Deep fried and served out by the recycled condensed milk tin on the road-side, who can resist these tasy crickets and beetles? Well, about 30 people judging by our bus load of mainly locals. There was one chap though who tucked into a big bag of beetles, the secret being that you flick off the hard unedible wings before popping the bodies into your mouth.
I’m afraid I was a wimp having poisoned myself two days earlier and was drawn again to the delicious rice-stuffed bamboo below.
At another stop I picked-up excellent and cheap – about 50 cents each – steamed dumplings stuffed with onions, egg and herbs.
I bought a barbequed banana leaf that was tied like a christmas cracker. As I opened it I was excited by the the crispy caramalised rice but then was worried about the flesh inside.
It looked like it was also filled with pink and uncooked flesh at first. Looking closer it seemed like it was offal. But no, it was a single pink banana. I guess the banana and the sticky rice had been steamed first then barbequed for the caraalised effect. I savoured the taste all afternoon and evening.
At the meal stops I was struck how elegant the local woman are at weeing in public. Simultaneously, a woman would crouch while lifting her sarong as elegantly as a stork lifts its wings (really I was trying not to watch too closely but there were a lot of them). The sarong provided the perfect privé (assuming you are not wearing knickers) as long as you don’t mind being seen by everybody passing on the road.
Men, to avoid the smelly loos, do it the expected way (as I did) near or against a smelly tree.
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