Southeast Asia - Travels and Treats

A while back I created a post highlighting some of the cuisine we encountered in China. Even furtherer back I showed some of the unique methods of transport within the Indian subcontinent. Here I'll try to roll both travel and treats into a single post which outlines some of the options available to travelers in the mainland of Southeast Asia.

Without further adieu, please allow me to introduce the sawngthaew. A.k.a. the beat-up ole' pickup truck.

While in the Western world a vehicle so far past it's useful life would be deemed unfit for road travel in West Texas, in Southeast Asia these "jewels" are promoted to carrying human cargo and "converted" to taxiesque rolling parties.

You can try to travel using alternative transport, but that basically means getting in a red one, green one, blue one, or yellow one (based on what paint was on sale when the vehicular baptism occured). As you can see, it's just the way to go and they've risen to "Bus" status in most locations.

While a little unnerving at first glance, the sawngthaew quickly grows on you as you discover it's a great way to get close to the locals. Just look at all the fun we're having!

AND if sharing your lap with three locals and a bag of rice isn't enough, Look what else you can do!

Ingrid and I took a 2 hour ride along the Thai - Burmese border hanging out the back of a blue AND red one (two colors makes em faster). We communed with the locals by waving like spastic idiots to anyone that looked our way while that shot back glances that said "I hope those welds break". It was grand.

Now that we can put the Swangthaewa@#$%^& behind us (I can't remember how to spell the darn things either. Heck, I can't even pronounce it right) we can move on to the food.

So if Central Asia is renowned for eating anything that has a heartbeat, the Southeast Asians aren't nearly as picky. Anything creepy crawly slimy THING will do. Seriously, it's as if a large portion of their cuisine is based on a dare.

Here are just a few of the Vendors we've encountered through Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand (remember, the Vietnamese replaced bugs with pastry thanks to the Frenchies - Good trade).


Those are deep fried frogs.

The above would be Tarantulas. No, really - TARANTULAS - as is:
Main Entry: ta·ran·tu·la
Pronunciation: ta'ran-cha-la, -ta-la; -'ranch-la, -'rant-
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural ta·ran·tu·las also ta·ran·tu·lae /-"lE/
Etymology: Medieval Latin, from Old Italian tarantola, from Taranto
1 : a European wolf spider (Lycosa tarentula) popularly held to be the cause of tarantism
2 : any of a family (Theraphosidae) of large hairy American spiders that are typically rather sluggish and capable of biting sharply though most forms are not significantly poisonous to humans

Don't worry Mom, I wouldn't be stupid enough to actually eat that stuff....

In the immortal words of Homer Simpson - "Let's get stupid!"

They go down surprisingly well after enough beer.

Finally, I call these the "Batteries not Included" snacks

(If you got that, you're loving the fact that I remembered it. LOVING it!). Not sure what they were, but I think a crab was involved at some point.

And after all those "travel and treats" your body goes through some "changes". If you're lucky enough, you can become - Duhn dah dah daaa!!! - TOILET MAN!

Don't ask what happens if you're "not lucky enough"....