The top things to do in Cambodia

Cambodia is known as the Kingdom of Cambodia and once known as the Khmer Empire, Cambodia cuisine is the popular Khmer dish. The Kingdom of Cambodia is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula and belong to the Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Vietnam to the east, Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the northeast and the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest. Read more about Best time to visit Cambodia to make a plan traveling for yourself.

Angkor Wat

• Angkor is in Siem Reap province, Cambodia’s northern. It is one of the most important archaeological sites of Southeast Asia. It extends over approximately 400 square kilometres and includes scores of temples, hydraulic structures (basins, dykes, canals, reservoirs) as well as communication routes. For centuries, Angkor was the centre of the Khmer Kingdom. With impressive monuments, several different ancient urban plans and large lakes, the site testifies to a wonderful civilization. Temples in Angkor such as Angkor Wat, the Bayon, Preah Khan and Ta Prohm, exemplars of Khmer architecture.
• Inside, Angkor Wat is a temple complex. This is also the largest religious monument in the world, with the site measuring 162.6 hectares. Angkor Wat was built in the first half of the 12th century. It is also the largest monument of the Angkor group. Its perfection in composition, balance, proportions and unique sculptures make it one of the finest monuments in the world.

Angkor Wat

 

Royal palace

• The Royal Palace in Phnom Penh was built over a century ago to serve as the house of the King of Cambodia, his family and foreign dignitaries, as a place for the performance of court ceremony and ritual. It is as a symbol of the Kingdom.
• Royal Palace serves to this day as the Cambodian home of King Norodom Sihamoni and former King Norodom Sihanouk.

Royal palace

 

National museum of Cambodia

• The National Museum of Cambodia is in central Phnom Penh, on Street 13, next to the Royal Palace. 
• The main activities of the National Museum of Cambodia consist of exhibiting, protecting and promoting understanding of Cambodia’s cultural and artistic treasures. In addition, the Museum attracts visitors through its exhibitions and fulfill its role as an integral part of the community. With the Museum, Cambodia’s cultural heritage is of great value and can provide a source of pride.

National museum of Cambodia

 

Preah Vihear Temple

• Prasat Preah Vihear has the most spectacular placement of all the temples built during the six-centuries-long of Khmer Empire. 
• Preah Vihear Temple is an ancient Hindu temple built during the period of the Khmer Empire romdeng. This temple is located on the Thai/Cambodian border, about 3.5 hours form siem reap. It predates Angkor wat.
• Cambodian and Thailand dispute its ownership so their is armed soldiers located there. UN gave it to cambodians.

Preah Vihear

Please click to see List of Cambodia tourism in my Blog at that link.

The best foods tourist Must try in Cambodia

Cambodia cuisine or Khmer cuisine is all about the contrasts: salty and sour, sweet and bitter, fresh and cooked. Below are the special dishes of our the selective to introduce to you.

Fried fish on the fire lake

 

In Cambodia, Fresh coconut milk isn’t used every day in Khmer cooking, but it’s saved for dishes served at important occasions.

 

Fried Fish on the Fire Lake is one such dish which is traditionally made for parties or eaten at restaurants in a fish shaped dish.

 

A whole fish is deep-fried and then finished on a hotplate at table in a coconut curry which is made from yellow kroeung and chillies.

 

Vegetables such as cauliflower and cabbage are cooked in the curry and they are served with rice or rice noodles. The literal translation of this dish is trei bung kanh chhet, fish from the lake of kanh chhet. There is a green Cambodian water vegetable served with this dish.

Fried fish on the fire lake

Red tree ants with beef and holy basil

Tourists will find all sorts of insects on the menu in Cambodia. But the dish most appealing to foreign tourists is stir fried red tree ants with beef and holy basil.

Ants of various sizes, they are stir-fried with lemongrass, ginger, garlic, shallots and thinly sliced beef.

Lots of chillies complete the perfumed dish, without overpowering the delicate sour flavor that the ants impart to the beef.

This dish is served with rice and if you are lucky you’ll also get a portion of ant larvae in your bowl.

Red tree ants with beef and holy basil

Kdam chaa: fried crab

Fried crab is a special dish of the Cambodian seaside town of Kep. Its lively crab market is known for fried crab prepared with green and locally grown Kampot pepper. Aromatic Kampot pepper is very famous among gourmands worldwide, although it is available in its dried form internationally, tourists will only be able to sample the specially flavored immature green peppercorns in Cambodia. It’s worth to have a visit to Kep and Kampot, but Phnom Penh restaurants bring live crabs from the coast to make their own version of this dish, which includes both Kampot pepper and flavorful garlic chives.

Kdam chaa: fried crab

Nom banh chok: Khmer noodles

Nom banh chok, a favorite Cambodian dish, so that in English it’s called simply “Khmer noodles.”

Nom banh chok is a typical breakfast dish and you will find it sold in mornings by women carrying it on baskets hanging from a balance on their shoulders.

The dish consists of noodles laboriously pounded out of rice, a fish-based green curry gravy made from lemongrass, turmeric root and special kaffir lime.

Fresh mint leaves, bean sprouts, banana flower, green beans, cucumbers and other greens are heaped on top. There is also a red curry version which is usually reserved for ceremonial occasions and wedding festivities.

Nom banh chok: Khmer noodles

Lap Khmer: Lime-marinated Khmer beef salad

Khmer beef salad features thinly sliced beef that is either quickly seared or “cooked” ceviche-style by marinating with lime juice.

Dressed with lemongrass, shallots, garlic, Asian basil, fish sauce, mint, green beans, green pepper, the dish also packs a punch in the heul (spicy) department with copious amounts of fresh red chilis.

A refreshing dish that is more beef than salad, Lap Khmer is common with Cambodian men who prefer beef to be nearly fresh, but at restaurants it’s generally served grilled.

Lap Khmer: Lime-marinated Khmer beef salad

Khmer red curry

Less spicy than the curries of neighbor Thailand, Khmer red curry is similarly coconut milk based but without the overpowering chilli.

The dish includes beef, chicken or fish, eggplant, potatoes, green beans, fresh coconut milk, lemongrass and kroeung.

 

Khmer red curry is usually served at special occasions in Cambodia as weddings, family gatherings and religious holidays like Pchum Ben or Ancestor’s Day where Cambodian people make the dish to share with monks in honor of the departed. Khmer red curry is usually served with bread – a remnant of French culture influence on Cambodia.

Khmer red curry

 

 

Fish amok

 

Fish amok is one of the most well-known Cambodian dishes, but you can find similar dishes in neighboring countries.

 

The addition of slok ngor – a local herb which imparts a subtly bitter flavor, separates the Cambodian version from the pack.

 

Fish amok is a fish mousse with fresh coconut milk and kroeung (a type of Khmer curry paste which is made from lemongrass, turmeric root, garlic, galangal, shallots and fingerroot or Chinese ginger).

At upscale restaurants fish amok is steamed in banana leaf, while more local sites serve a boiled version that is more like a soupy fish curry than a mousse.

Fish amok

Tourist can try them in Cambodia restaurants. Some dish you should try in street stores better because they are street foods of Cambodia