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My first Larb
We got back on the giant ibis bus to take us back to Phnom Penn, the journey took about 3.5 hours as we got stuck in the traffic around by the airport back into town, but otherwise uneventful. This gave us about 2.5 hours before we would go back towards the same airport (that awkward amount of time where just waiting is too long but doing anything is a rush).
When we were in Siem Reap visiting the ancient temples we read that various remains (bits of the actual buildings, statues and relics) had been taken to the Phnom Penn National Museum so we thought this would be a good way to spend our last few hours in Cambodia. The building itself was very decorative, but quite warm. I found myself paying more interest to the age of various items and looking to see if I had been to the temples they had come from more so than the items themselves.
There was still a short amount of time to run around the grounds of the Royal Palace, but with our giant bags this was a challenge in the heat. We saw about 3 of 20 buildings/stupas including the silver pagoda, which has silver tiled floors (we did think up until the other day that the building would be silver). Its full of silver and gold buddhas, as well as a emerald one that has 9584 diamonds. Only a few of the silver tiles were on show (most covered up by rugs). There was also a mini replica of Angkor Wat in the grounds.
Soon we were on our way to the airport, much quicker in a Tuk-tuk (as they go through back streets and weave around traffic). Phnom Penn seemed much busier after spending a few days in Kampot. These two weeks in Cambodia had gone quickly, but it did feel it had been longer. The food was a welcome change from the Philippines but it would be wrong to compare the two countries too much. A lot has happened to Cambodia, but you can see that the country will be different and hopefully for the better in another 20 years time (I realise its really obvious saying that as any place would change). Cambodia is also the first place I have been to in the world where Sprite tastes different (sweeter and not for the better). Also, most people seem to be called Dara!
A takeoff, a bit of flying and a landing later we were in the country of Laos, in the capital city of Vientiane. The lady at the immigration desk actually smiled which is very different from the reception you get when entering most countries. As we made our way to the hotel, the roads were all tarmac, and the traffic mostly cars. Our welcome drink at the hotel was 'Bael', it came out in a champagne flute and even had the same colour. Its the fruit of a tree found across Asia. Tash thought it tasted a bit like lemongrass and coconut, my taste buds have got a bit confused since I've been away.
I had my first Laos dish 'Larb' (also written as laarp and a few other variations) its ground meat (I had chicken) served at room temperature flavored with chilli, mint and shallots - I thought it had a bit more heat to it compared to the food of the last few weeks. The beer (Beer Lao) is more potent at 5% but 6 times the price in my hotel compared to out on the street!
Hours travelled; 73.5
Beer brands tried; 5
Flights; 7
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