To market, to market to buy a fat pig

Friday 14th September

I had experienced the Cambodian markets in Phnom Pehn so was fully aware of the sights and sounds and smells! that would await me on today’s visit to Kompong Cham’s main market. After our morning language lesson, a group of us mounted our bicycles and headed to the market. Some of the group were hoping to find the infamous cooked spiders to sample while I was quite happy to get some photos and was definitely drawing the line at consuming arachnids! We had seen platters of cooked spiders during our bus journey to Kompong Cham on Wednesday but resisted the urge to buy and try! We failed in finding any cooked insects for sale – the closest we came across was barbequed frogs.

The market stalls are all very close together and the smell and number of flies would suggest it is not too hygienic. Women literally sit on their stall, swatting flies that dare to land on their goods. They sell a whole range of fruit and vegetables that I have never seen before and bits of meat that I do not recognise. It is quite normal to see a huge bowl of large live fish flapping about which is then unceremoniously beheaded, usually with a less than sharp cleaver (sometimes it takes a number of attempts) and often de-scaled whilst still wriggling.

There are also lively bowls of small crabs, the shells of which are ripped from the rest of the body in order to kill them in front of your eyes. The market is certainly not an experience for the squeamish!

We are lucky enough to have a Khmer lady cook for us every breakfast and lunch time (what a treat!). She is also very obliging at helping us practice our ever expanding Khmer vocabulary. She buys the food from the market in the morning – a fact not far from my thoughts while we wandered around the place earlier.

In the evening we found yet another Western establishment on the Mekong River to eat and have a few beers. The place is called The Mekong Crossing and run by an American named Joe and his Cambodian wife. It is really nice to experience these small Western luxuries while we can so I had a burger and chips!

For the first time since my arrival in Cambodia (where the air is hot and humid ALL THE TIME!'), I experienced being a bit chilly! We were sat in Jo's place by the river and I actually had goosebumps on my arms from the chill in the air. I have to say, my arm was still clammy from the sweat that had not dried off (and never does!) but there were definitely goosebumps! Maybe I needed to bring that cardi' after all!