Day 113-114: Boat trippin and Smokin' Pot

It's become something of a recurring theme on this trip that the unplanned things, the spur-of-the-moment decisions, the yeah - let's just go for it 's that provide some of the most magical times.

This was the case when we decided we'd been on enough buses for a while and opted to take the long way round from Siem Reap to Battambang; by boat.

On purchasing the tickets we'd received a number of different estimates regarding the trip time. Some came in at a speedy 4 hours while others pitched in at closer to 8; everyone agreed it depended on the season, no-one was able to confirm whether travelling the route in the rainy season (as we were) actually made it faster or slower.

None the less we set off early and made ourselves comfortable on the roof of the boat (as you do) with the luggage in the morning sun. We quickly met some fellow travelers and shortly after introductions we were all happily sweating profusely together as we sailed through whole communities floating on the banks of the river under the clearest blue sky we had seen since Vietnam.

Nine hours (and for 365's new best friend, Steve, a t-shirt tan to end all t-shirt tans) later with sore arms from waving to children on the bank and shouting 'hello!' we were still none the wiser as to whether that was faster or slower than it was meant to be. What we did know was that tomorrow our extended group of friends would be taking a cooking class together at the fantastically named Smokin' Pot restaurant.

The day began with a trip to the market to buy our supplies with our knowledgeable and super-chilled out host, Vannak. First we made the traditional Khmer dish, Amok; a creamy coconut and chili dish served with big chunks of veg and rice. Please note, how happy Rob (above, far right) looks at the consumption of this dish.

Then, when I was definitely too full to eat any more, we made the spicy beef [tofu for me] stir-fry with basil and chili. This was a simple 4-minute frying wonder of a dish that was based around the same paste we'd made for the Amok, but with a few added extras. Here Rob decided to "do it like to locals"and on ascertaining that Vannak would usually add 10 chilis to his, decided to follow suit. Please note how Rob looked after finishing this dish (below).

Definitely, definitely too full to possibly continue we moved onto the final dish of the day; a chicken [veg] soup. A simple soup with a fresh citrus flavour that, it's safe to say; finished us off.

Vannak gave us a great recipe booklet - so expect a re-run of the above events when we return home - and we slumped helplessly into afternoon naps.