When in Rome does as the Romans do, and when in Phnom Penh eat and drink on the Mekong.
The Mekong river, after the Amazon river, is the second most biodiverse on earth. Who knows, that might be useful on a pub quiz someday. It is also essential for the economy, and the life of this wonderful city, but also a great place to hang out.
Once night falls Cambodians young and old filter on the promenade to eat, drink, skate, dance, and even solicit for business! A lot gets done here in the evening.
Eating and drinking on the Mekong River
A popular thing for locals to do is bring their own food, and drinks, but if you don’t have your own kitchen, and, or cooker is to grab a plastic chair and get your Mekong Street Food on!
Street food on the Mekong
Street food in Cambodia takes numerous forks, but one of the most popular is the mobile food stalls rides around and parked wherever, and particularly along the Mekong. The stalls serve a huge array of things from fried noodles to iced coffee, but what was the ticket my fancy was some good old fashioned BBQ. I opted for crab balls (Hong Kong style), meatballs, and some Cambodian beef jerky.
Crab and meatballs were as awesome as I’d expect, but the Cambodian beef jerky was a new one on me. It came with salt to dip it in, and I as is my fashion added some hot sauce. Fairly decent overall.
This with washed down with Cambodian Beer served in a plastic mug with ice, whilst the cool breeze of the Mekong rolled past. I’ve had worse days at the office.
Be careful on the Mekong
So whilst it is rather nice to have beers and snacks on the Mekong, the other thing to keep in mind is that once it gets dark the crazies come out. This is a great place to get your phone stolen for example.
To learn how not to get your phone stolen click here.