LIFE IS A FOUNTAIN

26 Nov

Ellie and Will decided to get up early for the sunrise view over Angkor Wat. As I am completely shite at getting up early these days, I decided to pass on that, and instead booked into a half day Cambodian cookery class. And anyway, I got a great pic at the sunrise spot yesterday.

 
There was only 3 of us, me and 2 boys from Singapore. Before we started cooking, we first visited a Cambodian family home so we could see how they lived.....and it is very very different from the UK. The house was mainly made of woven reed walls that have to be replaced every year, and the kitchen was just a bench with a fire pit in the corner. But the lady seemed very content with her life, there was a rice paddy next door and a garden with lots of vegetables and herbs growing, and I think that really, they've got it right. We have so many things we don't need, so much choice of food at the supermarket, and one thing I've learnt whilst travelling, is that it's very satisfying to be managing with just the basics. You can certainly live well out here with a backpack full of essentials. And a  credit card comes in handy of course!

 

The kitchen was outside as usual, and very well equipped and the ingredients were all sorted for us. 

 

Catfish Amok

We made made catfish amok, which is a Cambodian classic, made with chopped amok leaf, coconut milk, and all the usual Thai flavourings,  and green mango salad to go with it, (very similar to the green papaya salad I made at Sammys, and just as yummy). For dessert, we made some kind of banana thing with palm sugar. Way too sweet for me, even though I threw away half the palm sugar when she wasn't looking.

Also chucked away the ginger and the chilli, and the flavours are absolutely awesome without them!

Quite similar to Thai cooking, we used kaffir lime leaves, and fish sauce etc, and then they served it to us in a beautiful jungle setting.

After the tuktuk home, 20 mins each way, I am filthy again. It's a very dusty country, but the dust is red, so it looks like you have a tan! But I defo needed a shower in my lovely room followed by a short siesta. 😊

Our favourite tuktuk driver, Mr. Vikram took us down to Pub Street for dinner. Talk about sensory overload. Loads of lights, noise, restaurants, etc etc, so much going on! We found a nice restaurant, but I was afraid to order a curry in case it's too hot!! But there is loads of Western type food around if you want it.