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Mekong river cruises. From Vietnam to Cambodia for a Taste of Indochina. Image from the floating villages of Cambodia. Used with the permission of Luxury Escapes.

Mekong River Cruises from Vietnam to Cambodia for a Taste of Indochina

Mekong river cruises from Vietnam to Cambodia – or vice versa – give food loving travellers a taste of Indochina and the chance to experience the culinary cultures and cuisines of the two similar but very different neighbouring countries.

Few rivers hold more mystique than the Mekong River and there are few better ways to get a taste of the region and its cuisines and culinary cultures than on one of the many Mekong River cruises from Vietnam to Cambodia that ply the river and waterways between the countries.

The enigmatic Mekong River flows an epic distance of 4,909 km from the Tibetan plateau down through Cambodia and Vietnam’s Mekong Delta into the South China Sea. Few of us can travel its entirety, which is why one of the Mekong River cruises from Vietnam to Cambodia is such a good idea.

Most Mekong River cruises start in Saigon, officially called Ho Chi Minh City, and travel via Phnom Penh to Siem Reap through the lush Mekong Delta in Southern Vietnam and Cambodia’s colossal Tonle Sap or Great Lake, Southeast Asia’s largest lake – or the reverse route, depending on the time of year and water levels.

A journey along the Mekong River offers a fascinating insight into everyday life along this mighty water system – the lifeblood for many millions of people – from the balcony of your room, the breezy upper deck of your boat, and on absorbing shore excursions with local guides.

For food loving travellers, Mekong River cruises afford a taste of the cuisines and culinary culture en route. For the more culinary adventurous, there are plenty of opportunities to get out of your comfort zone.

For keen cooks, Mekong River cruises offer a chance to try your hand at making Southeast Asian food, from fresh spring rolls made from rice paper produced by local families, or the art of fruit carving, an essential element of royal Khmer cuisine from the palace kitchens in Phnom Penh.

Mekong River Cruises from Vietnam to Cambodia for a Taste of Indochina

Saigon, as Ho Chi Minh City is still called by locals, is paradise for street food fans and market lovers, and provides the perfect introduction to the food of the region, to Vietnamese and Cambodian cuisine. Long before borders were marked and the nations of Vietnam and Cambodia even existed, Southern Vietnam was part of Cambodia’s ancient kingdom of Funan and later its better-known Khmer Empire, and much later – along with Laos – they formed French Indochina.

This explains why Southern Vietnamese cuisine is so similar to that of Southern Cambodia’s, and Phnom Penh and Saigon share so many specialties. Vietnam’s ubiquitous street food snack is banh mi, a pork and salad roll that is so delicious thanks to the French who introduced baguettes, pate and mayonnaise. In Cambodia, it’s called num pang and you’ll see it prepared and sold from mobile carts in both countries.

The first port of call for most Mekong River cruises is My Tho, where passengers get to venture into the Mekong Delta, a vast wetlands of lush rice paddies and market gardens, criss-crossed by canals, manmade and natural. The Vietnamese and Cambodians depend upon these waterways for their livelihood and the months of annual monsoonal rains that transform the plains into a shallow inland sea are welcomed by rice farmers and fishermen alike.

From the fertile Delta ports such as Sa Dec and Tan Chau, passengers on the Mekong River cruises from Vietnam to Cambodia get to explore the narrow canals, shaded by canopies of trees that provide relief from the sticky heat, by narrow wooden fishing boats. Locals use these to transport everything from sugar cane to fresh tropical fruit and vegetables between their plots of land and local markets and cottage industries.

Artisanal producer families craft everything from fish sauce and fermented rice noodles to coconut candy and dried fruit. Depending on the season, you should get to sample everything from the king and queen of fruit, durian and jackfruit, to rambutan, longan, mangosteen, sapodilla, and custard apple.

In Phnom Penh, a visit to one of the Cambodian capital’s many markets is a must for a glimpse of the abundance of fresh local produce upon which Cambodians depend. Trundle in a tuk tuk along Phnom Penh’s waterside promenade and you’ll spot roving vendors and mobile carts selling Cambodian street food specialties such as sweet corn on the cob, fluffy steamed pork buns, and sour unripe fruits sprinkled with salt and sugar and doused with chilli sauce.

Venture into the backstreets and market areas and you’ll see strings of deliciously fatty grilled sausages, smoky barbecued skewers of pork, beef and offal, and small clams marinated in chilli, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves.

