1. Family firstFamily is the heart of the Cambodian social life. A Cambodian will only trust the closest members of their family (relatives). Of course they also have friends, but these friendships have a more superficial character. With friends they drink a beer or have dinner, but it’s not likely that they will share or discuss their difficulties in life. That is only done with the immediate family.
2. Kindness without a birthday cake
Visitors praise the kindness and the smiles of the Cambodians. It’s easy to make contact and they are open to foreign influences. In that respect Cambodians are more open than many other Asian cultures. Unlike most other cultures, Cambodians do not celebrate birthdays. In fact, many older people may not even know the exact date of their birth.
3. A manifestation of greatness
The Cambodian art has barely survived the Khmer Rouge period. As artists and intellectuals were a target for the Khmer Rouge, almost all artefacts were destroyed. That the temple ruins of Angkor still exist, is due to the fact that the Khmer Rouge considered temples as a manifestation of greatness of the Khmer People. Besides the sculptures and carvings, you’ll retrieve the Khmer culture especially in music and dance. The traditional dance is called ‘Apsaras’.
The Cambodian art has barely survived the Khmer Rouge period. As artists and intellectuals were a target for the Khmer Rouge, almost all artefacts were destroyed. That the temple ruins of Angkor still exist, is due to the fact that the Khmer Rouge considered temples as a manifestation of greatness of the Khmer People. Besides the sculptures and carvings, you’ll retrieve the Khmer culture especially in music and dance. The traditional dance is called ‘Apsaras’.
The Cambodian language is special. Although the writing is very similar to Thai and the language also has some words in common, Khmer and Thai cannot understand each other. Which is peculiar, because Khmer and Thai have a common origin: the Indian languages Sanskrit and Pali. Khmer can’t be categorized as a so-called tone language, where the tone indicates the meaning of a word, such as Thai, Vietnamese and Laotian. The letters of the Cambodia alfabet are often called ´noodles´, because of the way they look.
5. Good food and other ‘delicacies’
A famous national dish is Amok: fish steamed in a curry, traditionally served in a banana leaf basket. Besides the many delicious dishes, there are some "snacks" that we consider - to put it mildly - strange. Some Cambodians eat fried grasshoppers or other insects like spiders and crickets. And a pigs ear is considered a "delicacy", which is often served at weddings.
A famous national dish is Amok: fish steamed in a curry, traditionally served in a banana leaf basket. Besides the many delicious dishes, there are some "snacks" that we consider - to put it mildly - strange. Some Cambodians eat fried grasshoppers or other insects like spiders and crickets. And a pigs ear is considered a "delicacy", which is often served at weddings.
Click here for the recipe for Amok on Gordon Ramsay’s ‘great escape recipes’ website
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