Location: Sihanoukville and Kampot, CambodiaDate: March 30, 2010
I decided to check out Cambodia's coastline after my busy days in the city. the coast is beautiful, and even the remote islands hold surprises, like giant goats coming up and head butting you as you are catching some sun....
Seriously, this guy was HUGE!
Fishing.
Cambodian gas station: notice the reused Pepsi bottles!!! One liter will get a moto-tuk-tuk about 2 or 3 days use of gas.Hammocking around at the peppermills. 
Some new friends: Maggie and Coen (Holland) and Roberto (Spain). We did a trek in the Bokor National Forest with a group (note my high fashion!!!!). After hiking up 1000m we jumped into the back of a pick up truck and they took us up to a deserted casino/hotel complex that was thriving in the 1920s until it was completely destroyed by the Khmer Rouge regime. On the way up, we saw lots of illegal logging, which actually made our truck get stuck for over an hour as it hauled trees away from the road.
Front of the deserted casino, encased in fog.
Below are the cliffs that you can see from the top floor of the casion. I love the way the cliffs meet the fog- if you walk to the edge and look below, it just drops down. Apparently, it was a popular place for suicides- not sure if it had anything to do with gambling in the casino or not.
Watching the sunset over the Bokor National Forest.
Durian...have you ever heard of it? Many on the food network? Well, the fruit STINKS. I mean, it really smells, sort of like rotting socks. You can smell it as you drive along, getting whiffs from time to time. Well, I decided it was a must to try the fruit, since it has such hype. After our hike, we happened upon a late night fruit stand, which held about 5 new fruits I had never seen...they prepared a little bowl for us, and we got to sample durian and many other tropical fruits. Durian is the spiky one on top of the case to the left. The consistency, as my roommates know (this is the fruit I made you try in June!!!), is like that of raw chicken...It is creamy and soft, and slippery to the touch. It does not look like something that is good to eat. We had attempted to try it once in Seattle, but the fruit had been frozen and thus lost much of its taste, so this was my chance, to try fresh durian...
Some new friends: Maggie and Coen (Holland) and Roberto (Spain). We did a trek in the Bokor National Forest with a group (note my high fashion!!!!). After hiking up 1000m we jumped into the back of a pick up truck and they took us up to a deserted casino/hotel complex that was thriving in the 1920s until it was completely destroyed by the Khmer Rouge regime. On the way up, we saw lots of illegal logging, which actually made our truck get stuck for over an hour as it hauled trees away from the road. 
Front of the deserted casino, encased in fog.Below are the cliffs that you can see from the top floor of the casion. I love the way the cliffs meet the fog- if you walk to the edge and look below, it just drops down. Apparently, it was a popular place for suicides- not sure if it had anything to do with gambling in the casino or not.
Watching the sunset over the Bokor National Forest. Durian...have you ever heard of it? Many on the food network? Well, the fruit STINKS. I mean, it really smells, sort of like rotting socks. You can smell it as you drive along, getting whiffs from time to time. Well, I decided it was a must to try the fruit, since it has such hype. After our hike, we happened upon a late night fruit stand, which held about 5 new fruits I had never seen...they prepared a little bowl for us, and we got to sample durian and many other tropical fruits. Durian is the spiky one on top of the case to the left. The consistency, as my roommates know (this is the fruit I made you try in June!!!), is like that of raw chicken...It is creamy and soft, and slippery to the touch. It does not look like something that is good to eat. We had attempted to try it once in Seattle, but the fruit had been frozen and thus lost much of its taste, so this was my chance, to try fresh durian...
Verdict: DELICIOUS!!! True, the creamy, funny texture is a little much to take and it does have a bit of an old cheese taste, but I think that just adds to its charm. See the durian above, inside the spiky shell? I highly recommend it if you get the chance :)