Upstream, Kampong Chhnang is the historic centre of Cambodia’s pottery and ceramics production and most Mekong River cruises stop here. The riverside town is home to ancient kilns where many families work, just as their ancestors have for centuries, to fire clay pots and braziers, still used in Cambodian kitchens to cook on with wood and charcoal.

‘Chhnang’ is ‘pot’ in the Khmer language. With a slightly different (and rather tricky) pronunciation of ‘chhnganhg’ it means ‘delicious’. A fun game I like to play with local cooks and street food vendors after a meal is to tell them how delicious it was. If I get a smile, I know I’ve said ‘pot’ and I’m in for a language lesson that will involve lots of laughter.

For Cambodians, there are few things more delicious than their beloved ‘baby duck eggs’, which you can sample if you dare in Kampong Chhnang. These fertilised duck eggs are sometimes boiled in coconut juice and kaffir lime leaves for an hour, then eaten with a salt, pepper and lime juice dip. They really are scrummy and taste like a cross between duck and egg.

In Kampong Chhnang, the locals also love their soups, made with bamboo shoots, luffa gourd, cat fish, and snails, and frogs, which are typically stir-fried or stuffed with a mince of frog and pork, combined with kroeung, a herb and spice paste of fresh turmeric, galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime, shallots, and garlic, and then barbecued.

It’s often assumed that snails and frogs legs are another culinary remnant from the French colonial era, however, Cambodians have been consuming fare from the rice fields for as long as they can remember. And not only frogs, snails and small fish, often caught by children while the older family members plant rice, but also rice paddy rats and crickets, the latter trapped overnight in illuminated nets or, in more recent times, plastic bags.

Barbecued rice paddy rats, along with fried tarantulas, scorpions, and the array of fried insects, that Cambodians love to eat – crickets, grasshoppers, water beetles, and cockroaches – are snacks that, bewilderingly to most visitors, have a special place in the heart and stomachs of older Cambodians.

These were survival foods stolen from the rice fields in the dead of night during Pol Pot’s brutal Khmer Rouge era from 1975-79 when Cambodians were forced to work in the paddies and many millions died of exhaustion, malnutrition, malaria, or by execution.

In the floating villages that dot the shores and tributaries of the Tonle Sap, you’ll get to see fish from the lake laid out to dry on wire racks outside the stilted timber homes, and being smoked over coconut wood. Snakehead and catfish are popular, along with the tiny fish called ‘riel’ after the local currency.

Riel are salted to make prahok, a fermented fish paste that is the main source of seasoning, and despite its ancient beginnings, became another beloved survival food for Cambodians. In times of drought and difficulty, locals will fondly recall that it was prahok and rice, along with foraged leaves, stalks and flowers, that was their only nourishment.

Once you arrive in Siem Reap, make sure you dine at one of the city’s best Cambodian restaurants, from restaurants serving traditional Cambodian food, such as Sugar Palm, Malis and Chanrey Tree, to the more innovative restaurants which are part of a New Cambodian Cuisine movement, such as Mie Café, Embassy, Mahob Khmer, and Pou, where you’ll see young Cambodian chefs using the much-loved local ingredients you saw en route on your journey.

These creative young chefs are deconstructing and reconstructing traditional specialties in contemporary styles, and sprinkling plates with edible flowers and fragrant herbs as their ancestors have long done. It’s a deliciously satisfying way to punctuate a food-focused journey, no matter which of the Mekong River cruises from Vietnam to Cambodia that you do.

Best Mekong River Cruises from Vietnam to Cambodia

Numerous companies offer Mekong River cruises from Vietnam to Cambodia and this year, just as we did with Halong Bay, we’ll be adding reviews of different Mekong River cruise boats.

In the meantime, Luxury Escapes has a great deal right now (it ends in 4 days!) for one of the most luxurious of Mekong River cruises from Vietnam to Cambodia, aboard the Aqua Mekong, and a small-group tour, totalling 11 days and 10 nights. The luxury all-inclusive trip is US$7,499 per person twin share (valued up to $10,150), including 6 nights at Park Hyatt Hotels in Ho Chi Minh City and Siem Reap, all-inclusive cruising, expert guided sightseeing, private transport, insider experiences, and most meals and drinks, including Vietnamese and Cambodian cuisine by consulting chef David Thompson. Departures in 2019 and 2020 are in May, June and July, monsoon period and a gorgeous time to visit when everything is lush and green. You’ll explore Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, and spectacular Angkor Wat and other archaeological sites.

