Cambodian Carnival

Every country has different ideas about how to employ animals to amuse tourists and townsfolk alike.  China trots its giant pandas out like show ponies.  Tokyo has cat cafes a plenty, where anyone can pop in to stroke a kitty and sip a coffee.  Mongolia shelters tiny ponies and gives camel rides.  Thailand has snake shows, tiger temples, and elephant preserves. 

And while Cambodia's contributions in this category are perhaps slightly B-list, they've got a couple of interesting ideas.  In the pro category, Dr. Fish massage is on every corner.  Open tanks where for $2 fish will nibble the dead skin off of your feet for 30 minutes.  It tickled, it worked, and it was mesmerizing.

Less appealing was this restaurant enclosed in netting.  The claim was that thousands of butterflies had been captured for the diners' viewing pleasure and would be flying overhead.  Given the swarming and prevalent insects in malaria-ridden Cambodia, the last thing we were up for was a night swatting away their slightly prettier cousins.   You've got to hand them points for creativity though.