Environment Archives - Dine With The Locals

Authentic cooking class in Siem Reap

Written by André Ruys on 12/26/2019. Posted in cooking class, eat in Siem Reap, eat with locals, Environment, food in Cambodia, Khmer culture, Siem Reap.

A cooking class in Siem Reap is a unique experience if you want to get to know the local cuisine. If you’re in a country like Cambodia, cooking can help you get to know the country’s culture much better. You will also learn more about the special features of Cambodian cuisine and its dishes.

Our cooking classes are slightly different from those offered by restaurants and hotels. We want to offer you an authentic experience and that’s why our focus is on homemade food that is prepared together with a family. You learn above all how to cook here at home a delicious Cambodian meal.

Learn how to make Kreung paste in our cooking class in Siem Reap

We want to bring people together with our cooking classes in Siem Reap, which is why we have hosts all over Cambodia. In Siem Reap you can cook with a former Apsara dancer and prepare a cozy dinner in the forest near Angkor Wat.

At our cooking classes in Siem Reap you will learn how to traditionally cook a meal in a Cambodian family.

Book now your cooking class experience!

Course of the cooking course in Siem Reap:

1. On arrival at the Cambodian house, the family introduces itself to you. In most families, at least one member speaks English and will explain what to expect. You can come for lunch or dinner.

2. After the greeting you will be shown the house and usually also the garden. For some families, you can even help pick or pick the herbs and vegetables yourself. You can also learn how to breed chickens, see crocodiles or later make small souvenirs.

3. Then it goes into the kitchen for the cooking experience. Each family has selected three dishes that they want to prepare with you in the Siem Reap cooking class. In most cases there is chicken and pork or fish, but we also have two families who can prepare a vegetarian meal on request.

Many famous Cambodian dishes

4. Cooking with locals in Siem Reap: you learn how to cook on a charcoal fire, how to stir food in an Asian wok, in which order the ingredients are added to the meal. Of course you can always ask questions about authentic Khmer food, our hosts will answer the best possible.
Some dishes are:

5. Eating together

Eat together after the cooking class in Siem Reap

After cooking, of course, they eat together. We wrote a small article on customs in a Cambodian household that tells you more about how to behave properly. In Cambodia, the food is either brought to the table all at once or as it is being prepared. The rice is on an extra plate. There are rarely knives, but if you want one your host will be happy to give it to you. Our course includes drinking water or tea, some hosts also like to sell you a Coca Cola or beer.

6. Other activities
A cooking class alone can bring you closer to culture. However, we would like to help you create more memories. Our hosts can teach you the essential steps in the Apsara dance, you can make a souvenir together or bake Cambodian waffles.

The authentic cooking class in Siem Reap takes about 2 hours. Transport is not included, but it is easy to get a tuktuk in Siem Reap.

What do you need to know when attending a cooking class in Siem Reap

Be open to new things. A kitchen in Cambodia is often outside the home. The process is a little different than you may be used to.
Spray yourself with mosquito spray
You are welcome to tip the hosts later.
Our families are also happy about children
Our cooking classes in Siem Reap are well suited for women who travel alone

Free refill, not landfill at our hosts in Cambodia

Written by André Ruys on 09/12/2019. Posted in eat in Siem Reap, Environment, Experience Cambodia.

As a service aiming to saving culture and environment, we already encouraging successfully our hosts to reduce plastic as much as they can. Food comes for examples from their own gardens. Many buy vegetables, meat and fish from the nearby local market. Often the goods are just wrapped in banana leaves or put in a basket. At the hosts homes we eliminated already the use of plastic bottles for our guests, and now we can go a step further: Guests who bring their own bottle can get a free and unlimited refill of water during their stay. Some hosts also offer tea made from locals plants, like pandan leaf.

Dine With The Locals supports the Refill, not landfill campaign with this measure and reduce the use of plastic bottle as much as possible. With our free refills we want to encourage tourists and travelers to play a part in saving the beauty of the Cambodian nature and the environment.

Refill and recycle

Many businesses in Siem Reap already took part in similar measures, reducing small plastic bottles in tours, events and activities. Furthermore, our hosts also collect those bottles and cans they can’t avoid and hand them over to the collectors. This way, we make sure that waste is not wasted. We generate some income and ensure plastic and aluminium gets back in the production cycle. Aluminium for example has an already a high percentage of recycled material, and Pet plastic can be used for other plastic bottles and material when proper collected and recycled.

We are listed on GreenCleanCambodia and we take environmental issues very serious. We will continue to come up with ideas and measures to furthermore help local families to achieve the goals to keep Cambodia green.

If you have any suggestions how we can do better, please drop us a message, either though our contact form or via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also send us a WhatsApp-Message.

Flood in Battambang Credit: Cambodia English News

Rain season and floods in Cambodia: Is it safe to travel now?

Written by André Ruys on 08/14/2019. Posted in Environment, Experience Cambodia.

Media, government agencies and tourists are reporting heavy rain and floods in Cambodia. August is always a month with heavy storms since it is rain season in Cambodia, but this year the amount of rain is more concerning. While the north of Cambodia desperately waits for some rain, the south is drowning. We know that travelers are concerned for their safety and want to give an overview about flooding in Cambodia and what you need to know. You still can do a round trip in Cambodia, with many local experiences, and only minor disruptions, if any. How das this effect traveling?

