. Gad -- smooooth, with visible paint and shoulders.
Great feeling of driving through the countryside. What is that structure on the right in pic #4, the big roofs with nothing underneath?
I take it rainy season has started there? In the 3rd pic after you start for Les Manguiers, there are lotus growing by the bend in the road!
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Post by mich64 on May 31, 2011 15:56:18 GMT
I am so very glad that you are sharing your trip to the island with the Board. It sure looks like a beautiful place to spend the weekend and with friends, it must have been great! Hopefully you have pictures of your cabin or camp to share too. Cheers, Mich
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2011 17:14:11 GMT
I was thinking that this was the same road as the one to Sihanoukville, which I think is supposed to be the best one in the country (at least before the other roads were improved). However, I looked it up and it appears to be the RN4. Your pictures of the RN3 look just as good, though.
Japanese funds?
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Post by hwinpp on Jun 1, 2011 2:57:32 GMT
You look younger than usual in that photo. Was it the fountain of youth? I look younger, I've shrunk and I 've got more hair! It must be the fountain of youth. Called the Kampot River, it's made up of 2 rivers that join further upstream, one coming from Bokor Mountain and the other from Kirirom. The water is brackish and clear and there are real, narrow sand beaches on the banks. Great feeling of driving through the countryside. What is that structure on the right in pic #4, the big roofs with nothing underneath? I take it rainy season has started there? In the 3rd pic after you start for Les Manguiers, there are lotus growing by the bend in the road! I think that building is an unfinished warehouse. Lots of stuff gets started, then when the owners run out of money they remain unfinished until money starts rolling in again. In town you see this by the extra storeys that are added to houses, built in completely different styles... Rainy season has started but not with a big bang. We got some rain when there was that cyclone over the Philippines last week, it's still overcast for most of the day but there's no real rain. It has cooled down a bit though and the countryside has turned green. I am so very glad that you are sharing your trip to the island with the Board. It sure looks like a beautiful place to spend the weekend and with friends, it must have been great! Hopefully you have pictures of your cabin or camp to share too. Yes, coming up, patience I was thinking that this was the same road as the one to Sihanoukville, which I think is supposed to be the best one in the country (at least before the other roads were improved). However, I looked it up and it appears to be the RN4. Your pictures of the RN3 look just as good, though. Yes, there are 2 roads going south to the coast. RN 4 built by the Americans was the best road in Cambodia for a long time. After road building started in earnest since 2005 lots of good road have emerged, the road north to Laos, west from Siem Reap to Poipet, west from Phnom Penh to Koh Kong and now this one. I'm not sure who funded it but it's quite possible it was the Japanese. The do a lot of sensible stuff here.
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Post by hwinpp on Jun 1, 2011 4:32:43 GMT
Then came dinner. They have set dinners there, not a la carte, but you get a whole panorama of Khmer dishes. On the day we were there they had fried sour and sweet (pork ribs, char jou pa'aem), glassnoodle seafood salad (nuom mi sour kreung samot) and sour Vietnamese soup with chicken (samlor m'jou yuon) The helpings were very ample, free refills but the food had some of it's 'zing' taken out of it to cater to guests' palates'. After dinner we drove back to town to check out the night time activities and ended up in a beergarden, where we ordered some 'drinking food' to go with the (expensive at 9000KHR) jugs of beer. The food was good though. The mango salad was outstanding, we also had pork ribs, BBQ'd veal, pickled veggies. As we left the owner offered us the veal carcass for 70k and we briefly considered it as the shoulders were still intact and we had a bottle of Chivas in the chalet... The way back And the night cap ;D
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2011 4:38:35 GMT
I love the chicken foot sitting in the soup; I can just imagine the reaction of a lot of people here finding such a thing lurking in the bowl.
