Christmas in Cambodia

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…”Snow is falling all around me…” or not as the case may be in Siem Reap, Cambodia. So it’s Christmas here in this wonderful country and in the region of 32 degrees C. It turns out they make a bit of a fuss about it here as many places have been Westernised by the addition of Christmas Trees, fairly lights and Christmas songs playing in town. I was feeling a little emotional about the occasion as it’s the first time I have not spent it with my family and every time I heard “Driving Home For Christmas”, it would bring a tear to my eye!

On the day of Christmas Eve, we made Christmas cards and the kids really got into the idea of Christmas being just a day away. To mark the occasion in the evening, we took them to 60 Road which is a huge funfair just on the outskirts of town. I have been a few times before and the kids loved it so we thought it would be a lovely treat for them.

Christmas day begun with doing all the things that are out of the ordinary. I went to the gym and then had lunch in town before heading off the orphanage at about 2pm for a party which had been meticulously organisedby Sok. The children were so excited when we arrived and there were decorations up to make it look extra special, I brought with me some Christmas hats and the staff very willingly put them on for the afternoon. Our Christmas dinner consisted of a typical Khmer feast of beef cooked on a table top barbeque. It was a truly wonderful experience and the children were so happy. I took many videos as I can’t really put into words quite how special it was. We spent the rest of our day doing silly dancing and having a real jolly time!

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