Kampong Thom Heartland of Cambodia

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River Trips and Fresh Fish

We have been working on starting a boat service from Sambor Village Hotel to provide an authentic experience for our guests traveling on the Stung Sen River. When my father came to stay with us we decided that he was the perfect guinea pig for a trip down the Stung Sen to the southern end of the Tonle Sap Lake. We enlisted the help of a local boat driver, Phala and with Tettra as translator we headed off on the 70km journey to the lake from Kampong Thom.

















On route we passed fisherman heading out for a days fishing, and small trading boats before stopping for a quick rest stop on the Tonle Sap floodplains where seasonal farmers grow dry season rice. There were hundreds of hectares of rice as far as the eye could see, all irrigated by small diesel engines pumping water into channels dug between the paddies. There were few permanent homes in this area as during the wet season the whole plain is two metres under water. It will be interesting to see when we do our rainy season trip in a few months.

















As we neared the Tonle Sap, small stilted villages and floating houses became more regular. Local communities who make their living from fishing and wood cutting. As the population increased so did the number of small shops and river traders.

















We got to Phala's hometown, a small floating village about 1km from the Tonle Sap and decided to spend the night with his family. It was a good sized town with all of the amenities you would expect from a Cambodian town. Wedding shops, cell phone shops, drink shop boat, petrol station, a school, as well as green grocers, general stores, police station, pagoda and a large floating restaurant that could be towed to the home of whatever lucky lady happened to be getting married.


















After a short rest we headed off to look around the area. We visited a local Pagoda with some pre Angkorian archeological sites, and took a couple of motodop drivers to check out a little of the country side around Kampong Chnang. Then we headed back to meet Phalla and headed out in his boat to the lake to buy some fresh fish for dinner. Some enterprising Viets were buying and selling fish from the flooded bilge of their boat. Palla and Tettra took care of the purchase while Dad and I looked on in anticipation of a home cooked dinner. Sorry no photo of dinner, but as you can see there was plenty left for breakfast the next morning.

















The next morning we headed back for Kampong Thom after buying some iced coffee and having a quick look at the immense Tonle Sap Lake. On the way home Palla stopped at several small communities and stores looking for snake meat. After a few stops we were directed back across the river to a family that had a bucket load. We ended up buying some extra snakes as well as a gift for Tettra's family.



A few weeks after our trip to Kampong Chnang, a guest staying at Sambor Village asked if we could organize a short trip on the river. Tettra called Palla in the evening and the next day at 2pm he arrived outside the hotel to take English angler Wegg, Tettra and I up river to look for some fresh fish.
The hotel chefs did a wonderful job with the meal and Wegg enjoyed his authentic Cambodian fish dinner.

We look forward to providing this service to guests who stay with us in the future. In addition to Palla's river trips to Kampong Chnang, we are also in cooperation with a local family who are preparing an 11 metre traditional wooden river boat for some local site seeing, and Tettra and I are buying a smaller fibre glass long tail for our own holiday trips and small group tours.

Gardening Projects

We have a small space of land behind the hotel. When I arrived at Sambor Village it was used just as an area to hang sheets and linen.


In order to reduce the amount of green waste, and rubbish thrown out the front of the hotel we have built recycling bins, and some compost bins.


We have also built a small shade house for propagating herbs, vegetables and fruit.


A large old concrete water tank has been roofed and turned into a workshop, and a bamboo hut for staff to eat meals in has been built beside it. Next stage is to landscape around the huts with raised beds to grow herbs and passionfruit for the kitchen.




The area behind the kitchen had a few banana trees but otherwise was wasted space. So we dug a few garden beds.


In these we have planted lemongrass, kale, holy basil and some trial tomatoes and spring onions.


In the last 6 weeks the garden has gone from looking like this.......






To looking like this.

We also have passion fruit and papaya seedlings growing at the moment, and it will be interesting to see if we can get some good fruit production in the next couple of years.

It's a shame we don't have more space for fruit and vegetables as they seem to grow very well here.

Next post. How to buy the freshest fish in Cambodia.

Busy Season for Sambor Village

The 2011-2012 tourist season has been a busy one for Sambor Village. We have record numbers of guests staying with us keeping us all busy.

The start of our 'busy season' was disrupted by the flooding that affected large areas of SE Asia.

The hotel grounds were under water, and it took a month for the water to recede forcing us to close.

We had to work hard to get the place looking nice for reopening in November.




We hosted a Christmas Evening dinner, followed a few days later by a New Years Gala.


Our New Years Eve guests were treated to pre dinner drinks and canapes, a large group dinner upstairs, followed by Khmer dancing and party games to help them see in the New Year.







Guests and staff enjoyed some friendly competitions and dancing while I looked after the bar.



Will follow up in my next post with some photos from our garden, nursery and workshop development project.

Greetings from Sambor Village

This is our daily weblog about life living and working at a hotel in the middle of Cambodia. Sambor Village is a small self contained resort in Kampong Thom province, halfway between Phom Penh and Siem Reap on the banks of the Stung Sen River.

Each day we will share our stories, photos, videos, hotel happenings, staff celebrations and local events, as well as recipes for delicious Khmer food.

Coming up in the next month we have two staff weddings. Our chef Navuth and housekeeper Chanta will marry on the 10th and 11th of July, and our security guard will also marry soon after. Cambodian weddings are big events, with a lot of food, beer and dancing. Family homes are transformed for two days as marquee tents go up, caterers come in, tables are set, sound systems are installed, monks chant, singers sing, and guests arrive by the moto load to celebrate the happy couples union. Cambodian weddings are colourful and noisy occasions, if you ever have the chance to attend a wedding in Cambodia, don't hesitate, it is a unique experience.