Bow not Bow… KH!

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… 😉

 

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

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

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.