Meet the Chambok Community!
Meet the Chambok Community!
Spend time with the Chambok community and experience the Khmer traditional life first hand.
Why this experience is unique?
Embark on a journey to live with the Khmer traditional community of Chambok. Spend time with the villagers and learn about their culture to understand the history of Chambok. Try your hand learning how to make the local handicraft with the women. Try the local cuisines at the All Women’s Restaurant. Learn how community based tourism gave the people of Chambok a new way of livelihood. Trek to a series of Chambok waterfalls, go for a swim in the river, learn about the local agricultural practices, before you head to the Kirirom National Park for camping. Spend a night listening to the local folklore under a starry night on top of a local peak- Koun Khlang mountain .
On the arrival in Chambok, you’ll be greeted by the local community representative. Check in to your homestay and relax for a while. In the evening, head to the community information centre, and find out more about the interesting history of Chambok and the local area. Enjoy a local Khmer dance performance performed by the local children and end your night with the traditional dinner served by women restaurant
On the second day of the trip, you will start your journey to the Chambok waterfall on a bicycle or an ox-cart to where the road ends. Trek to the Chambok waterfall, rejuvenate in the cold water and spend time exploring the nearby bat cave. On your way back, spend time with the locals to learn how to make the local handicraft by yourself.
Post breakfast, spend time exploring around the Chambok community, visiting the different villages and understand in detail about the local culture and how is it different from others. Visit the local women’s restaurant for lunch before heading towards the famous Anglong Rath natural stream. Soak your feet in the pool and relax yourself listening to the local folklore from your guide. Climb up a 50 meter hill to get a good view of the Chambok community.
Head to the Kirirom National Park via trekking along the community forest and Kirirom pine forest. Enjoy the breathtaking views along the way. Enjoy your packed lunch on the way, in the forest . Relax for a while before continuing your journey to Kirirom national park and visit Phnom Kun Kleng mountain where you’l setup your camp for the night. Enjoy learning how to cook survival food in the middle of pine forest with our local guide. End the day under a starry night.
Wake up early in the morning, have picnic breakfast cooked by your tour guide. Short walk back to main road from where you will be taken back to the Chambok community by a car. After reaching Chambok, plant your own tree with your name on the sign board as souvenir. Have lunch at the women’s restaurant before saying good bye to the local villager. Your trip ends with your transfer to the capital Phnom Penh.
Guests like to eat our Ladakhi food. They say it is delicious, even when it is prepared by an elderly ama (mother) like me. I always make sure I serve them the cleanest and healthiest food. My husband is a copper artist. When guests leave us, they say ‘Julley’, and hug us. It makes us feel happy.
I became a Mountain Homestay Host in 2018, and I have hosted many travellers since then. Running a homestay has helped me and my family a lot. Not only is the solar set up in our house useful for us, but even travellers prefer to stay in our homestay because of it.
The training we got in astronomy turned out to be a life-changing experience for our village. I felt happy and proud while mapping the position of the planets and sharing the secrets of the universe with the tourists. Tourists told me that even they didn’t know so much about the dark skies!
