(Daniel) Last night the rain and wind got so hard that I had to get up several times to check the tent, worried that it may blow over.  The morning found everything to be fine, if a little cold and wet.  We were out of food, save for some noodles and plenty of herds and spices.  Yesterdays discovery of our bug infestation having claimed the last of our fresh food stocks.   This morning when I opened the dry foods drawer left empty to dry after cleaning it yesterday.  The bugs had returned en masse, and were preparing for a siege.  I found a way to remove the drawer, crushing what little chance they had of a second coming!  Nii was still asleep, so  I climbed in the Wolf and drove down to the town looking for a supermarket.

On the main street I spotted a place and pulled over, inside I was surprised to find a good stock of cheeses from Europe and all sorts of tinned foods and preserves.  The frindge held an even greater surprise as I found a small stock of Leffe, Chimay and Duvel in there!  I don’t know who is drinking these beers in Cambodia, but thank you whoever it is for creating this little bit of Belgium in South East Asia!

After buying Milk, Eggs, Salami and Butter along with some of the beers from the fridge,  I drove to the Market which we found yesterday.  At this time in the morning, the place was buzzing, hundreds of locals squeezing up and down the thin walkways buying and selling goods.  I fancied a duck curry for Dinner, finding my way quickly to the meat section.  A whole duck cost $2, so I bought one.  I also found lychees and pineapple,  chilies and bell pepper,  Basil, Garlic, Onion, Eggplant and some Ice.

When I returned to the Camp, Nii had cleaned up the kitchen ready for breakfast.  I made an omlette with onion and salami, then showered before sitting down in  the tent to write some more of my diary.  About two hours later I could feel the pangs of hunger coming in, and prepared a butter sauce with garlic and Chili.  I cooked the shrimp that we bought yesterday in the sauce, which Nii and I ate, they were delicious!  Then we headed down to the Beach to read up on where in Cambodia we can go from here.  Down on the Beach, I asked at the bar for a Coconut Juice.  The Barman smiled and handed me a small knife, saying if you can get one, you can have it!

I looked up at the  huge coconuts in the tree, big red ants crawled all over it, but having captured and drunk so many coconuts on this trip ever since learning how to cut them in Malaysia I persisted, managing to get one down!  The husk was really thick, the biggest I have tried to cut, and the knife which the barman gave me was the smallest I have tried to open a coconut with before!  Somehow I got the thing open, which surprisingly was excellent. We drank it together then walked back to the Camp to make dinner. 

I butchered the Duck, while Nii prepared the rice.  I chopped Onions and Pineapple, peeled Lychees, and quartered the Bell Pepper.  We added garlic, Chili and Ginger to the pot, frying it with the pieces of duck, then added the curry paste until it started to cook into the meat.  I poured the Coconut milk over the top and heated these on max until I could see the oil separating out from the milk.  Then I added the vegetables and covered the pot, cooking slowly for 40 minutes. 

The end result was amazing, a lovely sweet taste from the lychees, shored up by the pineapple.  The duck was a little tough, but I guess that was it’s origin more than my cooking!    I made so much, that we couldn’t finish,  and as yesterday Nii gave the rest of the curry to our hosts, who ate it appreciatively and returned the bowl to us.

After dinner, Nii and I walked down to the beach to check out the nightlife, we met a group of people who we sat down with a drank a few beers, but didn’t feel like staying out too late, stumbling back to the room at around 11.30pm.

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