Cambodian Cultural Village

Visit (http://www.cambodianculturalvillage.com/) for more information.

Before I left Cambodia, my friends really, really wanted me to check the Cambodian Cultural Village. Wikipedia does not give it great reviews, but I think many volunteer friends would agree that our Cambodian friends really found this place special.

It has little versions of famous buildings and heritage sites around the world. And there are shows all day from Cambodian dancing to strange reenactments of a broad variety of cultures, love stories, war stories, and other short plays.

I liked going for the company rather than the strange plays. However, their Cambodian plays were lovely!

So one drizzly weekend, we went!!

^^^ABOVE, apsaras in color: celestial beings in Cambodian Angkorian history

- One of the first paintings one can see upon entering the amusement park. I couldn’t find the year this painting was drawn or what era it represents.

But the children I were with were curious about the other artifacts in front of the paintings such as ancient tools of the era. And in the same room, there were stuffed/plastic animals (including an alligator and tiger!!).

- Very cool kroma (scarf) dance.

- I think those are 4 leaf clovers

- Oh, us tourists on a dainty pond bridge.

-Many statues around. Interesting how the death of Buddha is always portrayed with that calm face. This is the second ‘death of Buddha’ sculpture this large I’ve seen in Cambodia.

- Curiously there was a segment where it showed guests traditional weddings. What happens, how they dress, what is said. Some guests were pulled into the play as the parents of the bride.

- You don’t really follow the map. You follow the crowd, and together we go from performance to performance and snack in between.

- You know it’s Buddha with those long ears.

- The Chinese Play. I was worried during most of the play as it had rained as usual in Cambodia, and they were doing acrobatic things on wet floor.

- Perhaps this play was the most funny. A guest volunteered to go up and be part of the play. As he mocked fight, his tight white pants ripped in the back – exposing his underwear. He was not aware and started lifting his victory sword around. I felt bad, but the show went on. Then suddenly, one of the gigantic cows of Cambodia (supposedly imported from India if of white color) strolled by!

- Got a bit tired. We migrated to stage to stage. The actors ran also to stage to stage to prepare, and it was funny to recognize the actors in traditional wedding skirts to hay skirts. In this scene, an animal sacrifice (symbolized through the buffalo skull) and fake fire was part of the performance.

- The day’s finale – a battle and victory.