Itinerary highlights include Mekong Delta excursions to Binh Thanh mat weaving village and Sa Dec for the vibrant market and charming house of Marguerite Duras’ lover, My An Hung village to stroll verdant plantations and visit a local home to taste exotic tropical fruit. You’ll travel along Bassac Canal to Chau Doc floating market and have the option of a bike ride on Long Khanh Island or rickshaw tour to Tan Chau Market with the chef. On Cambodia’s Tonle Sap, you’ll visit traditional villages such as Preah Prosop set amidst tamarind trees and do cooking classes on board the boat and in a Siem Reap village, where you’ll visit a local family to learn about cooking in a traditional household and food customs. Click through to Luxury Escapes for the full itinerary and departure dates.

Book Mekong River Cruises

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Image courtesy of Luxury Escapes. 

If you’ve experienced one of the Mekong River cruises from Vietnam to Cambodia we’d love to get your insights in the comments below.

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About Lara Dunston

A travel and food writer who has experienced over 70 countries and written for The Guardian, Australian Gourmet Traveller, Feast, Delicious, National Geographic Traveller, Conde Nast Traveller, Travel+Leisure Southeast Asia, DestinAsian, TIME, CNN, The Independent, The Telegraph, Sunday Times Travel Magazine, AFAR, Wanderlust, International Traveller, Get Lost, Four Seasons Magazine, Fah Thai, Sawasdee, and more, as well as authored more than 40 guidebooks for Lonely Planet, DK, Footprint, Rough Guides, Fodors, Thomas Cook, and AA Guides.

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  1. Cameron says

    January 21, 2019 at 12:11 pm

    Not sure if you read my last comment about having to leave Indonesia every two months, but my last destination was Vietnam na dI loved it!

  2. Lara Dunston says

    January 21, 2019 at 8:11 pm

    Just spotted it and responded – we’re big fans of Vietnam, too. Top country. And you’ll find a bit of surf in Vietnam on the central coast at the right time of year.

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Lara and Terence are an Australian-born, Southeast Asia-based travel and food writers and photographers who have authored scores of guidebooks, produced countless travel and food stories, are currently developing cookbooks and guidebooks, and host culinary tours and writing and photography retreats in Southeast Asia.
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Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check o Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check out our seafood recipe collection, especially if you celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve with a fish focused meal in the Southern Italian tradition, transformed by Italian-Americans into the Feast of the Seven Fishes, or like Australians, who celebrate Christmas in the sweltering summer, feast on seafood for Christmas Day lunch, we’ve got lots of easy seafood recipes for you.

Our recipes include a classic prawn cocktail, blini with smoked salmon, a ceviche-style appetiser, and devilled eggs with caviar. We’ve also got recipes for fish soup, seafood pies and pastas, salmon tray bake, and crispy salmon with creamy mashed potatoes.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/seafood-recipes-for-christmas-eve-and-christmas-day-menus/
(Link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas if you’re celebrating!! 

#christmas #christmasfood #seafood #fish #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #grantourismo #grantourismotravels #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you’re still looking for food inspo for Chris If you’re still looking for food inspo for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day meals, my smoked salmon ‘carpaccio’ recipe is one of dozens of recipes in this compilation of our best Christmas recipes (link below). 

The Christmas recipe compilation includes collections of our best Christmas breakfast recipes, best Christmas brunch recipes, best Christmas starter recipes, best Christmas cocktails, best Christmas dessert recipes, and homemade edible Christmas gifts and more.

My smoked salmon carpaccio recipe makes an easy elegant appetiser that’s made in minutes. If you’re having guests over, you can make the dish ahead by assembling the salmon, capers and pickled onions, and refrigerate it, then pour on the dressing just before serving. 

Provide toasted baguette slices and bowls of additional capers, pickles and dressing, so guests can customise their carpaccio. And open the bubbly!

You’ll find that recipe and many more Christmas recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/best-christmas-recipes/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas!! X

#christmas #christmasfood #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #salmon #smokedsalmon #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels 
#xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I sh If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I shared a collection of recipes for homemade edible Christmas gifts — for condiments, hot sauces, chilli oils, a whole array of pickles, spice blends, chilli salt, furakake seasoning, and spicy snacks, such as our Cambodian and Vietnamese roasted peanuts. 

I love giving homemade edibles as gifts as much as I love receiving them. Who wouldn’t appreciate jars filled with their favourite chilli oils, hot sauces, piquant pickles, and spicy peanuts that loved-ones have taken the time to make? 

Aside from the gesture and affordability of gifting homemade edibles, you’re minimising waste. You can use recycled jars or if buying new mason jars or clip-top Kilner jars, you know they’ll get repurposed.

