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Not Luxe ☼ Travel
  • ABOUT NICK & RAYCHEL
  • WHY “NOT LUXE”
  • Cambodia
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  • Teaching ESL
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  • Travel Insurance

traditional

    A delicious and colorful vegetarian dish in Cambodia

    The VEGETARIAN Guide to Cambodia

    by Nick & Raychel March 15, 2019

    How vegetarian-friendly is Cambodia? As a (mostly) vegetarian couple living in Phnom Penh, this is a question we get all the time. Today, we are happy to come to you with the good news: yes, it is possible to be vegetarian or vegan in Cambodia. If you’re anything like us, you will be pleasantly surprised by how accessible and delicious vegetarian food is throughout the city and country as a whole.

    If you choose to take the easy route, cities like Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville, and Siem Reap all have a variety of western restaurants with vast vegetarian menus. In fact, at veg-only restaurants, you can even find vegan versions of traditional Khmer dishes such as amok or lok lak.

    Prefer to watch / not read? Us too. Find the topic on our YouTube Channel here.


    Vegetarian street food

    Although most street food in Cambodia contains meat (or at the very least, fish sauce), there are still options for vegetarians and vegans alike.

    Although you may not get a full course out of any of these options, they will undoubtedly be a delicious snack to hold you over between meals.

    Grilled Bananas
    A sweet treat that you will find almost everywhere. If you see a cart parked with bananas on the grill, don’t pass it up. A delicious and inexpensive snack – there is definitely no meat in this dish.

     

    Baguette with vegetables (sandwich)
    The baguettes in Cambodia are fantastic and the carts are hard to miss. Many locals will pull up to these stands around lunch time to get a full sandwich for under $2.

    Vegetarians / vegans – beware – as what looks like a firm tofu is actually pate.

    That said, ask for one of these sandwiches without meat and you will get some vegetables on a fresh baguette with chili sauce.

    Vegans – make sure to ask for this with no butter.

    Corn on the cob
    A classic, common, and meat-free snack between meals.

    Rice & chive cakes
    These are made with rice flour, coconut milk and chives – so yes – they are vegan! This is a typical Cambodian street food meal that almost everybody can enjoy. They are similar to a pancake and fried in oil. You don’t have to worry about them being fried in the same oil as meat, as many of these carts only serve these cakes. Just because you’re veg, doesn’t mean you have to miss out on trying some great Cambodian street food.

    Green buns
    Many buns contain meat, but when you see the puffy buns that are green in colour, you can trust that they are meat-free. These buns are soft, sweet, and vegetarian. You can find them at many food cart stands.

    * We are unsure if these are vegan *

    Sugar cane juice
    Okay, so I guess this isn’t actually food – but we figured it was worth mentioning because we absolutely love it. Sugar cane juice is accessible on almost every side road in Phnom Penh, and it is the perfect drink to quench your thirst on those painfully hot days. It is filled with antioxidants and will be sure to boost your immune system, too.


    What to avoid

    Until you’re familiar with the foods and maybe even know a little bit of Khmer, it might be best to avoid certain foods.

    • Steamed buns – these contain pork
    • Buns in general – even the fried ones may contain meat (we can vouch for the green buns, though)
    • Fried noodles – you will see many stands frying noodles in street carts. Even if you can communicate that you don’t want meat inside the stir fry, these stands often use instant noodle packets. The flavouring packets often times contain beef or chicken stock.

    Key words in Khmer

    When we first moved to Cambodia, we found it was easier to just learn the word “meat” and then shake our heads / wave our hands frantically to communicate that we didn’t want it. As hilarious and embarrassing as this is, it actually proved to be pretty effective.

    To avoid this dance that we did for too long, here are some further suggestions:

    Banlay (pronounced bun-lie): This is the Khmer word for vegetable. We would order a dish and add this to the end of our order, stating that we want our dish to be filled with veggies.

    Aht Sacht (no meat): This is the direct translation for “no meat”. Since the concept of vegetarianism isn’t as popular in Cambodia, this may not always mean “vegetarian” to the locals. Although this will not exactly cover everything (there may still be beef or chicken broth in a dish), it is one of the stepping stones to a meat-free dish.

    Egg (Pong Mowan / Pong th-ea): The former is chicken egg and the latter is duck egg, which is more common in Cambodia.


    When in doubt…

    There are many vegetarian-only restaurants in Cambodia.
    Happy Cow is a great resource and, in our experience, quite up to date with the vegan options in the country.

     

    Okay, after a year of living in Cambodia, we’ve gotten the hang of it. Watch us in our early stages fumbling around Phnom Penh:

    Thinking of moving to Cambodia to teach English? Find our how-to blog here!

    Going to Cambodia soon? Find our 7-day itinerary Cambodia itinerary!

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Nick & Raychel
Nick & Raychel

In 2018, we sold everything we owned and moved to Cambodia to teach English.

Let’s make this clear: this journey didn’t start with money. This journey started with a desire to see the world and to do something different for a change.

We’re not going to fool you with photos of floating breakfasts and private jets. We know what it’s like to be on a budget. Although we like to take pretty pictures, we aren’t going to wake up at an ungodly hour to give you unachievable travel jealousy. We aren’t going to censor ourselves or lie to you.

What we are going to do is stay in cheap hostels, find ways to make money, give the advice that we would want to hear, and share our experiences with you honestly.

Are you in?

