Holiday in Cambodia Part 5

As we were hiking through the temples and talking with Panna I mentioned that there were less stray dogs in Siem Reap than there are in Bangkok. He joked that it was because Khemers eat dog meat. I said id like to try it. He offered to take us to a dog meat shop. So after we were done seeing the temples he took us to his favorite "Sai Besse" (Khemer for 'special meat') store. We sat down and were handed small platters of cut up cooked meat, and bowls of gravy.

Not knowing what to expect, we jumped in head first, grabbing our chopsticks and tossing the bits of meat into our mouth. For me, at least, the taste was very unusual. It took a few bites before I could even describe it. All 3 of us described the taste in wildly different ways. Steve says its a gamey red meat. I say its a cross between turkey and deer. It took a bit of acclimation to the taste before I could enjoy it, but halfway through the meal I was as happy as if I was eating a nice juicy hamburger.

Panna ordered a second plate, and this one had dog intestine on it. I joked that this was an actual hot dog. This I did not care for.

Steve noticed that the other tables were drinking some dark liquid as shots out of a water bottle. When he inquired Panna explained that its local rice wine. We ordered a bottle, as I always like to try the local homebrew (The lahu whisky from chaing mai is still my favorite brand, and I'm saving the last bit for a special occasion). The rice wine was surprisingly smooth, and surprisingly high proof. It had an almost coffee like taste to it, and went down with very little burn. The fact that I could soon feel the effects makes me certain that its alcohol level is deceiving high. All of the other patrons of the resturant got a kick out of seeing a trio of Barang (as forigners are called in khemer) eating dog and saying the traditional Khemer cheers 'Jul Muy' as we took our shots of rice wine.

When we finished Panna invited us to his house to meet his wife, child and neighbors. The thought of turning down such an offer did not even cross our minds.

Panna lives in a modest apartment that consists of a main room (for living and sleeping) and a utility room and a bathroom. Cooking is done in the small yard of the apartments. He has a lovely wife and an adorable little daughter. He introduced us to his friend Nhit, who sat down with us and through Panna translating asked us some questions about America during dinner. Oh yeah, dinner. yes, we did just come from the Special Meat shop, but that didnt stop Panna's wife from going to the store to grab a bag full of beers for those who wanted to drink and then proceed to cook a delicious spread of curries, and fish, with rice, of course.

We sat and ate and chatted for a while. Panna and Nhit showed us a car that they use to smuggle teakwood. They had reinforced it and modified the shocks so that it could haul 200 kg of wood. He said it was the easiest way to get ahead because it can run a profit of a few hundred dollars for a load. They use the car rather than a truck because it costs less to pay the bribes. Interestingly Panna didnt know that Teakwood was a valuable and popular wood from everything from tables to floors.

Eventually we felt it became late and Panna drove us back to the guesthouse with our stomachs quite happy.