Last month was the observance of World Fair Trade Day and many of the groups working in this area got together at Phnom Penh's National Cultural Center to celebrate it. The crowd included craft producers and the general public, checking out information booths, playing games, watching some performances and sewing a giant kromar together. We posed a few questions to organizers Nina Howard (Artisans Association Cambodia) and Annie Perng (Village Focus International):
It is more than 30 years since the story was last told of the Bayon, the enigmatic state temple of Jayavarman VII, the greatest king of ancient Angkor. Recently, researchers from several disciplines have again been probing the mysteries of this extraordinary monument and its giant face towers. Under an eminent editorial team, Bayon: New Perspectives brings together for the first time leading scholars whose findings and insights challenge, not always in consensus, many of the earlier interpretations of the Bayon's art, architecture and inscriptions.
Cambodia's hoards of tourists marvel at its temples, but shudder after an encounter with its toilets, prompting a recent rescue mission by South Korean-based World Toilet Association (WTA), Tourism Minister Thong Khong said this week.
The minister said chairman of the WTA Assembly, legislator Sim Jae-Duck, had led a recent delegation to Cambodia and extended a warm invitation to the kingdom to join the WTAA meeting in South Korea in November and discuss accession to that body.
The WTA goes by the motto of 'Toilets for health! Toilets for life! Making it happen now'.
Madame Hieng at Shop 9 Central Market is a convincing seller. She has to be. Selling ice to Eskimos has to be easier than selling Christmas trees in predominantly Buddhist Cambodia.
"These trees come from Vietnam," she says. "After Christmas, you can put them in the garden. No need to buy one next year. I guarantee."
Many expatriates find the tacky plastic Christmas trees not only less than authentic or aesthetic but less than environmentally friendly. Now there is a living alternative.
If restaurants could talk, the FCC would tell some interesting tales. As one of Phnom Penh's most established restaurants, it has witnessed much of Cambodia's tumultuous history. Enviably positioned right on the riverfront, the FCC is the capital's pre-eminent meeting place for tourists and expatriates.
Melbourne Cup Day was celebrated with style and aplomb at Raffles Hotel on Tuesday 7th November. With the race starting at 11a.m Phnom Penh time, the complimentary champagne cocktails were being quaffed at 9a.m and by 10a.m, many punters had moved onto the main cocktail list, spurned on by a ½ price deal organised by The Australian Business Association of Cambodia. Women arrived in fabulous dresses and hats and the Australian Women's Connection had jockey style silks made for the Le Royal staff so all in all it was a very carnival like atmosphere.
For Cambodians, dengue fever is a serious childhood disease, although, if they survive, most will have been exposed to all four strains of the virus by adulthood and have developed some degree of immunity. For most foreigners the mosquito-borne disease remains a risk throughout life. Because there are so many strains, a previous infection with the virus does not guarantee immunity and in some cases a second infection with a different strain can prove more serious than the first.
Award-winning author Geoff Ryman, 56, was born in Canada but has lived most of his life in England. He is an author and has written numerous award-winning fiction, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. His most recent short story about Cambodia 'Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter,' has just been nominated for a 2007 Hugo Award given annually for science fiction and fantasy. Past Hugo winners include Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke.
From Wednesday 13th to monday 25th of June 13rd of June - Chaktomuk theatre (to confirm): Pokemon Crew, one of the most titled crew in the world in the battle circuit (hip hop tour-nament).
21st of June - Street Keo Chea (184) (to confirm): Many Cambodian and French artists will perform concerts. High Tone, for example, is a French electro band. Their music is the alchemy of three key elements: 70's dub, electronic music and ethnic music; a dub sub-merged in the jungle, somewhere between India and Tibet.
Every once in a while we find ourselves in a familiar location but looking at something we never noticed before writes Tanja Wessels. When it comes to clothing shops it is time to make the unfamiliar familiar...