Kampong Som to Phnom Penh

We left Kampong Som on Friday morning and headed back toward Phnom Penh. We drove alongside rice fields where we stopped to watch the harvest. The women working in the field were cutting the stalks of rice with a special sickle-like tool called a kadeov. It has a handle, an arm for gathering the rice stalks, and a blade for cutting. This is what it looks like in use. 

The road began to climb into the mountains, and the air became cooler. At mid-morning we stopped at a very nice roadside market where we sampled several different local fruits and bought some for our trip.

One of the many fruits we saw displayed at the market (and which we enjoy immensely!) is jackfruit.  It is often bigger than a football, and when seen hanging from the jackfruit tree is quite impressive.

Around noon we approached the Kirirom Hillside Resort. The road climbs steeply up the mountain, and is rutted and winding. At the top, we were told are the ruins of one of King Norodom's homes. However, our rental car was overheating badly, so we left the ruins to explore another day. Instead, we had lunch at the resort, and enjoyed getting acquainted with the resident monkey and watching him tussle with the resort's puppy.

It reminded us of the frequent dog tussels we enjoy at home, and how much we miss our four-legged friends.

A few hours and a number of miles of bumpy road later, we were back home. It was a wonderful three days and a trip we won't soon forget.