I am recently back from a family trip to the countryside near the capital of Pursat province here in northwestern Cambodia.
๐ฅช Good Morning Sandwich & Wife ๐คทโโ๏ธ
ย ย ย From here in Pramaoy to the the countryside just beyond the regional capital of Pursat province, it took about 3 hours in the Ape. We left late Saturday night, arriving in just enough time to say hello and go to sleep. In the morning @sreypov prepared a family favorite, bean curd skin sandwiches.
ย ย ย I took my sandwich to greet the missus and get ready to be observed and taken in by both the in-laws and locals. I had been previously told about a women there with an alcohol problem there, and just as expected, after spending no more than 10 seconds with her, I was told a mini version of her life story, then she began crying while occasionally lifting her shirt to itch her boobs.
ย ย ย I don't have many pictures to show of the people, mostly because I was being observed like an animal in a zoo by some of my in-laws and their neighbors. Even during breakfast there was a particular lady whom basically said something to me in Khmer that I can loosely translate as follows....
Holy s*it!! You're a Frenchman! You speak Khmer! I've never actually come face to face with your kind before. Oh my god, look at your face and your nose, can I watch you eat breakfast!? Honestly, if you don't mind, I 'd really just like to sit and watch how you consume food.
๐คญ I Have A Good Sense Of Humor
ย ย ย I managed to get through breakfast while feeling a bit like a spectacle the whole time. Several of the in-laws were well aware of the ridiculousness, constantly checking on me to make sure I wasn't too annoyed by anything or anyone. I reassured I too have a good sense of humor, and then cute little guy above came to give me a visit.
ย ย ย While wandering around not long after sunrise, I saw Monkey-B meandering in the front yard, and the caged bird was in eyeline, so I snapped the above shot. I don't like seeing caged birds, but I must say the cage is a genius reuse of old pedestal fan shrouds.
๐ผ MEOW!!
ย ย ย Even though I felt a bit like an alien at times, I wasn't the only ginger in the village. The above ginger kitty came and cuddled me at night, waited for me to wake up in the morning, and also gave me lots of awesome shots.
ย ย ย I think that is something unique about us gingers, we transcend species. This ginger kitty and my ginger self both share the struggle of being orange in a white, brown, and black world.
โธ๏ธ Wagon Wheels In The Kitchen
ย ย ย The kitchen of the house we stayed at had some massive wagon wheels within, a sign of a way of travel slowly dying out in the countryside. Although these folks like just a few seconds from a paved road, way out in the boondocks you can still see ox carts here and there, but most are sporting rubber car tires and steel rims.
๐ถ Just One Mistake Please
ย ย ย This cute little puppy was irresistible, and of course we gave him nibbles of our sandwich. This little guy was very interested in vegan food, looking ready to snatch the whole sandwich and run if Srey-Yuu made the slightest of sandwich-eating miscalculations.
๐ฅฌ Larb Tofu For All ๐
ย ย ย Larb tofu, or tofu larb depending on where you are in the world, is a legendary dish found in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and perhaps Vietnam and southern China too. It's generally a spicy salad made with undercooked minced pork as the main ingredient, but of course our Ital version replaces this ingredient with fried tofu, and it is out of this world.
๐ถโโ๏ธ Walk Off The Calories ๐ถโโ๏ธ
ย ย ย After a larb lunch we were invited to see the houses and properties further down the road. Basically all the folks hanging out with us wanted us to personally visit their homes, and all of them within a 2-3 minute walk of each other, so it was very easy to wander around and make more personal visits with everyone.
๐ Unsettling The Livestock
ย ย ย Maybe I am paranoid, but even walking past this water buffalo, it felt as though it opened its eyes as wide as possible, completely shocked by my presence. He didn't stomp the ground or make any aggressive gestures, but I could sense he was not going to let me out of his sight.
๐ A New Mama
ย ย ย Upon arriving at the first house, I noticed a majestic canine mama taking care of her of 2 puppies. The black one caught my eye because it was nursing freestyle, preferring to go at the nipples upside down and under the back leg.
ย ย ย The little pups were so cute, and it seemed as though they were just beginning to develop some eye focus. Random Cambodian dogs are among the smartest canines on the planet, so don't let their not so fancy looks fool you.
ย ย ย I couldn't resist taking a short video for GIF purposes. They are just too cute, and mama is obviously exhausted with her responsibilities.
๐ฅฅ Coconuts For The Road ๐ฃ๏ธ
ย ย ย By the time 3pm arrived, we knew it was time to start making preparations to hit the road back to Pramaoy. The girls had to be in school bright and early the next morning. We departed with many cucumbers, longbeans, and when we told the ridiculous prices of coconuts here in Pramaoy, they sent us with two branches full of ripe and unripe coconuts.
ย ย ย There were some adventures during the day that I will share in the next post, but this pretty much covers my time with the in-laws. I think I was a hit, and now that everyone is comfortable with me there, I think on my next visit I will have more privacy and distance when I desire. All in all they were very nice, and two ladies in particular have a dry sense of humor very similar to mine, so they made the time pass very quickly.
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