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One of my squad mates (the fabulous Michelle Euperio)
has
started writing a series of blogs about each of the countries we’ll
be visiting over the next year. This is the sixth of that series,
about Cambodia! Read on, and find out a few things you might never
have
known before !

———————-
 

  
 



Cambodia
 
 
Capital: Phnom Penh

Currency: the currency of Cambodia is known as the Riel (KHR)

Location: Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, between Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos
Weather: tropical; rainy, monsoon season (May to
November); dry season (December to April); little seasonal temperature
variation

Population: 14,494,293

Ethnic groups: Khmer 90%, Vietnamese 5%, Chinese 1%, other 4%

Religions: Buddhist 96.4%, Muslim 2.1%, other 1.3%, unspecified 0.2%

 

Most Cambodians consider themselves to be Khmers, descendants of the Angkor Empire.
 

Offer a traditional greeting with hands in front of face,
in prayer-like fashion (If one intends to show greater respect the bow
is lower and the hands brought higher) .. unlike Lady Gaga who ‘bows’
with her hair… 😉
 
Cambodia is slightly smaller than Oklahoma.

Sit with your legs straight out (crossing legs shows disrespect)

Use the communal spoon (not using it indicates you are insincere or not part of the group) during mealtimes.


 
Eat once the oldest person has begun to eat. Women should eat little amounts and men should not eat too fast. (don’t appear to be a fat kid… plainly said. )




DON’T– hug, kiss, or touch the body of a Khmer woman while greeting her (if you are a man) or look women directly in the eye.

You must wake up before sunrise or you will be considered as lazy.

Stand with your arms crossed at the waist. (Arms at the side means you are signaling that you are strong. Hands on the hips or arms behind your back or across the chest means you are rich, powerful, threatening, or disrespectful


of other people.)
Cambodian
dances are used to transmit knowledge of traditional beliefs or legends
or to appease malevolent spirits. One such dance is the Robam Kandob Ses or �Praying Mantis Dance’ which imitates the insect.

A guest is polite and doesn’t talk unless spoken to. 

Women should avoid skirts above the knees and sleeveless or low-cut blouses. Shorts are not appropriate in public or when a guest.

If invited to a home, take nicely presented fruit, sweets, pastries or flowers.

Avoid giving knives. Gifts are usually wrapped in colorful paper. Do not use white wrapping paper, as it is the color of mourning.



Kings built stone temples as a way of “asserting their divinity” and created cities around them. The best-known site is Angkor Wat, a

 spectacular Hindu temple surrounded by a moat and the biggest monument ever built to religion.

Cambodia remains one of the most heavily land-mined countries in the world. Visitors should travel with a local guide and never stray off the main paths.

Cambodia is teeming with fried crickets, deep-fried a-ping (tarantulas-which some believe stop breathlessness), fried kantes-long (a black beetle),  fried mea phleang (winged termites), fried pupas, dried clams, lie (freshwater clams), kchorng and kchav (types of snails) and deep-fried kantea-touk (a menthol tasting beetle) ….. oooh minty fresh!

Tuol Sleng
is a genocide museum in Phnom Penh. It was a former high school that
was used by Khmer Rouge as a jail and torture site and is a shattering reminder of the indiscriminate horror perpetrated upon and by the Cambodian people.

Khmer New Year is on April This time of the year
represents the end of the harvesting season. The farmers enjoy the
fruits of their harvest and relax before the rainy season begins.
 
 
 
 
Sources:

http://www.parish-without-borders.net/cditt/cambodia/khculture.htm

http://www.iexplore.com/world_travel/Cambodia/Culture&nav=next


http://www.angkorguides.com/events/royalploughing.php?mid=16