No need for wrapping, just attach some Christmas baubles or tinsel to the lid. I used squares of Cambodian kramas (cotton scarves), which can be repurposed as napkins or drink coasters, and tied a ribbon or two around the lids, and attached last year’s Christmas tree decorations to some.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/homemade-edible-christmas-gifts/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Yes, that’s Pepper... every time there’s a camera around... 

#christmasgiftideas #ediblegifts ##christmasfoodgifts #foodgifts #giftideas #homemadegifts #christmasfood #ediblegiftideas #hotsauce #chillisauce #sriracha #pickles #homemadepickles #recipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood 
#blackcat #blackcatsofinstagram #picoftheday 
#christmas #christmastree #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas #cambodia #siemreap
This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’ This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’s perfect if you’re just back from the fish markets armed with luxurious fresh crab meat. It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, and very, very moreish.

Our crab omelette recipe was one of our 22 most popular egg recipes of 2022 on our website Grantourismo and it’s no surprise. It’s appeared more times than any other egg recipes on our annual round-ups of most popular recipes since Terence launched Weekend Eggs when we launched Grantourismo in 2010.

If you’re an eggs lover, do check out the recipe collection. It includes egg recipes from right around the world, from recipes for classic kopitiam eggs from Singapore and Malaysia and egg curries from India and Myanmar to all kinds of egg recipes from Thailand, Japan, Korea, China, Mexico, USA, Australia, UK, and Ireland.

And do browse our Weekend Eggs archives for further eggspiration (sorry). We have hundreds of egg recipes from the 13 year-old series of recipes for quintessential egg dishes from around the world, which we started on our 2010 year-long global grand tour focused on slow, local and experiential travel. 

We’re hoping 2023 will be the year we can finally publish the Weekend Eggs cookbook we’ve talked about for years based on that series. After we can find a publisher for the Cambodia cookbook of course... :( 

Recipe collection here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio):
https://grantourismotravels.com/22-most-popular-egg-recipes-of-2022-from-weekend-eggs/

If you cook the recipe and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either in the comments at the end of the recipe or share a pic with us here.

#recipe #recipes #eggs #eggslover #breakfasteggs #WeekendEggs #egg #breakfast #brunch #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #lookingforapublisher #writingacookbook  #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angko I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angkor Archaeological Park, home to stupendous Angkor Wat, pictured, celebrated 30 years of its UNESCO World Heritage listing. 

That’s as good an excuse as any to put this magnificent, sprawling archaeological site on your travel list this year.

While riverside Siem Reap, your base for exploring Angkor is bustling once more, there are still nowhere near the visitors of the last busy high season months of December-January 2018-2019 when there were 290,000 visitors. 

Last month there were just 55,000 visitors and December feels a little quieter. A tour guide friend said there were about 150 people at Angkor Wat for sunrise a few days ago.

If you’re looking for tips to visiting Angkor, Siem Reap and Cambodia, just ask us a question in the comments below or check Grantourismo as we’ve got loads of info on our site. Click through to the link in the bio and explore our Cambodia guide or search for ‘Angkor’. 

And please do let us know if you’re coming to Siem Reap. We’d love to see you here x

#siemreap #cambodia #asia #travel #instatravel #traveldeeper #slowtravel #localtravel #experientialtravel #exploremore #neverstopexploring #goexplore #igtravel #angkorwat #angkor #temple #temples #angkorwithoutcrowds #unesco #unescoworldheritagesite #unescoworldheritage #archaeology #archaeologicalsite #traveladdict #beautifuldestinations #beautifulplaces #travelgram #wanderlust #picoftheday📷 #grantourismotravels.
Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky, flavourful and succulent chicken thighs that are fantastic with steamed rice, Chinese greens or a salad, such as a Southeast Asian slaw. 

The chicken can be marinated for up to 24 hours before cooking, which ensures it’s packed with flavour, then it can be cooked on a barbecue or in a pan.

Terence’s soy ginger chicken recipe is one of our favourite recipes for a quick and easy meal. I love the sound of the sizzling thighs in the pan, and the warming aromas wafting through the apartment. 

It’s amazing how such flavourful juicy chicken thighs come from such a quick and easy recipe.

Recipe here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio): https://grantourismotravels.com/soy-ginger-chicken-recipe/

If you cook it and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either here or in the comments at the end of the recipe on the site or share a pic with us x 

#recipe #recipes #chicken #soygingerchicken #asianfood #southeastasianfood #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #cookingtime #recipe #recipes #comfortfood #foodblog #food #foodstagram #healthyfood #instafood #healthy #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re mak Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re making with my market haul from Psar Samaki in Siem Reap — all for a whopping 10,000 riel (US$2.50)?! 

