When it comes to traveling in South East Asia, one of the great things to do is to visit the markets, whether it’s food or imitation cheap goods, there’s always something for everybody – for Ms. Buddha and I – food is always the first thing when it comes to markets.
After checking in at the Intercontinental Phnom Penh, we decided that for dinner we should visit a night market – given that we weren’t sure how the safety/customs are in Cambodia yet, we went for something a bit more touristy and choose the famous Phnom Penh Night Market.
We caught a taxi there because that was the “safer” option – and the trip from the hotel was like 2 USD – you know when you are close because the place is swarming with tourists – the atmosphere is actually quite fun because there’s a stage with a “fashion” show and everyone is just enjoying themselves.
Craving for a bit of food, Ms. Buddha and I explored into the food section where we first got a nice bowl of noodles and some pork with veggie – the broth was excellent and Ms. Buddha drank it all up! Pork was tasty too but the chilli could’ve been a little stronger.
We roamed around a bit more just to soak in the surrounding a little, whilst Ms. Buddha had already set aside room for coconut ice cream in her belly – being not entirely full, and slightly confused, we decided to go to one of those stalls where you just pick your foods. The stuff on offer is normally either sausages/offal or fish cakes along with some chilli sauce – the lady running the stall was super nice and the food was quite delicious! (Hard to go wrong – but it’s the experience that counts!)
Craving for just a little bit more – and me wanting the famous Cambodian treat of Balut – which is effectively a cooked duck embryo – a few of the stalls were selling it and the staff looked a little shocked when I asked for the Balut (assuming I’ve never had it) – to be honest – if you can get over the look of the food, the egg is really delicious – for the brave, you should definitely give it a try!
My belly was filled by then and it was time for Ms. Buddha to get her final item, we walked around the area twice over before she found the stall that she liked – the ladies serving us were super nice – and Ms. Buddha absolutely loved it!
With both our bellies filled, it was time to head back to the hotel – we roamed a bit longer looking at the various knick knacks being sold and eventually made our way back to the entrance. One word of advice, taxi’s are not easy to find – so after waiting for a while, I negotiated a tut tut driver (with the taxi fare as reference) down to a fare I thought was reasonable – it was Ms. Buddha’s first time in a tut tut and was definitely a new experience for her – it’s not exactly safe, but you just have to find a driver who comes across as reliable.
Buddha Explores 