Most important cities

Flood in Battambang 10/2018 Credit: Cambodia English News

Sihanoukville
Heavy rainfalls causing streets flooded for hours, and garbage is floating around. Streets in and around town are partly gone from flash floods. Luckily, the number of casualities is very low. But expect delays when you travel to or from Sihanoukville by car.
Koh Rong, Koh Rong Sanloem
Many ferries stopped there service partially due to high waves. Expect delays or cancellations in the ferry services. The islands are pretty safe, you may get wet a bit (but that’s why you are in an island anyway, right?). There could be a strong wind, and it is strongly advised not to go swimming in the rough sea. Every year tourists drown here, because they did not follow safety instructions.
Kampot and Kep
Both cities hat huge rainfalls and in particular Kampot and it’s surroundings are flooded. Expect some damaged roads when travel around. The situation in Kep is better and the main road to Phnom Penh is accessible and mostly untouched from the rain (most damage ist done by trucks in the city and village areas). Also, a damn broke in Kampot, but was repaired over night.
Phnom Penh
The capital sees always some flooding when it’s raining, due to intense construction and lack of space where the water can flow. Usually those floods last not more than an hour, the the water will quickly recede. If you want to escape flooded streets, visit our host Vannak, he lives safely in the third floor.
Siem Reap
In August the Templetown only saw few rain days, and therefore flooding is not issue at all. The lack of rain effects the floating villages and the tonle sap lake, water levels are very low. All temples can be visited as usual, and activities like cook and eat with locals are possible and advised.
Battambang
The second largest city in Cambodia was expected to get some flooding from nearby overflowing dams and the Sanker river has a pretty high water level. Still, mot of the town is safe and there is no imminent danger for travelers.

Some facts and advice for the rain season in Cambodia:

Street flooding in cities usually recedes after an hour. If a street is flooded be careful with walking. The threat is not so mich the dirt und garbage (Thats just disgusting), but from sewer covers opening up and not visible.

If you in a forest or at the countryside near a river, even a small one, watch the color. When it turns brown, immediately seek higher ground.

Most people who die during floods drown in the countryside, where swimming skills are not often seen. However, a significant number of tourists drown in the sea during rough weather. If there is a storm, stay at the beach.

Falling trees and branches can be a risk in Angkor Wat during heavy storms. Although trees are cut regularly, the Apsara authority cannot be everywhere. You are safe when walking around the temples

The rain season lasts from July to October, but it doesn’t rain all day. The south is most effected by tropicals storms from Vietnam. In the north, it rains just once or twice a day. But expect some cloudy days in the rain season.

Garbage on the side of the street in Siem Reap

Plastic free food experience in Cambodia

Written by André Ruys on 07/10/2019. Posted in Environment, Experience Cambodia.

We are taking the environment we live in seriously. Cambodia has precious forests, waterfalls, costal areas and beautiful landscapes. This should be preserved. But we are also aware of the lack of infrastructure, in particular when it comes to garbage. While we cannot change all at once to a plastic free environment, we want at least to help reducing waste. One thing we do: We are supporting the Initiative Green Clean Cambodia.

Vegetables packed in plastic and styrofoam in a supermarket

And we actively encourage our hosts to be plastic free. It’s actually an easy task, since our guests will get a homemade meal in a local Cambodian house, where plastic is reduced to a minimum. We serve from steel or ceramic plates, water comes in cups and glasses, the food is brought from the local market or sometimes even from the own garden.

Our host Loy works for a garbage company

One of our hosts in Siem Reap, Loy, is actually a manager at the local Garbage collection company GAEA. Part of her duties is teaching local communities about garbage reduction, the plastic free concept and recycling. She is also active with many environmental groups in Siem Reap. So is Panha Yem in Battambang. She is has her own organic farm, but her passion for nature and an intact environment goes even further: She supports locals groups in avoiding the use of plastic and how recycling works.

Plastic free can also means reuse

When you see a water bottle at our hosts place, then it’s us usually used to server the drinking water from the tank, which is connected to the filtering system. This is how things are recycled. And if there are water bottles left, they will be collected and sold to the recycling companies and the collectors. This way we can help also those who make a living from the recycling business.

We are aware that once you buy at the market, plastic bags are still used. But this is less than shopping in a supermarket. When you buy from a stall selling vegetables, they are all packed in one back. And different from a supermarket vegetables, fruits and meats and fish are not wrapped in plastic and styrofoam. So buying at the local Is actually a really good way to reduce plastic and become as plastic free as possible. Also, we encourage our hosts to collect all non-organic garbage separately and bring it to the collection points, so the local Waste company can pick it up.

You can see it yourself when you visit on of our hosts and help them cooking. We are working on a market tour as well, where you can buy the ingredients together with the hosts, learn their names and how they are used in Khmer cuisine.

10 ways to reduce plastic and styrofoam while traveling

Re-use plastic bottles or get a bottle you can refill
Avoid styrofoam boxes at street food stalls
Look for street food places where you can sit
Re-use plastic bags, for example as rain cover for bags and shoes
Buy at local markets fresh fruits and vegetables
Give used plastic bottles to recycling places or collectors
Don’t use straws and asked for a simple glas instead
Avoid buying food thats wrapped in plastic
Use a re-useable bag for shopping
Use garbage bins in case you have to use some plastic bags or bottles.