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Douro Valley Diaries – Tasting Port, Wine and Bacalhau in the Douro Valley, Portugal (Part 1). Copyright © 2023 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Douro Valley Diaries – Tasting Port, Wine and Bacalhau in the Douro Valley, Portugal (Part 1)

So we’re in the Douro Valley? I’m not sure if it was the three days of intense activity at Wine Pleasures’ International Wine Tourism Conference in Porto, Portugal – watching presentations, live-tweeting, blogging, networking, lunching, drinking and dining, and, on the last day, giving a presentation on Grantourismo.

Or whether it was the twelve months of non-stop round-the-world travel for our HomeAwayUK-Grantourismo project, which was coming to an end with our final stop in London after the conference. Or maybe it was just our five years of continuous travel, full stop. But by the end of the conference, we were utterly and totally wrecked. We should have checked ourselves into a health resort or flown to Thailand to lie on a beach for a month.

So what did we do? We got on a bus with a bunch of writers, photographers, bloggers, and wine-makers, and we hit the road for a four-day trip through Portugal’s UNESCO World Heritage-listed Douro Valley wine region. You know, just for kicks.

DAY 1 Douro Valley: Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo

I suspect that when I wasn’t tapping away on my laptop, trying to get our final Edinburgh stories finished, I must have dozed off a couple times on the 90-minute drive from Porto to the Douro Valley. Our bus carried us east along the highway before turning off onto narrow roads that meandered through villages and countryside, and finally creeped along a rather scary pot-holed road that took us down the steep mountainside. Our destination was Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo winery and wine hotel (Portugal’s first in fact), not far from Pinhão on the northern bank of the Douro river.

Owned by the cork-producing Amorim family, the lovely 11-room boutique hotel is located in an 18th century renovated manor house, and has been charmingly decorated with antique furniture, polished floorboards, and Oriental carpets, and – in our romantic suite at least – a four-poster bed. While we were tempted to take a nap, port cocktails awaited us in the inviting bar, followed by a tour of the winery cellars, and, naturally, a tasting.

Douro Valley Diaries – Tasting Port, Wine and Bacalhau in the Douro Valley, Portugal (Part 1). Copyright © 2023 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

The Quinta Nova wines – big reds and rich ports – went down a treat. We tried a young albeit complex Colheita, a voluptuous velvety Grainha Tinto, a violet-coloured Touriga Nacional (all chocolate and coffee flavours), a big spicy Grande Reserva (that reminded me of many Australian reds), and, finally, an intense smooth Reserve Port. They were world’s away from the fresh green wines of the Vinho Verde.

A delicious rustic dinner followed: stuffed mushrooms with smoked Alheira sausage, golden olive oil and bread, pumpkin soup, lamb rack with a local fava bean dish called esparregado, and local cheeses. Quinta Nova produces its own olive oil, along with honeys, jams, candies, and herbal and floral teas, sold at the property and at a shop at the beautiful tiled railway station in Pinhão.

Douro Valley Diaries – Tasting Port, Wine and Bacalhau in the Douro Valley, Portugal (Part 1). Copyright © 2023 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

The property also offers activities, from traditional breadmaking to participating in the harvest, from hikes and bicycle rides to picnics and boat trips. My only complaint with our stay was that we didn’t have time to do any. We did take a moment to enjoy the spectacular views over the vineyards from our terrace before piling onto the bus to begin day two…

DAY 2  Douro Valley: Quinta da Roêda, Quinta do Panascal, Quinta do Pego

We’d arrived at Quinta Nova at dusk so hadn’t truly appreciated the dramatic landscapes of the Douro Valley until we began to snake around the steep mountainside, with the Douro River deep below, carving the land in two. It was breathtaking and while the mountains might not have been as lofty, they reminded me a little of Kotor, Montenegro. What made the Douro more remarkable were the grapes that grow above the river on near-vertical terraces of schist and granite. Wow.

Quinta da Roêda – Douro Valley

Our first stop was the Croft-owned Quinta da Roêda, where Englishman Adrian Bridge, a former investment banker and head of Fladgate Partnership, which owns Croft, Taylors and Fonseca, showed us around the port-producing property. From a humorous stomping demonstration in the lagares to some orange-picking as we hiked up the hill to the vineyard, it would turn out to be the most engaging and most fascinating winery tour of the trip – all thanks to the charismatic Bridge, whose formidable knowledge and passion about port ensured nobody was yawning nor daydreaming until the next tasting began.

Douro Valley Diaries – Tasting Port, Wine and Bacalhau in the Douro Valley, Portugal (Part 1). Copyright © 2023 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

We learnt that while most of the harvest work is done by man – from the vines where the grapes are picked by hand and placed in traditional baskets, to the lagares where human feet still crush the fruit as they’ve long done – some pretty sophisticated technology is also used, from custom-made, computerised machinery that ensures the most appropriate pressure is applied in the lagares during fermentation, to the cutting-edge, battery-operated pneumatic shears, perfectly calibrated to prune the vines, that we watched a worker use as we climbed up the hillside.

