Krolan and Dolphins in Kratie

My trip to Kratie to observe the elections was my first overnight trip to "the provinces" - which is what Cambodians call everywhere in the country except Phnom Penh, Angkor Wat, and the southern beach towns.  It was a bumpy five-hour drive with multiple Mekong river crossings along the way.

One of the culinary specialities of Kratie is called krolan.  Krolan is a concoction of sticky rice, coconut milk, and a few black-eyed peas steamed inside a bamboo tube.  Vendors sold it by the kilo all along the road.

To get to the sweet insides, you peel the bamboo down like a banana and break off a chunk with your fingers.  Eating a whole tube felt like a full meal!

When our election observing duties were finished, we had time for the principal tourist activity in Kratie: seeing the rare freshwater Irrawaddy dolphin.  The dolphin boat dock was marked by this Leaning Statue of Dolphin.

The dolphins were actually incredibly hard to see!  They slid in and out of the water without a sound, so if I wasn't already looking in the right direction, I totally missed them.  I tried and tried and the best photo I could get was this dorsal fin before the dolphin disappeared under the water again.