Birds-eye chillies thrown in for free! They were on my list but the seller I spent most at (5,000 riel!) scooped up a handful and slipped them into my bag. She was my last stop and knew what I was making.

My Khmer is poor, even after all our years in Cambodia, as I don’t learn languages with the ease I did in my 20s, plus I’m mentally exhausted after researching and writing all day. I have a better vocabulary of Old and Middle Khmer than modern Khmer from studying the ancient inscriptions for the Cambodian culinary history component of our cookbook I’m writing.

So when one seller totalled my purchases I thought she said 5,000 riel but she handed back 4,500 riel! The sum total of two huge bunches of herbs and kaffir lime leaves was 500 riel.

Tip: if visiting Siem Reap, use Khmer riel for local shopping. We’ve mainly used riel since the pandemic started— rarely use US$ now as market sellers quote prices in riels, as do local shops and bakeries, and I tip tuk tuk drivers in riels. I find prices quoted in riels are lower.

Psar Samaki is cheaper than Psar Leu, which is cheaper than Psar Chas, as it’s a wholesale market, which means the produce is fresher. I see veggies arriving, piled high in the back of vehicles, with dirt still on them — as I did on this trip. 

The scent of a mountain of incredibly aromatic pineapples offloaded from the back of a dusty ute was so heady they smelt like they’d just been cut. More exotic European style veggies arrive by big trucks in boxes labelled in Vietnamese (from Dalat) and Mandarin (from China), such as beautiful snow-white cauliflower I spotted.

Note: the freshest produce is sold on the dirt road at the back of the market.

#cambodia #siemreap #foodwriter #foodblogger #foodphotography #igfood #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #instadaily #picoftheday #market #siemreapmarket #psarsamaki #marketfresh #vegetables #healthyfood #marketshopping #traveltips #foodtravel #culinarytravel #localtravel #cooking #cookingtime #curry #homemade #currypaste #grantourismotravels
My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recip My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recipe makes tender meatballs doused in a delightfully tangy-sweet sauce, sprinkled with crispy fried shallots, with carrot-daikon, crunchy cucumber and fragrant herbs. 

The dish is inspired by bún chả, a Hanoi specialty, but it’s not bún chả. No matter what Google or food bloggers tell you. Names are important, especially when cooking and writing about cuisines not our own.

This is an authentic bún chả recipe:  https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-bun-cha-recipe/ You’ll need to get the outdoor BBQ/grill going to do proper smoky bún chả meat patties (not meatballs).

My meatball noodle bowl is perhaps more closely related to dishes such as a Central Vietnam cousin bún thịt nướng (pork skewers on rice noodles in a bowl) and a Southern relation bún bò Nam Bộ (beef atop rice noodles, sprinkled with fried shallots (Nam Bộ=Southern Vietnam) though neither include meatballs. 

Xíu mại= meatballs although they’re different in flavour to mine, which taste more like bún chả patties. Xíu mại remind me of Southern Italian meatballs in tomato sauce.

In Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, home to millions of Khmer, there’s bánh tằm xíu mại. Bánh tằm=silk worm noodles. They’re topped with meatballs, cucumber, daikon, carrot, fresh herbs, crispy fried onions. Difference: cold noodles doused in a sauce of coconut cream and fish sauce. 

Remove the meatballs, add chopped fried spring rolls and it’s Cambodia’s banh sung, which is a rice noodle salad similar to Vietnam’s bún chả giò :) 

Recipe here: (link in bio) https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-meatballs-and-rice-noodles-recipe/

For more on these culinary connections you’ll have to wait for our Cambodian cookbook and culinary history. In a hurry to know? Come support the project on Patreon. (link in bio)

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It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour matches the furnishings of our rented apartment. So, no, I did not colour-coordinate the interiors to match our cat’s eyes. 

I keep getting DMs from pet clothing brands wanting to “partner” with Pepper and send her free cat clothes and cat accessories. Although she did wear a kerchief for a few years in her more adventurous fashion-forward teenage years, I cannot see this cat in clothes now, can you? 

#pepper #blackcat #blackcats #blackcatsofinstagram #blackcatsrule #blackcatsmatter #cat #cats #catsofinstagram #catstagram #catlover #catlovers #catlove #catoftheday #catphoto #catpic #catpics #cambodiancat #cambodiancatsofinstagram #catlife #catloversclub #catoftheday #catgram #catstagram #cats_of_instagram #catphotography #catsofig #catsoftheworld #catsofinsta #cats🐱 #siemreap #cambodia

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