In this particular post I am going to tell you about the French coming in and ruling Cambodia. I know you are going to think this is boooring, but my mother made me do it, so send the angry letters to her, please. The thing is, the Cambodians actually invited the French to rule over […]
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So we’ve had Sacha’s very enthusiastic (!) take on Angkor Wat. Just to fill in the gaps, here’s a quick round-up of some of the rest of it. I’ll try – despite my boring historical enthusiasm – not to do it in exhaustive detail (I’m sure that holiday snaps of ruins fall way, way below […]
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It was sooo hot and sticky, the kids got temple-ruin-itis and everyone grappled with the odd bit of sickness, but we all LOVED Siem Reap. The people of Cambodia are some of the nicest, most generous and best-humored people we have ever met – that they have all lived through so much tragedy and keep […]
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Today, we went to see the temple of Angkor Wat. It is one of the biggest temples in the world, certainly in Cambodia, and covered in the most amazing carvings. Of course, as the little wretches my siblings and I are, we got bored of those amazing carving pre-tty quickly and started wishing we could […]
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The Ponheary Ly Foundation help children who live in the poorest villages to go to school. They provide backpacks, uniforms, and even meals to these poor children who have absolutely nothing, and also take them on trips. You may be wondering how they make the money to do all of this. Good question, That is […]
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Today is the 40th anniversary of the Khmer Rouge taking power in Cambodia, and systematically throwing every Cambodian out of their homes. It happened the day after Khmer New Year, where, despite the growing sense of menace, families had quietly been gathering together and celebrating. Within a day they had lost everything – all possessions, […]
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We went to see a whole bunch of temples in a place called Ta Prohm that was overgrown with trees. We went to a temple that had a tree growing on the roof. It also had a while bunch of trees with their roots spreading out like giant spiderwebs. There was one really big tree […]
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Siem Reap is an epicurean paradise – a truly lovely combination of its past French colonial influence, and the subtlety and delicacy of Khmer cuisine – much less spicy than its neighbor Thailand. We ran the gamut from fabulous French patisseries to fried ant fritters at a local street market. Sacha launched herself in – […]
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We went to see a mine museum that was set up by a minesweeper who still clears mines. He used to be a minelayer and work for the army but then the war was over and so he became a minesweeper and cleared mines. His name is Aki Ra and he was forced to fight […]
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When we were staying in the Seven Candles Guest House we decided to go to the circus. It is run by an organization that has been going for about 20 who is trying to bring almost extinct Cambodian traditions back. They took extremely poor children and gave them food and a performing education; for free! […]
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