Connect the dots

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Mama Mekong: Kratie


She's unavoidable. Particularly when you're headed to Laos via Cambodia. It's the natural route to follow. This is also where Cambodia is making an effort to maintain this vital water way. Spend a night or few to support the survival of the critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphin. Only about 100 of them remain on a 190km stretch of freshwater near Kratie and along the Lao/Cambodian border. Looking like a beluga but actually closely related to the orca, these beak-less, fresh water versions make their home here in the deep water pools. We waited patiently to see them surface (barely) and then raced back to beat the menacing thunderstorm. A ride in a remork through the countryside is quintessential Cambodia - stopping to check out a local school and eating krolan, a local delicacy of sticky rice with coconut milk and beans steamed in tube of bamboo.

See it?
Just barely
Wake me when you see one

A phenomenon only seen in Cambodia. The pajama look. What is this about? Are these women so busy that they don't have enough time to get out of their sleepwear, was there a shipment of pajamas that was accidentally dropped off in Cambodia or is this some future fashion trend?



















This could be breakfast, lunch or a hearty snack. Tubes of krolan, sold by the kilogram.


If you can't make it out of the town to the countryside, let the countryside come to you!


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