Tuesday, December 17, 2019 |Siem Reap, Cambodia| Language: Khmer, French and English widely spoken| Population: 139,458| Currency: Cambodian Riel

We said goodbye to Phnom Penh as we boarded a small plane for a short flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia, home of Angkor Wat. But before we toured the temples, we had an enchanting evening at Villa Chandara.

To reach Villa Chandara we were driven by bus to an ancient waterway where we traveled by boat to a small opening in the trees where two guides and a bottle of champagne met us to begin the evening. We then walked through a narrow path in the jungle which opened to the village of Kok Tnout.

Kok Tnout is a beautiful and unspoiled rice-growing village in Cambodia where we were given an opportunity to glimpse a vanishing way of life. To see their people, their homes, their newly-born puppies and the villagers bringing the cattle home from the fields was an opportunity not usually given to tourists. Clearly off the beaten path.

At the end of the stroll stood the welcoming home of Villa Chandara. We were greeted by music to landscaped gardens and rice fields in someone’s back yard in the Cambodian countryside. We explored by ox cart, selected ingredients from the herb garden for evening cocktails, we enjoyed a foot massage, painted coconuts and enjoyed a five-course traditional Khmer meal as the sun set over the rice paddies.

 

The evening was nothing short of magical.