Bamboo Cake

Cooking the cake

Today we're driving out to see Beng Mealea temple, but we make some stops along the way.  Our first visit is at a roadside stand cooking bamboo cake.  It's not really cake, but a sweet rice, coconut milk and red bean mixture that's cooked inside a section of a bamboo pole over a fire. 

close up of the cooking bamboo

 It's a family business - the man oversees the fire and his wife, her sister, and a third woman prepare the bamboo after it's finished cooking.  The harder outside portion is hacked off.

Slicing the bamboo

The fire is started around 4:00 am to prepare the day's food, but they have a special order, so they started at 3:00 am this particular morning.  We get to see the mixture that goes into the bamboo (also made in the middle of the night) before it is cooked.

Before cooking

Can you hear me now?

It's not all work!  I always find it striking to see the combination of "primitive" work with technology.






















Speaking of primitive, as we continue our drive we see the cart being pulled by the cows.  Normally we see mopeds pulling smaller carts like this.  The animals look like they're used to the traffic, though.

At least he has rubber tires on the cart!

fish drying in the sun

We then make a stop at a local market.  Our guide, Kimthet, says he eats dried fish and rice for breakfast every morning.  (BTW, I have a hard time with the pronunciation of our guide's name.  It's "Kim-Tate," but I keep wanting to say "Kim-Tet."  He points to the name tag to show me the spelling, but that doesn't help.  The Khmer language has a lot of sounds that are different that I expect - like "ch" is pronounced as "j.")

Almost everything in the market is a product from Cambodia, except for ginger, garlic, and mango.  Thailand and Vietnam use chemical fertilizers to grow plants year round, but in Cambodia they follow the traditional growing seasons.  The manufactured products also come from those two countries because there are no factories here.  We've been told that the prime minister and his family members own all the profitable businesses (like telecommunications) and will take steps to make sure no other citizens will start a successful business venture.  Currently a large percentage of the population is under the age of 25, so maybe that will change as they become adults.

Chopping heads...and no gloves.

The fish come from a nearby freshwater lake.  There are about twenty different kinds and about 400 lbs of fish are sold each day.  The lake dries out after the rainy season, and then they plant rice in the basin.  It's almost like a crop rotation.

As we walk around we see people preparing the fish and other products for sale.  I'm not sure if the preparation methods are up to FDA standards. There are also flies everywhere.  I'm sure the fish and meat I've eaten so far have not been processed in this manner....

Not as many flies with the vegetables!

While walking around, it's interesting to see the clothing similarities and differences to Vietnam.  Women of both countries try to protect their skin from the sun with long sleeves, pants and hats.  In Cambodia they don't match the exact fabric between the shirt and pants, like they do in Vietnam.  They seem to favor different prints, with a bit of coordination between the colors of the top and bottom.

There's also prepared food, too, but we decide to skip it.

Smells good, but....maybe our stomachs wouldn't appreciate it.

Is Steve ready for a nap in the hammock?

I see a hammock made of water hyacinth. We've seen the plant in all the waters in Vietnam and Cambodia, so it's nice to finally see a product made from it.


We then take boat ride on the Tonle Sap Lake floodplain.  No one hands us fishing nets or poles, so I guess it's not a working excursion.

boat selfie

We still have cell phone service, even at the fishing village.

We stop at Kampong Khleang, a village on stilts.  As Kimthet walks us around, we develop a little entourage.  The kids seem fascinated with me, and couldn't care less about Steve.  They talk a little with Kimthet, and apparently I look like a doll that they have.  They're adorable, and I just want give them lots of hugs and attention.  Curiously, no parents come over to find out what I'm doing with their children during the 15 minutes they're walking with us.  I'm sure lots of people are watching where I can't see them. 

My fan club

I feel like the Pied Piper.

We return to the boat and depart the village with lots of waving.  As we continue on the lake we see some "little" monks - they are younger than any of the ones we saw when we stopped at the monastery in Phnom Penh.  School has also just gotten out and we see the kids returning home - all paddling their own boats.  No school buses here!

Do they know "Row, Row, Row Your Boat?"

Good to the last bite!

Back at the car, it's time for the bamboo cake. It's very good - my favorite dessert of the ones I've tried so far!  The bamboo is a nice holder, but it's not reusable. 







 


We finally arrive at Beng Mealea, which was probably the model for Angkor Wat.  We're greeted with this sign, which states the number of land mines that have been cleared from the area.  We're deep in the jungle, and the Khmer Rouge used the temple as a base during their war with Vietnam.  When they left they attempted to tear it down and planted thousands of land mines around it.  

Beng Melea

During the war the Khmer Rouge would use young teenage boys and some girls to walk in front of the military in order to explode the mines so they wouldn't kill the soldiers (but apparently it was okay for the kids to die).  Kimthet tells us he was conscripted when he was twelve, and worked one day before his sister came up with the money to bribe the officers so he didn't have to do it anymore. His parents were killed early in the war and his brothers and sisters had a difficult time keeping the family together.  

It's picturesque, here, too, but not the same as Ta Phrom.  I don't know if it's the knowledge that the Khmer Rouge used it as a headquarters and then tried to destroy it. 

No "fun" photos here, but we try to do a Naga selfie.  His poor noses have broken off, though.

Noseless Naga selfie

After returning to Siem Reap, we decide to go out for dinner.  There's a nice downtown area - lots of restaurants and shops and markets.  We don't see all the fake designer products like we did in Phnom Penh and Vietnam.  One road is aptly named "Pub Street," and it reminds me of Bourbon Street in New Orleans - there's lots of bars and partying going on.  People look like they're having a good time.  We forget to take pictures, but we do have a halfway decent shot of the sunset as we ride the tuk tuk into town.

The sky is like an opal!