Fried Chicken Feet and BBQ Barracuda

The elections are over, and the same party that's been in power for the last 25 or more years is still in power. I have a sense that a lot of voters in this little coastal community feel a little disheartened. Maybe I'm just projecting my own disappointment.
I saw at least two cars with UN election obersers' stickers on the rear windshield, which gives me hope that at least the election wasn't rigged.

The weather in Sihanoukville has been very nice for the last few days. The daily downpours have subsided slightly, and we're enjoying the sun and shade. Today we enjoyed breakfast at the Starfish Bakery and Cafe before heading to the beach to sunbathe and hunt for shells. Starfish is a grassroots organization that raises funds to help young and disabled Cambodians learn valuable trade skills. They sell amazing food and beautiful crafts, and it feels very good to know that my money is going towards a noble cause.

The food this weeks has run the gamut from the very western bacon cheeseburger, to a gourmet seafood dinner in a French restaurant, to ramen and fried chicken feet. Earlier in the week we tested the waters of the local street food by munching on chicken feet dipped in a salty lime sauce, and crisp cucumber salad. While traveling by boat through the mangroves of Ream National Park we were treated to a lunch of BBQ fresh local Barracuda and coleslaw with coke in a bottle. Yesterday for lunch we had the simplest of simple, a bowl of ramen noodles with green onion and sweet chile sauce. And last night we had the most spectacular gourmet seafood platter with grilled giant prawns, ceviche in lime and olive oil, scallops in some sort of delicious butter sauce, more BBQ Barracuda, and calamari - with a lovely view of the beach on our left a small Cambodian child, a dog and a cat on our right and no doubt a few dozen geckos watching from the rafters.

Yes, the food is amazing.

After a few discouraging conversations with tour agencies about the possibility of visiting Ream National Park, we were very pleased when we finally found ourselves motoring through the mangroves on arguably the most beautiful day of the week. Our guides were very quiet only speaking when we should be looking at a stork or eagle flying overhead. We pulled ashore by a very small fishing village - not more than 40 residents - and walked about 30 minutes through the jungle, past a HUGE spider, over countless red ant trails, past about thirty termite hills with birds and cicadas in the background until we emerged at a beautiful white sand beach.

When the afternoon thunderclouds rolled in we hustled back to the shelter of the jungle, and made our way to the awaiting lunch spread of BBQ barracuda, coleslaw, bread and coke - with fresh pineapple and banana for dessert. The Barracuda was phenomenal! Still kicking myself for not getting the recipe. Of course the pineapple and banana was delicious too.

Yesterday was to real adventure! We rented a 250cc trail bike to ride about 15 miles out of town to a waterfall. The bike was fine, the driver (me) very capable, and the rider (Brooke) an experienced rider... everything else? Well, you might imagine what it's like but let me elaborate: The good news is we had a great time. The adventure was navigating the nearly anarchists traffic, negotiating our way past a fake park ranger who had run a chain across the road to try to scam entrance fees out of naive tourists, and making it back to a gas station after some little brat kids stole most of our gasoline while we weren't looking. Oh, and being told that if we weren't careful we might get held up at gunpoint - or worse, shot just because we're white tourists! That wasn't very encouraging.
Well, in the end, all we really suffered was losing about $6 in gas, and some rather stinky armpits thanks to a higher than average stress level. The waterfall was awesome... Worth it.