Last week Rachel, one of my university housemates came out to Cambodia and I had a great time showing her round the project. We spent 3 days in the village, and then I took a few days off work and we went up to Siem Riep in northern Cambodia. This is a place where there are some amazing 12th century temples, which are Cambodia national treasures, and everybody here loves them. It was great to have a few days off, although they were a very busy few days.
Day one we went to watch sunrise over Angkor Wat, which was a pretty amazing thing to see. We then spent the next 8 hours exploring the temples, including my favourite, Ta Promh which is the temple with the trees growing all over it, used in the Tomb Raider film. The next morning we did a Khmer cooking course, where we learned how to make a dish each, and were busy chopping, ‘smashing’ and cooking on the balcony of the restaurant, watching life go by on the street below. The afternoon involved a trip to a landmine museum set up by a former Khmer Rouge child soldier. He now works in the local area to help demining, and the proceeds from the museum fund a school he runs for landmine victims on site.
Day one we went to watch sunrise over Angkor Wat, which was a pretty amazing thing to see. We then spent the next 8 hours exploring the temples, including my favourite, Ta Promh which is the temple with the trees growing all over it, used in the Tomb Raider film. The next morning we did a Khmer cooking course, where we learned how to make a dish each, and were busy chopping, ‘smashing’ and cooking on the balcony of the restaurant, watching life go by on the street below. The afternoon involved a trip to a landmine museum set up by a former Khmer Rouge child soldier. He now works in the local area to help demining, and the proceeds from the museum fund a school he runs for landmine victims on site.
The final day we arranged a trip out to some floating villages. Like the rest of South East Asia, Cambodia has been affected pretty badly by the recent flooding, and so the road out the the village was very torn up where it had been underwater for weeks. Out in the village the houses that float were obviously fine, but some of the other houses only had the roof poking out from above the swollen river. We took a boat trip around the houses, and it was really interesting to see how the floating way of life works. There were floating schools, shops and even a floating mechanic. When we got out to a clear part of the lake, I decided that, despite being fully clothed, it would be fun to go for a swim. And it was! Although getting back into the boat definitely wasn’t. With no steps or ladder the driver was trying to haul me back on board, while the villages in their boats just sat and watched. Oh well, at least it was entertaining for some. The next day it was back to Phnom Penh for a couple of days before heading back to the village.
At the floating village after my swim in the Tonle Sap
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