Upon arriving in Phnom Penh, the capitol of Cambodia, we had a day before our tour started. We spent part of it by walking around our hotel, exploring.
The street outside our hotel:
There was still some French appearing architecture, a legacy from Cambodia's colonial history:
Mopeds and small motorcycles were ubiquitous both here and in Vietnam.
A Buddhist temple:
A familiar place:
One of the places The Ravishing Mrs. TB likes to visit when we travel are grocery stores. One sees the most interesting things.
If this is not a t-shirt somewhere, it should be.
Ritz Cracker sandwiches -but with lemon filling, not cheese. They are surprisingly delicious.
Some houses had pretty significant walls and fences. Security guards in front of stores were very common.
The view from the roof of our hotel:
Cities around the world share some common characteristics it seems, in that part of the world two wheelers are smaller and cheaper than four wheelers I'm guessing. Spicy seafood eh? Security guards in front of stores were common? That is something that needs to happen here or have local DAs charge law-breakers instead of not. Good post sir!
ReplyDeleteNylon12, it has a lot to do with cost I suspect. And we saw literally everything on scooters: a ladder, a dog, a family of four.
DeleteSecurity guards were uncomfortably common here, less so in Vietnam (for perhaps obvious reasons).
Great idea to visit the grocery stores! Offers a subtle but different perspective of the culture, doesn't it? Seeing the unusual Ritz crackers reminded me that my grandmother used to use Ritz crackers to make what she called a cracker omelet. It was quite good.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing lunch was traditional Cambodian cuisine? Looks really tasty.
Leigh, it really is a good insight into the local culture. This store was definitely middle-upper class as it clearly had non-traditional Cambodian foods.
DeleteI know of recipes that use Ritz crackers as crust.
The lunch was somewhat traditional - a sort of salad, as I recall.
I have always enjoyed seeing and tasting the various new flavors of American brands that make products overseas tailored for that particular culture. I don't always like them like the McDonalds spaghetti found in Asia.
ReplyDeleteI have grown used to armed security guards just about everywhere in my travels in Asia. I wonder how their retail crime rates compare to ours?
Ed, it is interesting to see other culture's take on American brands (even the Starbucks had non-U.S. items on the menu).
DeleteMy only other major Asian experience is Japan, where there are not nearly as many security guards except in what I would consider the usual places.