Siem Reap

As much as I loved Thailand, I already LOVE Cambodia! Well, I think I’m just infatuated with all of Southeast Asia haha. The last two days in Siem Reap have been something else. Upon arrival we were escorted—I guess you could say—to a village in the countryside of Siem Reap. It was there that I have had one of the most eye-opening and fufilling experiences yet.

To get to this village we basically went off-roading in tuk tuks about a half an hour away from the center of Siem Reap…all dirt, well, clay roads really. The journey itself was already impressed me. We passed families going about their day, chickens and antelope roaming in the yards, little kids playing and people just being people, which is what I love. As we were taken around the village by Pilla (our countryside host), she shared with us the many secrets of living in the countryside. The people there live within nature and use what mother nature has to offer, there is no waste in this cycle of life. The people depend on nature and nature depends on the people for farming and the use of animals for fertilization. For example, the lotus plant, although we know is already beautiful, serves multiple purposes. It can be a flower to look at, its fruit to be eaten, its stems used for basket weaving, and its leaves as rain repellent. Amazing. Everyone we met that day was so kind and genuinely interested in meeting us as weryll. The dinner was served outside in a kind-of dining room gazebo type deal, where the place settings were on the ground in a family style type set-up. Everything served was traditional Cambodian/Khmer food, which btw, is one of my new favs. There needs to be Khmer restaurant in the Deuce…we have almost every other nationality represented, so why not Cambodian?

The most spectacular thing about that night was being able to really see how Cambodians in the village live. It is from that view point that we can truly learn about a people and their culture.