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Post by mich64 on Jun 1, 2011 14:30:34 GMT
Wow wow wow! I would love to taste the glassnoodle seafood salad, I can only imagine how good that must have been. The first photo of the riverfront is beautifully exotic. I think this weekend would have been so entertaining on so many levels. Lucky you! Cheers, Mich
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Post by fumobici on Jun 1, 2011 17:25:54 GMT
This is fantastic, the scenery, the food. The food.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2011 17:29:06 GMT
Which one is you in that first pic, hw? You do look really young. And what fumobici said.
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Post by hwinpp on Jun 2, 2011 5:29:04 GMT
I love the chicken foot sitting in the soup; I can just imagine the reaction of a lot of people here finding such a thing lurking in the bowl. There was something even better beneath, half a chicken head... I got it ;D Of course I made a show of sucking out the brain. Wow wow wow! I would love to taste the glassnoodle seafood salad, I can only imagine how good that must have been. Indeed, the glassnoodle salad was the best dish. The sweat& sour was nothing special and I'm not a huge fan of the sour VN soup because they had put pineapple in... don't like cooked pineapple in any way, shape, matter or form... This is fantastic, the scenery, the food. The food. I was overwhelmed by the scenery. I'd never spent much time in Kampot, always passing through on the way to Kep which used to be the old French colonial seaside resort (see more on Kep here: anyportinastorm.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cambodia&thread=3398&page=1#54507). Kampot is a bit bigger with more things to see and do so I think I might look at it a bit more closely when my sister and nephew come over in August. Which one is you in that first pic, hw? You do look really young. Those are both friends of mine. A third one was sitting at the back with me. Since I arrived here in June 2006 they decided to take a couple of days off to celebrate my 5th anniversary here. One of them is actually the 2nd Cambodian I spoke to on arriving at the airport, he was my guide and still works for the same company, the other one was the driver who took me into town that time and the third is another old friend. I'm in the link I posted in that thread, it takes you to those abominable food items
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 2, 2011 6:24:02 GMT
Oh, I am so relieved to see that you all had ample provisions! The night cap picture is very reassuring. Then came dinner. They have set dinners there, not a la carte, but you get a whole panorama of Khmer dishes. Was this the hotel or guest house where you stayed on the island? Beautiful food, and so lovingly presented, both by the kitchen and the happy photographer. Speaking of happy, I'd kill for those smiling fish plates. That is so nifty that two of the guys who went with you to celebrate your 5 year anniversary were the first people you met in Cambodia.
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Post by hwinpp on Jun 2, 2011 6:27:36 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Jun 2, 2011 7:57:19 GMT
A lovely photo essay HW! And an eye-opener to boot! I'll be very honest and say a would not like to see a fowls foot, head or anything like that in my soup but thats only because it is something we were never introduced to as kids. Now then, my late dad would have lapped it up and even cooked "walkie Talkies" from time to time at home. Don't think my mum partook though...
I am so mad with myself for not trying durian when we were in Singapore! I got very close but was advised not to try it for the first time if you are boarding an aircraft anytime soon as it can upset the stomach.
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Post by hwinpp on Jun 2, 2011 8:52:45 GMT
A lovely photo essay HW! And an eye-opener to boot! I'll be very honest and say a would not like to see a fowls foot, head or anything like that in my soup but thats only because it is something we were never introduced to as kids. Now then, my late dad would have lapped it up and even cooked "walkie Talkies" from time to time at home. Don't think my mum partook though... I am so mad with myself for not trying durian when we were in Singapore! I got very close but was advised not to try it for the first time if you are boarding an aircraft anytime soon as it can upset the stomach. The durian is a tasty fruit, to me it doesn't seem polarizing at all, I eat it when it's in season as most locals do. Try and get one that isn't very ripe, it'll be 'dry' and nearly as tasty with less odour. Aren't you planning a trip anyway? That'll be your chance
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Post by mich64 on Jun 2, 2011 15:10:06 GMT
hwinpp how wonderful to wake up to a beautiful rainbow on the horizon, must have brought a smile to your face.
What type of fish do they fish for at night?
