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People, Food And Funny Words: Last Day In Cambodia
“Hi”, he says, his whole face illuminated by his broad smile, “how long you been in Cambodia”. “Four weeks now, we leave on Tuesday”, says Michaela, and adds in response to his next question, “Siem Reap, Tonle Sap, Battambang, Phnom Penh, Kampot and Kep”. He beams. “Thank you so much for visiting my country, I hope you like it” When we tell him just how much we have loved it, his smile nearly bursts out of his cheeks. He can’t say thank you enough times. Big smiles, friendly manner, gracious attitude….and there you have our experience of the people of Cambodia summed up in one brief exchange. Honestly, we haven’t…
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We Have To Mention The War
“Everybody has heard of the Vietnam War, right?” asks Mickie the tour guide as the minibus heads towards the tunnels. “Well”, he continues, “let me tell you there is no such thing. My country has a history of a thousand years of war. After World War 2 we have the Indochina War, the French War, and then, the one you call the Vietnam War”, he pauses for effect, “we call the American War, not the Vietnam War. I hope before you leave Vietnam, you will understand more about the American War”. Mickie is impassioned, proud of his country, and – like every single Vietnamese – from a family devastated by…
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On To Saigon Or Whatever It’s Called
Day 35 of this trip and we cop out for the first time. Up until tonight it’s been local food all the way….Indian, Nepalese and Vietnamese dishes, local specialities, street food, even a frog on a stick for God’s sake. But Can Tho is different: the restaurants aren’t quite as inviting, the atmosphere is less accessible, and the street food we’ve tried is unpopular with locals and close to inedible. So we cop out and find an “ordinary” restaurant, The Lighthouse, which, perish the thought, does steaks and stuff. For the first time since we entered the country, we eat some non-Vietnamese food: Michaela’s is a French dish, mine Belgian.…
