Category Archives: Uncategorized

November 11th a private affaire for me this year.  I watched remembrance ceremonies from Cambodia alone in my apartment thinking how important it is for Canadians to remember the sacrifice of those who fought for our freedoms.  The longer I am here the more I struggle with my own ethnocentrism.  For years I’ve taught childrenContinue reading “Lest We Forget”

I asked on Facebook what you’d like to hear about and to my surprise COVID took top billing.  I don’t have photos on this topic but certainly have plenty to share.  I will back up in time to early November.  I was getting into the groove of life here; the rainy season was wrapping upContinue reading “COVID in Cambodia – take 2”

Ratanikiri was not chosen completely by chance.  The province held many beautiful and cultural sights that appealed to me greatly.  This northern province is one of the places in Cambodia where there are gem mines.  Over the years, I have shared wonderful gem mining experiences with my family and this seemed like the next specialContinue reading “Treasures in Ratanikiri”

Our visit to the province of Ratanikiri was a spectacular, not only because of the things we were able to learn about local and Khmer culture, view and experience wonderful natural sights but also because we happened to visit a village celebrating a funeral. Now let me say from the outset I realise that weContinue reading “4 friends and a funeral”

End of October brought the celebration of Water Festival. Due to COVID all the interesting events in the city were cancelled and since borders remained closed four of us decided to head to the very northern province of Ratanikiri for a break.  Our base for this first part of the trip was the town ofContinue reading “Crater and Cascades”

Our Pchum ben holiday was altered slightly by the arrival of a tropical storm. Rain like I’ve never seen before and wind much like the anger of a thunderstorm at home forced us to chill out at our hotel, eat dinner in the dark and be disconnected from the web for most of the night.Continue reading “A seaside town with lots to tell”

Language and food are so integral in understanding people’s cultures, today is special as I was able to eat mooncakes for the mid autumn festival and attend my first Khmer language class. To start I guess I have to say that I will have to become more informed earlier so I can more fully takeContinue reading “Mid autumn festival treats”

The first opportunity to travel outside the capital came at the National Holiday of Pchum Ben.  While I am no expert on the meaning or importance of this holiday I can with confidence say that this is one of the most important holidays in Cambodia.  A religious period of two weeks culminating in Pchum Ben. Continue reading “A Cambodian Sleigh Ride”

Having begun to feel like I have arrived, developed some bravery in exploring on my own and a deep desire to learn more sent me first to the National Museum.  A small museum by European standards, but none the less it had great examples of items from pre-Angkor, Angkor and some more modern items. IContinue reading “A lesson in art and culture”

Spent lots of time this weekend with friends, a necessary thing as I really wanted to be with my family.  I just got the news of the death of my uncle.  A man who has been an important person in my life.  Both COVID and physical distance on the planet mean I won’t be ableContinue reading “A market with soul”