Douro Valley Diaries – Tasting Port, Wine and Bacalhau in the Douro Valley, Portugal (Part 1). Copyright © 2023 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Like several of the wineries we visited in the Minho region, Quinta da Roêda is also committed to sustainability and organic principles – they don’t use pesticides or herbicides, they cultivate soil by horse and hand, natural grasses are used on the terraces, and copper protects the vines from disease, for instance – and its eco-friendly initiatives has won it myriad bio-diversity awards.

Quinta do Panascal – Douro Valley

Our wine tasting would begin after lunch, on the nearby Quinta do Panascal, at a delightful light-filled property with a vine-covered terrace, set on yet another dramatic hillside, that Bridge’s company uses for entertaining. And entertain us they did, with port cocktails for aperitifs and traditional Portuguese fare that included carrot and potato soup and a melt-in-your-mouth roast cabrito (milk-fed baby goat) with roast potatoes and cabbage that makes my mouth water just thinking about it now. They even offered second helpings and I don’t think there was a single one of us in the room who refused.

Portugal (Part 1). Copyright © 2023 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

For dessert, there was a Portuguese version of crema Catalana, followed by port. Our tasting included a young 2008 Quinta do Panascal vintage port in the “voluptuous” Fonesca house style, which Bridge calls ‘Rubenesque’, “plump, with soft curves, and full of passion”; an aged Tawny Port that had spent 20 years in the cask and was full of dried fruit flavours; and an organic port, just one year old, which winemaker Antonio believes is currently the only organic port around.

Hotel Rural Quinta do Pégo – Douro Valley

We reached our accommodation for the night, the hilltop Hotel Rural Quinta do Pégo, in the late afternoon, with just enough time before sunset to appreciate the most stunning vistas of the Douro River and its terraced slopes that we’d seen yet, before our final tasting for the day began.

Artfully blending old and new – part of the building in the traditional local vernacular and part it in a sleek contemporary style, the interior modern throughout – the 11-room wine hotel, with its floor heating, free WiFi and infinity pool, has won numerous wine tourism awards and it was easy to see why. The property also has a variety of hiking trails through the vineyards, which I wished we could have had time to explore.

Portugal (Part 1). Copyright © 2023 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Our wine cellar tasting included Quinta do Pégo’s 2007 Douro DOC Grande Reserva, 2005 Port LBV (late bottled vintage) and 2007 Vintage Port, all multi-award winners. While the first boasted loads of spice, which I like, I loved the perfumed eucalyptus nose and fruitiness of the LBV, which seemed very representative of the Douro Valley to me.

After a boisterous dinner (we had a birthday to celebrate after all) of a dip of bacalhau, bread and olive oil, and fried snacks, fresh asparagus, breaded Alheira, a local specialty of duck with rice, and for dessert… well, dessert wine of course, it was time to test out that bed. But not before a bit more celebrating, and a bit more wine. We slept very well that night.

Portugal (Part 1). Copyright © 2023 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Do head over to Marcy Gordon’s blog Come for the Wine to read her post on Quinta Nova and her insightful profile of Adrian Bridge, and while you’re there take a look at her other fab stories on the trip.

Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo

www.quintanova.com

Quinta da Roeda & Quinta do Panascal

www.croftport.com

Hotel Rural Quinta do Pégo

www.quintadopego.com

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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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Comments

  1. Brenna says

    May 1, 2011 at 7:25 am

    That sounds amazing! My kind of traveling always involves wine.

  2. paula sousa says

    May 5, 2011 at 7:47 am

    Hi Laura,
    So nice..
    Send me these photos on QN please.. If you can :) All beautiful.
    Always waiting for other visits.
    Thanks.

    Regards from the douro valley, Paula.

  3. Lara Dunston says

    July 21, 2012 at 4:29 pm

    Thanks for the tip, Anja!

  4. Lara Dunston says

    July 21, 2012 at 4:30 pm

    Hi Paula – I’m sorry we just saw this comment. Unfortunately we couldn’t send you the photos anyway, as they were sold to a magazine for a story. I’ll email you the story :)

  5. Lara Dunston says

    July 21, 2012 at 4:31 pm

    Hi Brenna – totally agree with you on that! :)

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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)

#recipe #recipes #vietnamesefood #cambodianfood #asianfood #southeastasianfood #ricenoodles #rice #noodlebowl #meatballs #igfood #igfoodie #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #writingacookbook #writingacambodiancookbook #patreon #patreoncreator #grantourismo
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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