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Killing Fields Phnom Penh
11 Reviews Lying approximately 15km from central Phnom Penh in rural surroundings, I arranged a driver via the tour desk of my hotel. I was shocked at how peaceful the place was, especially considering the...
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"Local life" Phnom Penh
11 Reviews Although there are several covered markets in the city that cater to tourists and locals alike, to get a better sense of the native culture check out the outdoor street market to rub elbows, quite...
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"Firing Ranges" Phnom Penh
2 Reviews The firing range is just out of Phnom Penh in the direction of the airport. It involves a couple of unsealed roads and one checkpoint as you enter the compound, so it is better to have a driver take...
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Royal University Phnom Penh
1 Review Part of my time in Phnom Penh included a visit to the Humanities & Social Sciences division of this university. That the university survives is a miracle given the concerted efforts of the Khmer Rouge...
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Tuol Sleng Prison Phnom Penh
1 Review A visit to Tuol Sleng S21. This prison was where many people were interrogated, tortured and killed. Surprisingly some people did survive a trip here, but those that didn't were buried in the mass...
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Central Market Phnom Penh
2 Reviews i didn't know where is the main etrance to the market. As i found my way in, the stinky smell of fish fills the air! It just happened that i went into the wet market entrance. I didnt kn0w it was the...
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Royal Palace Phnom Penh
1 Review If you wanna take photos inside the Royal palace area, you have to pay an extra fee. I was tired of paying extras, so I decided not to pay. Thus, I left my digital camera at a cloakroom at the...
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History Phnom Penh
1 Review Another sign: 'THE MOST TRAGIC THING IS THAT.... Even in the 20th century,on Kampuchean soil, the clique of Pol Pot criminals had committed a heinous genocidal act, they massacred the population...
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I had indicated that visting a village school is one of the activities which you must not miss if you are visiting Cambodia.The school was build on a plot of empty land right smack in the middle of a village. It has a big compund and it is brand new. When I went, the official school term had not started and kids were already going to school every day.
Sok Thy's youngest son. He was only 2 years old. This kid, like many others, loved to eat sweets. He barely talked. According to Sok Thy, due to work commitments (he needed to drive from as early as 4am in the morning to 10pm in the night), he seldom sees his kids. Hence, the day when we visited was one of the rare days when his kids saw him in the day.OBSERVATIONSVery young children and toddlers do not have the luxury to wear new clothes in Cambodia. They generally do not wear anything on the "lower part of their bodies". That is, they do not wear panties when wearing a kid's dress for girls and no pants for the boys. Strangely enough, I noticed that kids' dresses were worn by boys too. APPEALHence, my appeal to you is that, should you have old clothing, please do not hesitate to send them to the unfortunate ones in Cambodia. (Or any other 3rd World country for that matter.)NOTE : They...
Home-made sugar palm was common in Cambodia. Needless to say, at Sok Thy's village, slmost every family owned palm trees.Making of Sugar Palm- Palm juice was obtained from the flowers of palm trees.- 1 flower can provide the juice for up to 3 months.- The juice retrieved from the flowers of 3 - 5 palm tress was added to 20 litres of water into a big boiling pot.- After 5 - 6 hours of boiling, 3kg of sugar palm was produced and packed for sale.
This lady was Sok Thy's cousin. She lived in the same village with many other relatives. The womenfolk in the village wre the ones who cooked for the family and prepared sell-able foodstuffs.The lady was holding on to a basin of minced snake if I do not remember wrongly.
There were some 70 families living in the village where Sok Thy lived. The description of a house is as follows :- Made of atap / dried leaves and plants- Basically a "hut" without doors- No sanitation- Kitchen was in the open shelter- A well shared among many families in the village- Rear pigs and chickensCheck out this family picture of Sok Thy's. Taken in front of his house, which was merely a hut.
Our Siem Reap motodup driver, Sok Thy, was so nice to agree to bring us to his house and the village he lived. It was at the Srah Srang area. It was quite an eye opener to see how an average Cambodian lives. Sok Thy's family was made up of himself, his wife and 3 lovely sons. When we were there, we visited his neighbours first as his sons were away at the Srah Srang swimming and his wife was at 1 of the souvenir stalls selling souvenirs.I will be describing more on the village in the next few tips.
Beng Mealea Ruins are awesome. A few hours from Siem Reap. Angkor Era ruin taken over by the foliage. Make sure you have a guide, many children around can do this for you, as there are still some land mines around. You can climb all around and inside the temple. Great place to have lunch too. Not many tourists around if any.
Located 50KM away from Siem Reap is this river with carvings. It is believed that the water will be 'blessed' once it pass thru these 'lingas'. Linga are rounded simbols that are worshiped in a sect of Hinduism.The visit to this river should be combine with Bantaey Srei, needs about 1/2 day of your time. The road from Bantaey Srei is not paved and the journey will consume time if the weather is rainy. From the parking area, you need to trek a 30 minutes of moderately easy trail up the hill thru the woods...
If you take a local minibus, be sure to get to the bus station well in advance, or you may end up... on the roof!!Buses go so crowded here that people travel on top too. I didn't see tourists doing it that way, just locals, but just in case... :-))
Kompong Thom province has temples that pre-date the Angkor era. My guidebook reckoned they'd be overrun with tourists if they were in any other countyr but on the day I visited I was the only person there. It is certainly worthwhile getting off the beaten track in Kompong Thom.
Raffles Hotel Le Royal Phnom Penh
9 Reviews and 361 Opinions Raffles Hotel Le Royal is the premier hotel in Phnom Penh. The hotel was first established in 1929...
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La Residence d'Angkor Siem Reap
1 Review and 310 Opinions The hotel is simply splendid. The spa is the ideal manner for relaxing after a long sightseeing of...
Au Cabaret Vert Battambang
38 Opinions
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Q: Does anyone know about any wildlife experiences in Cambodia? We are planning on spend two weeks in Cambodia in November as I have...
A: This is a good question. I'll be interested in the responses. From my own limited experience in Cambodia, there is little wildlife. I even took a quiet walk around Boeng...
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