Back in February, I went to Thailand and Cambodia for a couple weeks and boy, what a trip! The weather was hot, the sites were stunning and the food was to die for. We had a lot of amazing things planned, but before I left, one of my friends from Vietnam told me that of all the things I was going to do, the most important cultural experience I had to try was to eat a fried bug. Gross!
Now, I'm pretty adventurous. I'm willing to try almost anything. But eating an insect? It gives me the heeby jeebies just thinking about it! I promised her I would keep an eye out and if I came across one, I would do it.
We spent the entire 2 and a half weeks doing amazing, wondrous things, all of which I will write about someday in another post (I hope). Throughout the trip, I tried to make good on my promise, but nary a fried bug was to be found! Maybe I would make it through without ever having to experience this. Fingers crossed.
On our last night, we decided to walk around Kao San Road in Bangkok. We couldn't leave Thailand without experiencing the tourist ghetto! After wandering for a couple hours, my friend pointed out a local girl eating fried grasshoppers. "Kelsey! You have to go ask her where she got those so you can eat your bug!!" Nooooooooo! I was SO CLOSE to being able to say I had legitimately tried and just couldn't find them! Instead, she pointed me to a cart on the street with a variety of multi-legged creatures on it. Eek!
We walked over and debated the merits of each bug, which would be best to eat and why. I was going to go for a cricket, but my friend was all, "What if the legs get stuck in your throat?? That would be the worst!" and I didn't want to eat something that was too big, either! Finally I decided on what looked like a fried grub. For 10 baht, it was mine to do with as I pleased. I held the stick with my bug on it thinking, "What am I doing? This is cray cray!"
Finally, I just did it. I stuck it in my mouth and chewed. And you know what? It really wasn't that bad! I'm not saying I would eat these things regularly, but for having to try it once, it tasted a lot better than expected. And now I can say that I really did experience Thai culture.
Now, I'm pretty adventurous. I'm willing to try almost anything. But eating an insect? It gives me the heeby jeebies just thinking about it! I promised her I would keep an eye out and if I came across one, I would do it.
We spent the entire 2 and a half weeks doing amazing, wondrous things, all of which I will write about someday in another post (I hope). Throughout the trip, I tried to make good on my promise, but nary a fried bug was to be found! Maybe I would make it through without ever having to experience this. Fingers crossed.
On our last night, we decided to walk around Kao San Road in Bangkok. We couldn't leave Thailand without experiencing the tourist ghetto! After wandering for a couple hours, my friend pointed out a local girl eating fried grasshoppers. "Kelsey! You have to go ask her where she got those so you can eat your bug!!" Nooooooooo! I was SO CLOSE to being able to say I had legitimately tried and just couldn't find them! Instead, she pointed me to a cart on the street with a variety of multi-legged creatures on it. Eek!
We walked over and debated the merits of each bug, which would be best to eat and why. I was going to go for a cricket, but my friend was all, "What if the legs get stuck in your throat?? That would be the worst!" and I didn't want to eat something that was too big, either! Finally I decided on what looked like a fried grub. For 10 baht, it was mine to do with as I pleased. I held the stick with my bug on it thinking, "What am I doing? This is cray cray!"
Finally, I just did it. I stuck it in my mouth and chewed. And you know what? It really wasn't that bad! I'm not saying I would eat these things regularly, but for having to try it once, it tasted a lot better than expected. And now I can say that I really did experience Thai culture.
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