I love the market and town photos and have said before, I enjoy looking at each apartment above the stores to see the different ways they decorate and I imagine them sitting out at night enjoying themselves by watching the activities going on out on the street.
I have never had the durian fruit but it looks interesting and probably tasty. Cheers, Mich
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2011 15:16:58 GMT
Speaking of happy, I'd kill for those smiling fish plates. They sell them at my local Chinese supermarket.
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Post by tod2 on Jun 2, 2011 15:21:47 GMT
Well that WAS the plan until the Japanese earthquake. That was one of the places on the cards when we got to Seoul. I can wait till things are better. Please tell me why some durians are marked with a red splodge?
Mich - Hw never mentioned that durians really have a very bad smell - our friends in S'pore came right out and described it as 'chicken shit'. What do you think HW or are you used to it?
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Post by mich64 on Jun 2, 2011 15:26:27 GMT
Oh my my .......
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2011 17:31:32 GMT
I would say that durians have an odour somewhere between vomit and shit, but once you know what they are, the smell is not nearly as bad because you just think "oh, there are some durians nearby." The durians have not yet reached my local Chinese markets, but I can certainly tell when they are present.
Regarding Singapore, it is on offense suject to a hefty fine to take a durian on the MRT.
The lore of durians is incredible throughout Southeast Asia. Some wives won't let their husbands bring durians home, because men reputedly prefer eating durians to sex, and there are some men who will not leave a burning building if they have not finished their durian.
While I had eaten innocuous durian ice cream in a number of places (even available from the soft ice cream machines in Paris in Chinatown), I ate my first fresh ripe durian in Phnom Penh. I was returning to my hotel room in the afternoon, and I found the entire hotel staff lying around the lounge in a total durian stupor. The gutted fruits were dripping their deadly juice from the low tables onto the floor. One of the reception staff was grinning uncontrollably with crazy eyes, and he handed me a nice big slice.
The description of the taste of a ripe durian is something that I should not relate in polite company. But I immediately understood that the hype was not hype.
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Post by mich64 on Jun 2, 2011 18:32:49 GMT
I think I have to do some research on this to completely understand this. Cheers, Mich
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 3, 2011 1:48:17 GMT
Ah, HW, I think we simul-posted before, but please know that I'm following this and appreciating it hugely.
The rainbow! The fishing boats! All that water! I didn't realize until you showed the old bridge that the island was that close to the town.
Who couldn't love a place that created that kind of a monument to a venerated fruit? Monumental!
There's a lot of flesh in that fruit. Did you get some to take back with you?
Love your description, Kerouac. Do you buy it from your market when it's available, or is it something you prefer to save for SEA excursions? So you're accumulating an entire set of that china for me, huh? Nice!
So many charming things to look at. I love the tin frill on the roofs of the houses by the motor oil and the bike shops.
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Post by hwinpp on Jun 3, 2011 5:09:52 GMT
What type of fish do they fish for at night? ... I have never had the durian fruit but it looks interesting and probably tasty. Cheers, Mich I think the fishermen aren't all that choosy here. They'll take everything they can catch, fish, squid, prawns and the odd crab. For info on the durians see Jack's post He's pretty much nailed it. Speaking of happy, I'd kill for those smiling fish plates. They sell them at my local Chinese supermarket. I didn't even notice that but I'd agree, they look like produce from China. This kind of stuff is dirt cheap here or over in Vietnam (which is just an hour away). Please tell me why some durians are marked with a red splodge? Mich - Hw never mentioned that durians really have a very bad smell - our friends in S'pore came right out and described it as 'chicken shit'. What do you think HW or are you used to it? I've been told that the wholesaler marks the Kampot durians with the red ink. If a durian doesn't carry that mark it might be from a different province or from Vietnam or Thailand. While the ones from Vietnam are very similar, they are much cheaper while the ones from Thailand are easily recognized (even by me) and are also cheaper. Don't worry about the smell, it's pure nature ;D The rainbow! The fishing boats! All that water! I didn't realize until you showed the old bridge that the island was that close to the town. Who couldn't love a place that created that kind of a monument to a venerated fruit? Monumental! There's a lot of flesh in that fruit. Did you get some to take back with you? That water is a river. So the island is nowhere near there. That will come later Actually the fruit looks like it's full of flesh but you only eat those yellow pods that the lady is placing in the white foam container. There are usually four sections per fruit, each containing 2 or 3 pods. Inside each pod is a seed. As a durian connoisseur you'd be looking for big pods with small seeds. The flesh should be creamy, sweet and be very slightly bitter. My girlfriend knows how to choose the good ones if they're from Thailand but has no idea about these. It's a bit like the mumbo jumbo you use to choose watermelons, you know, smelling the stem, looking at the colour, looking at the spikes etc... We couldn't take any back because we finished them in about 3 seconds flat! You can actually get them all over the country, it's just that the ones from Kampot are snapped up before they can even be sent to Phnom Penh!
