Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2004 10:58 am Post subject: Cambodia Do'sand Don'ts
Customs
You have to act positive to other people. You can put your hands together and say hello too.
When you visit a home you would have to say hello. You would help them with something like the dishes.
Some of the good manners are to not make noises at the table. If you have a drink and burp, you have to say excuse me. When you eat you sit on a floor mat.
If you want to tip someone in Cambodia for doing a good job you can, but it is not expected.
When going to the market you have to bargain a price for whatever you want.
Women are very modest. When eating they sit with their feet to the side.
If you visit a temple in Cambodia you must act very respectful. You should not wear shorts or tank tops. You should take your hat off when enter the temple and your shoes off before entering the sanctuary (hara).
I'd like to remind you, that Cambodia is not at all as civilized as Thailand. Manners are, of course, always on the top list of a traveller, but hospitality should be too.....
During my last (and probably only visit) to that country, my wife and me were robbed. We had planned a three day "exploration" of the world heritage at Angkhor Wat. Well, we never made it there. On the first morning, we lost...well, almost everything to street robbery.
I had to fly from Siem Reap (city close to Angkhor) to Phnom Phen and try to get new papers. I could not get papers for my wife, because here embassy cannot do passports as express service. They gave me an accompanying letter instead.
With my new passport, my wifes letter plus the official police statement of the robbery, we tried to leave Cambodia via the same airport that we came in only 2 days earlier. The border police found our immigration registry within a few minutes. But they had already made up their mind to "earn" some extra money. Their line of argument was, that my wife cannot leave the country without a passport. I argued, that all the necessary supporting documents would be available. On top of that, my wife had been injured during the "lifting"of our valuables and I asked the police to show some mercy. After all, the problem came up, because their fellow countrymen had assaulted us.
The police showed no mercy and said, that they would have to charge some extra money for an "exit visa". I gave them the $$s. A receipt would not be able to be made, because there was no passport to print the visa in.
We accepted that and I swore never to return and spend money in such a rotten part of the world.
We bought a picture book about Angkhor instead....
Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 8:38 pm Post subject: Re: Cambodia Do'sand Don'ts
[quote="Mike"]Customs
You have to act positive to other people. You can put your hands together and say hello too.
When you visit a home you would have to say hello. You would help them with something like the dishes.
________________________
I would say, foremostly, if you visit somebody's home you'll have to take off your shoes.
Not sure about this "do not pat the heads of children" issue, as locals do this a lot with kids (not only their own).
Not sure if G-Hunter's fate can be generalised. It happens ocasionally but I would certainly not generalise this. Something of this sort has never happened to me in 2 years living in Cambodia. I would not discourage anyone of visiting Cambodia - you just need to be a bit careful, like in many other counties, too.
it's a cheap Nokia
can't remember the model though
I left it in a small pocket of my handbag and was pickpocketed while surrounded by a bunch of kids at the border
guess I got to be more careful the next time
it's a cheap Nokia
can't remember the model though
I left it in a small pocket of my handbag and was pickpocketed while surrounded by a bunch of kids at the border
guess I got to be more careful the next time
Thanks for the warning. Ill be more careful at that border next time
lemme check my schedule-of course my girl friend will want to trail along--and ruin all the fun _________________ Asia Expats Forum Expat Friends Dating
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