The experience: Khmer Village Homestay offers an insight into rural life in Cambodia, offering visitors the chance to spend the night in a local community. Bungalow accommodation is available in the village and genuine homestays can be arranged with some notice. Palm thatch huts are available, as well as a traditional Khmer house. All accommodation includes access to clean bathrooms, as well as three hearty meals a day.
Project organisers promise no spiders or insects on the menu, but lots of good Khmer country food.
Activities include village tours by ox cart or donkey cart and guided walks in the surrounding area. It is also possible to learn how to fish with the locals, as well as see boat making in progress for the fishing season. For the more adventurous, it is possible to climb a sugar palm tree to help with the daily palm wine harvest, the closest thing to draft beer in the Cambodian countryside.
The village includes a handicraft production centre with weaving, sewing and printing projects underway. There are also traditional Cambodian dance performances by local school children.
Khmer Village Homestay gives visitors a taste of the rural lifestyle in Cambodia. Guests can witness an authentic Cambodian village and learn about typical lives and livelihoods in the countryside.
Khmer Village Homestay is situated in Baray District, Kompong Thom province, the heartland of Cambodia, about 120 km from Phnom Penh on the road to Siem Reap.
How it helps: Khmer Village Homestay provides an income to villagers in Baray district. This region of Kompong Thom does not have a wealth of tourist attractions, so the homestay project is a unique way to allow rural Cambodians to participate in the tourism industry. Khmer Village Homestay contributes directly to the community with all benefits going to the local people. All transport such as ox carts, boats and other transport are sourced locally. Tourism creates new opportunities and more jobs for the local community. Khmer Village Homestay employs six full-time local staff.
Off the Beaten Path
Cambodia to see a different side of the country and help spread income from tourism. The experience: Local Adventures Cambodia is an inbound tour operator specialising in tailormade travel. The company offers gentle adventures to a Cambodia less travelled. Local Adventures stands out from the crowd thanks to a wide network of travel partners in Cambodia and unique itineraries to off-the-beaten-track destinations
such as Ratanakiri, Mondulkiri, Kompong Cham, Kampot, Prey Veng, Kirirom and beyond.
Local Adventures prides itself on its flexibility and will try to handle any request.
Local Adventures has been operating for several years. Most of the customers come from Europe.
Travellers can book through the website or when in Cambodia. Local Adventures has an office in the centre of Phnom Penh. The multilingual staff have all travelled throughout the country and can provide reliable information about Cambodia. The enthusiastic team is happy to inform travellers about the numerous attractions Cambodia has to offer.
How it helps: The name says it all. Local Adventures strives to work closely with local people instead of big international corporations. Where other travel companies focus on short breaks to Angkor Wat, Local Adventures emphasises the tranquillity of rural life and the beauty of lessvisited areas.
Tourism has the potential to serve as a sustainable source of income for locals in the poorer regions of
Cambodia. A big problem in Cambodia is that tourism is not developed in remote regions in part because locals do not have the opportunities to invest in tourism services. It is not just a lack of money. It is due to a lack of knowledge and experience. Local Adventures has developed exclusive homestays in Kompong Cham and Prey Veng province, which help spread the benefits of tourism.
Local Adventures is also behind COLT (the Cambodian Organization for Learning and Training). This orphanage provides shelter, education and vocational training to improve the lives of Khmer children. Local Adventures already offers volunteer travel. There are plans to coordinate this in a more structured way and assist orphanages in other areas. For more on COLT, visit www.colt-cambodia.org.
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