While enroute from Siem Reap to Tonle Sap Lake, we made a stop in the town of Roluos. We wanted to explore its market, and the stop turned out to be an enjoyable chance to experience this traditional small town market.
Roluos is located about 12–15 km southeast of Siem Reap and was the site of an early capital of the Khmer Empire in the 9th century (predating Angor Wat). There are some temple ruins nearby, but as we had already spent a few days exploring the Angor Wat complex, we didn’t visit these ruins as we had other goals for the day. The Roluos market serves the community in this rural area and it was interesting to see the variety of items you could purchase here. You won’t find many tourist-oriented souvenir kiosks – just the food and everyday necessities locals are likely to use and buy.
Like all the markets we visited in southeast Asia, goods are often displayed on the ground or in simple stalls.: You’ll see a large assortment of fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables, a variety of meats (mostly pork and poultry), fresh and dried fish, spices, and assorted household items. It’s best to visit early in the morning as the market winds down later in the day.
The market was moderately busy and very low-key. Here’s some of what we saw during our visit:
A variety of fresh meat was available, especially pork. Not sure if the heads are decorative or whether people actually cook and eat them (I suspect the latter)
There were a variety of fresh fish for sale mostly likely caught very early that morning in nearby Tonle Sap Lake.
It was a fun market to explore, with fresh quality merchandiese.
I love exploring markets like this. We would have been on the hunt for durians, but it might not have been the season for them.
They were in season, and I guess they are an acquired taste. They are supposed to be )delicious, but have the foulest smell (so that most people can’t bear to put them in their mouths without retching. . Perhaps you can share your experiences with us. I’ve never tried them and don’t think I could keep them down.
They are an acquired taste, but the smell is nowhere near as bad as (some) people make out. I even LIKE the smell. As to the taste, think savoury custard – there is nothing in the flavour that would trigger a retching response. Honestly! You might not like the taste, but don’t let other peoples’ nonsense stop you from trying.