The bloom is off the rose in Cambodia. At least it is for me with regards to eating. On arriving in Kampot Sokly, the DDP manager and I went with two prospective Deaf HIV trainers to dinner at what best can be called the "local outdoor diner." It consisted of rough hewn tables set up with plastic chairs in a public market. The food was set about in stainless steel pots on tables arranged so customers could lift the tops off the pots and indicate which item they wanted for their dinner. No problem eh? Well, given that it was after six p.m. it was quite dark outside and the town dogs roamed between the tables hunting for scraps. Motorcyclists rode right up to the pots and while still mounted chose their evening meal to be loaded into small plastic bags to go.

Nothing too wrong with this picture yet, right? Wrong! It had just rained in town and it pooled under the tables and on the chairs where we were to eat. Flies attracted by the electric lights swarmed over the food as soon as it was uncovered or plated. Not being able to tell what I was eating didn't help. Fortunately, Sokly speaks English quite well and pointed out some things I might and did indeed like. I chose red curry and palm cuttings for dinner. It was tasty, though trying to eat palm stalks can be quite difficult to chew if not cooked well.

At these outdoor joints Cambodians are quite accustomed to wiping off their own flatware since one isn't sure when the last time it had been washed. Kleenex boxes provide napkins and they are easily discarded right onto the ground. When something spills on the table, it's considered rude to wipe up what's there since that would waste paper napkins. Fly food galore. Dinner meant figuring out how to eat amidst town dogs and flies who were quite insistent about what they thought was their food

Breakfast the next morning is pictured above. Bacon cooked on a stone stove with rice and eggs previously scrambled. What you cannot see in the picture is the hundreds of flies that have gathered to enjoy their morning meal. Racing flies for breakfast isn't my idea of pleasant, but who am I to describe a proper Cambodian meal.

Lunch was had with the town dogs again with even fewer vegetarian friendly items... so I enjoyed the sauces of the various meat dishes. By dinner I decided I must eat in peace and wandered off alone to a restaurant catering to the foreign visitor "crowd" or lack thereof. After a fly free meal eaten at a proper restaurant the wait staffer sat down with me to chat. He told of how the tourist traffic has really died in Kampot and that I was only the second customer of the day in a place that clearly had at least ten tables seating four each.

As it was the town looked as it must have during the Pol Pot regime, largely devoid of people on the street. I read an article by a resident who claimed that in the mass relocation that every Cambodian experienced, he learned to eat, sleep and hide in trees from the Khmer Rouge cadres.

More on that later. I won't dwell on this misadventure any further. Have a good weekend.