Cambodian Cultural Village, Cambodian boxing and Floating River Village, Siem Reap



Me on stage feeling silly


I've done a number of things over the past three days. The day after the wedding festivities I was taken to the Cambodian Cultural Village in Siem Reap. The village was pretty cool and gave alot of information on the ancient past of the area as well as some up to date information. It also had a model village. There were also alot of performances where actors recreated legendary tales from the past with dance and music. There were about 7 in total but as they were all being spoke in Khamer I didn't really know what was going along and had to rely on my interpreter for details.

Bayon Temple stage play

During each performance they got someone up on stage to be part of the play. I was unfortunate enough to be selected which teaches me for sitting in the front row and being the only western person there. i had to play the part of someone who picked upa bow and arrow and became king. I then got married and then had to dress up again. It was pretty embarrasing! The final show was pretty impressive adn bigger than all the others. It told the story of how the Bayon Temple was build. Again I didn't understand much but it was good to watch.






Team France


The following day we went to watch some Cambodian boxing at an outside arena near Angkor Wat. It was an International competition and featured France vs Cambodia. I was half expecting the French to follow tradition and run away but they meant business.

The French won all the fights easily. The first three fights were over in about 20 seconds. One Cambodian chap refused to come out for the second round. It was a bit of a stuffing.







Children swimming by the river houses


In my final day in Siem reap we went to a river / floating village. We too a boat down the river for a bout an hour. There were so many houses and so many people living on the river, it was quite amazing to see. Many of the houses are attached to barrels so the houses can be moved easily when the river level rises.

The stilts on some of the houses are so big due to the amount that the river rises when the rains come. Its quite hard to imagine without seeing it for real but you could see the water lines on the stilts.

Bridge and houses by the river

I'm off to Phnom Penh tomorrow before going to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam where I will get ready for my study. As I will be working hard I doubt I'll have much interesting stuff to blog but I will see how it goes. I can't believe how quickly the past 10 weeks has gone. Its been great fun and when I look back its great to see everthing Ive done and how far I've travelled.

Ive added another album which has lots of photos of me looking a bit embarrassed on stage in a funky costume. As funny as the costume was it was quite comfortable but unfortunatly they didn't let me keep it.