Pitstop at Spider Village

On our way to the homestay in Takeo, we stopped at a place called Spider Village to meet, great, and eat some of the local delicacies. Yes, we're talking spiders here. As soon as we got of the bus, we were crowded by friendly "hawkers" (street-food-sellers) who served up a nice big plate of spiders (and other tasty fruit, animal, and insect produce).

In adition, the local kids were quick to put a few spiders on you, just to see if we tourists would freak out. Of course, a couple always do: it's a love or hate thing with spiders. Sois, for instance, found the spiders actually pretty cute (quote: "They're soooo soft, just like puppies. Wanna hold one?") and allowed them to crawl everywhere except his underpants. Chel managed to pet one quickly before being disgusted again when they brought in a fresh plate of fried spider.

We know what you want to ask: Did somebody eat it? Well, Lisa (from our tourgroup) and Sois managed to chomp down a spider leg (unfortunately no video, just personal witnesses). So how did it taste? Well, it tasted like deep-fried plastic. Plus the taste of grease haunted Sois's tastebuds for the entire day. Maybe a great snack from a local standpoint, but one we'll definitely pass the next time. Keep following us for more culinary (and other) adventures. In the meantime, bon appetit and never complain about our meat, potato, and veggie dishes again ;-)