Sunset in Kampot

I can highly recommend a sunset cruise in Kampot.

Cakes in Cambodia

This may come as a surprise, but you can buy the most amazing cakes in Cambodia.
With prices starting from as little as $10, you can get a beautifully decorated cake for any occasion.

The process is to simple- find a bakery, look at some pictures,  be amazed and astounded, FINALLY decide on a design and order the cake. Then remember to pick it up on the day.

Candles are provided and you will usually be provided with disposable plates and forks as well, and you can buy silly string, confetti etc.

The process is so unbelievably simple and prices are excellent.

Here are some cakes we have purchased or seen at various functions.
They taste great too!

New Year's Eve in Sihanoukville

Safety First!

What could possibly go wrong?!?

Visakha Buchea Day, May 2016

Also known as Buddha Purnima and Buddha Day, is a holiday observed traditionally by Buddhists on different days in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Tibet, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam,Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Myanmar and in other places all over the world.

Sometimes informally called "Buddha's Birthday", it actually commemorates the birth, enlightenment (nirvāna), and death (Parinirvāna) of Gautama Buddha in the Theravada or southern tradition.[6]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesak


In Sihanoukville, hundreds of people walk from the Golden Lions to Wat Leu, which is a LONG walk!

Sushi in Sihanoukville

Name: Shin

Address: Village4 Square4 Serendipity Road, Sihanoukville

Telephone: 086 708 580

Opening hours: 11.30am - 10pm

Cuisine: Japanese

Rating: 5

I cannot praise this restaurant highly enough!
If you like sushi, you HAVE to treat yourself when you are next in Sihanoukville.

I have eaten sushi in a lot of places around the world, and I have to say, this is one of my absolute favourite spots.

The food is always fresh and delicious with the same excellent service each time I go, which is about once a fortnight.

The story as it was told to me is such a great Cambodian tale.

As I heard it: The restaurant was originally owned by someone else, with a brilliant Japanese chef.

They did an all you can eat sushi buffet which was fabulous (I LOVED this!), but the chef and the owner did not get along too well.

One day, they had one too many fall outs and the chef quit.

Quality went downhill until the owner had to sell.

The chef, using a "middle man" bought the restaurant from under him and restored it to its former glory in no time at all.

He is obviously passionate about what he does, it certainly shows in his product.

There are also restaurants at Queenco and Victory Castle associated with Shin, both have the same level of excellence but slightly different menus and specials.

Try the Happy Sushi Set for $10, I have mine with Miso soup.

Pchum Ben

From Wikipedia:

Pchum Ben (Khmer: បុណ្យភ្ជុំបិណ្ឌ; "Ancestors' Day") is a 15-day Cambodian religious festival, culminating in celebrations on the 15th day of the tenth month in the Khmer calendar, at the end of the Buddhist lent, Vassa. (September / October)

The day is a time when many Cambodians pay their respects to deceased relatives of up to 7 generations.  Monks chant the suttasin Pali language overnight (continuously, without sleeping) in prelude to the gates of hell opening, an event that is presumed to occur once a year, and is linked to the cosmology of King Yama originating in the Pali Canon. During the period of the gates of hell being opened, ghosts of the dead (preta) are presumed to be especially active, and thus food-offerings are made to benefit them, some of these ghosts having the opportunity to end their period of purgation, whereas others are imagined to leave hell temporarily, to then return to endure more suffering; without much explanation, relatives who are not in hell (who are in heaven or otherwise reincarnated) are also generally imagined to benefit from the ceremonies.

In temples adhering to canonical protocol, the offering of food itself is made from the laypeople to the (living) Buddhist monks, thus generating "merit" that indirectly benefits the dead; however, in many temples, this is either accompanied by or superseded by food offerings that are imagined to directly transfer from the living to the dead, such as rice-balls thrown through the air, or rice thrown into an empty field.

Pchum Ben is considered unique to Cambodia.
Photos taken at Otres and Ream Pagodas.