Kien Svay Market

On Sunday, January 20, the four of us rented a car for an all-day trip to the market at Kien Svay.  On the way, we came upon the scene of an accident involving a couple of motos.  Considering the way most Cambodians drive, it's amazing that we haven't seen more mishaps. Fortunately, no one seemed to be seriously hurt, and traffic continued on its way.

At the market, we shopped for our lunch among the vendors.  One section of the market has been rebuilt in the last year, and has concrete walkways and plenty of room for both vendors and shoppers.  The old section, however, still has dirt floors with very crowded aisles between the tables.  

This young fellow was carrying a load of freshly-caught fish to be roasted at the market.

We enjoyed strolling among the stalls, "people-watching" and shopping for our lunch.

In addition to the vendors and their beautiful children, there were artistically arranged fruits and vegetables, along with delicacies such as sugar cane carefully wrapped in banana leaves and steamed or roasted.

Among the “delicacies” we didn’t choose were snakes, roasted turtles,

Snails,

Various kinds of beetles, crickets and a number of unidentified dishes.

For lunch, we rented space in one of the covered pavilions built over the water.  However, getting there by way of this long, narrow walkway was a bit of a challenge.

Once settled, we had a lovely breeze and a view of tourist boats and vendors selling yet more colorful produce. 

We stuffed ourselves on a fish called snakehead (rolled in sea salt and shown here being roasted over an open fire), grilled chicken with sour green tamarind sauce, fresh-water prawns and of course rice and cold beer. 

Pretty soon we had finished all but a few leftovers.

It was a great day, except that Jimmy Joe’s cell phone was lost or stolen while we were at the market.   

And when we got home you would think we hadn’t eaten all day.  Dinner was scrumptious fried fish accompanied by a wonderful olive and walnut salsa!  (And we have the recipe!)