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ABOUT NICK & RAYCHEL

About Us Hi! We’re Nick & Raychel, the Canadian travel couple behind the brand ‘Not Luxe’. Far before we were married (and on a mission to see the world), we were working…

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  • Working to TRAVEL✈️🚐

If you’ve been following along with our vlogs and stories, it will come as no surprise to you when I say that our days are long right now. When we chose to start travelling, we signed up for a work-save-travel-repeat cycle and have been living in for the past 4.5 years. 

We chose this life.
But we still get tired. 

And between fixing up the van, preparing for our next adventure and working full time in that Southern Ontario heat - it’s a lot. But our minds are set on travel, on exploration, on adventure, culture, and learning. So we adapt to the seasons and understand that this point in the cycle is  just that - a season -  and we are so damn grateful to be doing it together.

📍 Traditional territories of the Erie, Neutral, Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee and Mississaugas.
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Tags: #notluxe #worktotravel #travelcouple #vanlifecouple #traveldiaries #vanlifediaries #travelgram #livetoexplore #vanlifeculture #budgettravel #worktotravel #traveljobs #travelblogger #vanlifestyle #vanliving
  • **CLOSED** GIVEAWAY!! 🎉

We are giving away a Bluetti EB70 portable power bank. Having a power station on hand is a sweet backup for those who are already set up completely for off-grid living and/or a good start for weekend campers looking to try out van or camper van life. We are stoked to have another way to work outside, charge more appliances and get out adventuring.

The winner will win ONE Bluetti EB70 power bank & charging cables. 

Specs:
• 716Wh capacity and 800W rated wattage
• The ultra-stable LiFePO4 battery chemistry,2500+ life cycles
• 4*110V AC outlets, 2*100W PD ports, 2*5V/3A USB-A ports, 2*regulated 12V/10A DC outputs, 1*12V/10A car port,1*15W wireless charging pad.
(Note: does not come with solar panels)
-

HOW TO ENTER:

1. Like this post 
2. Must be following @nickandraychel & @bluetti_official
3. Tag a friend in the comments below (more tags = more entries)
4. Bonus entry - share this post to story for 5 extra entries! 

Open to USA & Canada residents. Giveaway closes on June 22, 2022. 
Winner will be announced on 06/25/22. 

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Disclaimer: No purchase necessary. Giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Instagram.

The contest period will run from 06/15 to 06/22 2022.

— 

Tags: #vanlifecouple #vanlifeing #notluxe #vanlifediaries #vanlifegiveaway #campinggiveaway #campervan #vanconversion #camperliving #tinyliving #tinyhomeonwheels #tinyhomes #vanlifenewbie #vanlifers #livinginavan #livingoffgrid #offgridliving #vanlifedreams #travelinspo
  • Slowing down 🚐 

The whole appeal of van life and many alternative living options is the freedom to take a go at your own speed.

But sometimes it feels like you just want to see it all.
And we’ve seen SO much in the past twenty months. 

Especially in the past six.

As Canadian travellers, I find that our slow season is the opposite of others. We escape the cold weather and have been abroad for many Christmases and snowfalls. During those times, we’re cliff jumping, waterfall hopping, cruising, skatepark hunting, friendship building…

Then, when lake season rolls around we’re ready to take on a more conventional work schedule, to save up to do it all again.

But we have to tell ourselves to relax, to enjoy the downtime, to take in the peaceful moments just as much as the epic ones. To soak up the sun, to drink water, to slow down.

It’s a constant learning process.

📍Traditional Hohokam, Patayan, and Yavapai land ⁣

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  • But how do you SHOWER? 😅

This photo is from the most ridiculous YouTube thumbnail we’ve had to date. We took so many funny photos this day, we couldn’t NOT share. Or maybe we could. Oh well.

But let’s answer the question while we’re at it.

🚿 We primarily go to Anytime Fitness which is a little pricier than Planet Fitness. In our opinion, however, the equipment is way nicer, there are usually less people, they’re all over Canada & the US, it’s open 24/7, and the showers are private.

🚿 When we’re not near an Anytime Fitness (this has only happened one time when we were in Quartzsite), we find a truck stop shower to go to.

🚿 And that’s about it. We bought a camping shower at the beginning of van living and only used it one miserable time.

Do you think a shower is necessary in a van build?

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  • We have been doing so much stealth city camping lately that we felt like we needed a break. When we first moved into our van, we set off to Vancouver Island, where we were constantly surrounded by nature - and even though we had no idea what we were doing, it was just easy to be outside.

As you guys know, we’ve lived all sorts of van life. From brick & mortar jobs, to off-grid living, to city dwelling, to full-time travelling. Lately, we’ve seen A LOT of cities and while we’re grateful to have covered so much ground, we knew we needed nature. 

So we nestled ourselves into Starved Rock State Park and reset.
Full video is on YouTube. Link in bio.

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  • “The life you have led doesn’t need to be the only life you have” – Anna Quindlen

I can’t imagine committing to being the person I was 5 years ago for the rest of my life. I can’t imagine committing to one mindset or one way of life. 

It would be impossible to put into words how much we’ve changed through travel and meeting people. And as we start to hype ourselves up for our next big journey, we’re excited to dive head first with an open mind. 

Whether you’re building a van, starting a new job, buying a plane ticket, or even walking out of the house every morning - you have no fucking idea what’s in store.

Travel has a special way of changing you. 
And the best thing you can do is allow it. 

📍 Traditional Kumeyaay land
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