I spent much of today with a local Khmer family at Kompheim (Ladybug) Village about 20km out of Siem Reap.

It was part of a A Day in the Life – Village Tour run by Beyond Unique Escapes, and provided a fascinating insight into the day to day activities and subsistence farming lifestyle of a poor (but very happy) local family.

After a short (and very bumpy) ride to the village in bullock drawn carts our tour guide (Lee)  and an American couple (Chanty & Matt) set too helping the family to make wall/roof panels out of palm leaves – a surprisingly simple, but very effective process.

We then had a chance to assist in the preparation (and eating) of a traditional local dish – Prahoc Chenh Chram (Lemon Grass, Chilli, Peanuts, Sugar,  Fermented fish (Prahoc) and last but certainly not least Red ants – legs, wings, larvae and all – combined, finely chopped and cooked over an open fire in banana leaves)… So much for being careful what I ate – but (so far) no ill effects 🙂

I managed to get lots of nice shots of the kids – who were very polite, happy, and loved looking at their photos.  I plan to print some off and send them copies to keep 🙂

After lunch we spent the next couple of hours walking through the village, looking at the school, and various Husk sponsored support and aid activities for the local community. It was VERY hot and humid… probably only walked a few km (but it seemed like 10) and was very glad to see the (air conditioned) mini van at the end …