Sunset and Spidertown
Apr. 23rd, 2024 08:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smokingbootPhnom Penh to Siem Reap can be quite a journey. Cambodian speed limits are something like 40 miles an hour, so everything takes forever, but there were several breaks. One was here: https://news.cgtn.com/news/2019-08-23/Underprivileged-Cambodian-children-get-dual-education-JonpQ0HCiA/index.html
At one point, the children broke into a hymn. Being Brits we instantly wanted to sing a song back, but votes were divided between All You Need Is Love and I'm A Little Teapot, complete with accompanying actions, so instead we bought things and left without puzzling the orphanage.
Then we came to Spidertown. You know when you're approaching this place because there's a big sculpture of two spiders on the road not far from it. Spidertown has a heck of a lot of tarantulas, many of which get eaten, along with grubs, crickets, tiny frogs etc, and the market sells them. We were advised not to eat any of the food on offer, not because of what it was but due to the length of time it might have been parked in the sun. The cooked tarantulas are the black pile.
Our guide joked with us that 'Cambodians will eat anything that flies except an aeroplane, anything with four legs except a table.' He mentioned that he would certainly catch and fry a cricket if he found one, he quite liked them. In the wet season he goes back to his farm where his produce includes chickens, ducks, and frogs.
People who approached us off the coach included those carrying live tarantulas; one lady paraded around holding her baby, wearing two of them like brooches on her sash/scarf. Apparently one joke the local kids like playing entails running up to visitors, plonking a tarantula on them, and running off again. There's no malice in this, it happened to one of our number who took it all in his stride.
Some whiney kid approached me with his tarantula, and I tried to steel myself to hold it. But this was not like those rose-kneed characters who just sit there placidly. It was constantly moving, full of life and interest, and I got the distinct impression that any attempt to hold it would result in the beastie running straight up my arm with glee. What I should have done, were I not so tired with heat and emotional overload, was to buy the tarantula and just set it free in the sand. Then again, I didn't know if it was actually his pet so I gave the kid a dollar and took some hopelessly bad photos of said tarantula, who wouldn't keep still long enough for me to get a proper portrait.
We left and our tour guide took us for some proper soul mending, to see the floating community of Kampong Khleang on the great lake of Tonle Sap.
We did not go into the village itself, rather we watched in silence as the sunset filled sky and land and water, understanding that Cambodia's beauty is so extraordinary that nothing can withstand its power; it makes evil look very small. We saw kids playing volleyball on the shore, passed one place in the middle of the lake with music playing as though someone was getting ready for a party. Beyond that, where the birds flew through reds and purples into deep twilight, waited one of the greatest sunsets anywhere on Earth.
At one point, the children broke into a hymn. Being Brits we instantly wanted to sing a song back, but votes were divided between All You Need Is Love and I'm A Little Teapot, complete with accompanying actions, so instead we bought things and left without puzzling the orphanage.
Then we came to Spidertown. You know when you're approaching this place because there's a big sculpture of two spiders on the road not far from it. Spidertown has a heck of a lot of tarantulas, many of which get eaten, along with grubs, crickets, tiny frogs etc, and the market sells them. We were advised not to eat any of the food on offer, not because of what it was but due to the length of time it might have been parked in the sun. The cooked tarantulas are the black pile.
Our guide joked with us that 'Cambodians will eat anything that flies except an aeroplane, anything with four legs except a table.' He mentioned that he would certainly catch and fry a cricket if he found one, he quite liked them. In the wet season he goes back to his farm where his produce includes chickens, ducks, and frogs.
People who approached us off the coach included those carrying live tarantulas; one lady paraded around holding her baby, wearing two of them like brooches on her sash/scarf. Apparently one joke the local kids like playing entails running up to visitors, plonking a tarantula on them, and running off again. There's no malice in this, it happened to one of our number who took it all in his stride.
Some whiney kid approached me with his tarantula, and I tried to steel myself to hold it. But this was not like those rose-kneed characters who just sit there placidly. It was constantly moving, full of life and interest, and I got the distinct impression that any attempt to hold it would result in the beastie running straight up my arm with glee. What I should have done, were I not so tired with heat and emotional overload, was to buy the tarantula and just set it free in the sand. Then again, I didn't know if it was actually his pet so I gave the kid a dollar and took some hopelessly bad photos of said tarantula, who wouldn't keep still long enough for me to get a proper portrait.
We left and our tour guide took us for some proper soul mending, to see the floating community of Kampong Khleang on the great lake of Tonle Sap.
We did not go into the village itself, rather we watched in silence as the sunset filled sky and land and water, understanding that Cambodia's beauty is so extraordinary that nothing can withstand its power; it makes evil look very small. We saw kids playing volleyball on the shore, passed one place in the middle of the lake with music playing as though someone was getting ready for a party. Beyond that, where the birds flew through reds and purples into deep twilight, waited one of the greatest sunsets anywhere on Earth.
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