| During an early morning stroll past the Old Market | | | | their trays of cooked spiders. A local traveller said |
| area of Siem Reap, I met a young woman setting | | | | that the cooked spiders were the areas candy |
| up her stall for the days trading. | | | | treat and after sampling a selection I would have |
| She told me that she was a student from the | | | | to agree with him. |
| Mekong River town of Kratie who worked three | | | | The inland areas around Kampong Cham are the |
| days a week in Siem Reap and went home to | | | | only sites in Cambodia where it is possible to |
| school in Kratie for the remainder of the week. | | | | catch the black ground spiders. One noticeable |
| After being conjured to be her first customer of | | | | feature about this river side town is the strong |
| the day she proceeded to tell me about her town | | | | French influence in the architecture of the building |
| and what it had to offer. It must have been a | | | | and homes. The whole area is maintained in a |
| convincing story because one week later I was | | | | good condition without the areas of decay seen in |
| boarding a river boat in Phnom Penh to travel up | | | | the other towns. |
| the Mekong River to Kratie. | | | | Once back on board and underway the boat |
| The slow boat started the journey up the turbid | | | | passed under the only bridge on the Mekong |
| coloured Mekong River as it is during the rainy | | | | River in Cambodia. The appearance of this man |
| season. About 10 kilometres up the river the boat | | | | made structure seemed in complete contrast to |
| cruised past the long island of Koh Pach and | | | | the nature of the river. This two laned bridge links |
| observed communities and also a large temple. In | | | | Phnom Penh with the remote eastern provinces |
| the dry season the island is popular weekend | | | | of Ratanakiri and Mondulkiri. After a relaxing trip |
| retreat with Phnom Penh residents as it has a | | | | following the winding course of the river, the boat |
| large sandy beach area for them to enjoy. | | | | berthed at its pier in Kratie and the passengers |
| The boat stopped at the town of Kampong | | | | went their separate ways, Kratie is a small town |
| Cham where some of the local villagers | | | | dominated by its market place with some |
| disembarked. The opportunity was taken by the | | | | guesthouses around it. The rivers front housed a |
| rest of the travellers to head into the local | | | | number of small beer stalls, all of which offered a |
| market, where we were introduced to a local | | | | great selection of local dishes. |
| delicacy. Vendors were quickly on hand to offer | | | | |