Cambodia is the most tourist friendly, easiest to visit country in the world. It is like Mexico without the drug lords, like Egypt with the rules on the ruins, like Thailand with out the riffraff, and America with out the wealth. Seriously!!! You can buy all American goods no problem, you can watch youtube, you can use American dollars, you speak English, and you can eat TexMex and french fries.

The Cambodian people seemed super friendly and always smiling. We only had a few unhappy moments when little children begged us to death and we didn’t buy. They were mostly faking their tears and whines and that was a bit draining. You do get beggar fatigue pretty quick, but when I look back, I feel really bad for most of them, especially the ones with no arms, legs, or faces. They are a really poor and their government is still very corrupt, taxing them a huge percentage of their income. Most government workers are given Landcruisers and Lexus and there sure were a lot of them on the road. Still smiles were a constant.

Food was anything that is nutritious and that can be eaten, including dog, ants, and tarantulas. We kept telling each other to not eat the spiders but on our last night it was on the menu. So we asked the kitchen if we could check out their food pantry with their live tarantulas. They pulled out the tupperware crawling with big black hairies and dumped them on the counter to crawl over everyone’s food. We all screamed in terror and amazement. Then we noticed the big silver mixing bowl with hundreds marinating in salad bar fix’ns. Of course we all shrieked and gasped in wonderment. The workers brushed the giant arachnids back into their tupperware waiting station and queasily we went back to our table to ponder on what could we possibly eat to satiate our sensitive tummies. The people next to us had no problem eating the creatures and their little daughter seemed delighted to have such a treat. I had a dreams of pasta with mulberry worms the next night and coudn’t eat pasta for days afterwords especially the green kind. Shiver me timbers!!!

There is a lot to tell and pictures tell the best. Enjoy!