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Post by hwinpp on Jun 3, 2011 7:06:44 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2011 7:52:32 GMT
Can't wait to see the rabbits! ;D
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Post by onlymark on Jun 3, 2011 12:27:24 GMT
First photo on reply number 24 - Passing a pot shop
I had to laugh when I read that line, then looked at the photo and what did I see? Pots. So much for pre-conceived ideas.
Good photos, lovely.
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Post by tod2 on Jun 3, 2011 14:25:44 GMT
I love the big blue crab!
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Post by hwinpp on Jun 4, 2011 4:20:07 GMT
Can't wait to see the rabbits! ;D I've asked around for the reason of the name and most have told me because of its shape. Although a couple have actually said 'because there used to be rabbits there' First photo on reply number 24 - Passing a pot shop I had to laugh when I read that line, then looked at the photo and what did I see? Good photos, lovely. Thanks, Mark. There's been quite a crackdown on the smokable pot. It used to be sold in the markets as a cooking ingredient, gone now. Nothing like those charras dispensaries in India. I love the big blue crab! Yep, the Cambodians love these big, hyper realistic cement statues
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Post by hwinpp on Jun 4, 2011 5:01:54 GMT
So now we'd arrived in Kep, at the port. It was 10USD per person to get a seat on the boat, 10 people per boat, they've got life vests and you're supposed to wear them. I didn't look at the watch but I guess it's about 20 minutes to do the crossing. Lots of people were going over, even people who'd just arrived from Siem Reap. A last look at the dock The island in the distance Closer... Closer... Arrived We couldn't go directly to the beach with our resort, as the sea was quite choppy. So we landed here and lugged our stuff through the jungle, a distance of maybe 400m, up first, then turn right and then you're there. No TV in the chalets, in fact no TV at this whole resort. The second one is supposed to have one in the owner's house. Don't know why they have a dish. You can buy fish there, nothing special, just a biggish fish with some lemongrass shoved down its throat then put in the aluminium foil and BBQ'd. Breakfast was fried rice or instant noodles. The coffee was exceptional though. Strong and black, obviously from Vietnam, both hot and iced. The whole place was quite busy with overnighters and day trippers. This group went on to put up 2 tents! Electricity is on from the early evening until 9pm, if you want more you pay 5USD/hour. The beach isn't great. Greyish sand, lots of plastic in the water. The owner said it was due to the wind conditions and I have seen much nicer pics of the beach. The sea was even rougher on our return trip, this boat looked at times as if it would just keel over. That's the somewhat abrupt end. I didn't take any more pics after this because I was worried about the camera For me, Kampot will most definitely be on my to do list a couple times more, Kep too, but I won't go to Rabbit Island again. It's just too quiet there. And there were a couple of foreigners there that had stayed for 5 days already Ok last question, what's this? Wasn't doing much, the sun hadn't really come out and it'd been a coolish night.
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