This is Niek with a Tarantula in Cambodia.
We spent our summer holiday there...what a fantastic place to go!

Cambodia is truly a revelation; the country has been devastated by civil war and of course the atrocities of the Red Khmer, but it seems everyone is making an effort to overcome history and rebuild te country. We think that in 10 years time Cambodia will not be a third world country anymore.

We started in Phnom Penh, after a stopover in Bangkok (always good for some shopping). Phnom Penh in not a very exciting city compared to buzzling Bangkok, but it has a very nice relaxed "french" feel to it, and the streets are clean, the air is fresh en there is good food to be found. We visited the National Museum which has a small but beautiful collection of mainly old sculptures, and gives a good overview of Khmer history. We went to the Royal Palace to visit the Silver Pagoda. And we went to the Tuol Sleng Museum, the old school that was used for interrogations during Pol Pot's terror bend. Chilling, but not to be missed.

Another thing not to be missed in Phnom Penh is a visit to Romdeng, a Khmer restaurant run by the Friends Organisation. In this restaurant, housed in a lovely old villa, young people are trained for the hospitality service. They all are wearing t-shirts saying "student" or "teacher"...the restaurant itself serves traditional delicious Khmer food like fried Tarantula and soup with Morning Glory. The restaurant now has its own award-winning cook-book called "from Spiders to Water-lilies"...I have cooked several recepies from it so far, and they all are delicious.
Been there, bought the book!

...to be continued....