First Day of the Rice Harvest

December is always a wonderful time of year to visit Cambodia. The rains have stopped, and the weather is much cooler. It is also the time of the rice harvest, so the villages are alive with a flurry of activity. It has been an active month here in Banteay Chhmar. Unfortunately, this year was not a good rice harvest because of infrequent rains. However, the villagers will do the best they can with the harvest. If you are interested in learning how to harvest rice, please ask one of our tour guides. They will be happy to take you to the fields where you can meet the villagers and learn all about rice.

There is an absolutely fascinating archaeological project taking place about 4km from the Banteay Chhmar Temple. Workers from the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts are unearthing an ancient burial site. Heng Sophady from the Ministry believes that the remains may be around 2,000 years old. So far, workers have discovered human remains, a fire pit, some tools and pottery.

Kok Treas Archaeological Site

We had a great visit from our friends in Korea. Volunteers from the Gwang Ju Buk-gu Volunteer Center generously contributed their time and money to help clean the village, repair and paint the primary school. They also donated a generous supply of books, pens and clothes for the children. And, they still had plenty of time to play with the children!

A special THANK YOU! goes out to Travelers’ MAP Tours and the Gwang Ju Buk-gu Volunteer Center 🙂

Cleaning the village