Cambodia

Discover Cambodia

Fun Foods

Fish Amok, Beef Lok Lak, Kuy Teav, Num Plae Ai

Angkor Wat covers 400 acres and contains hundreds of temples. You could spend days exploring and still miss hidden corridors and secret chambers. This 900-year-old complex sits in Cambodia, a Southeast Asian country where tuk-tuks zip past temple ruins and monks in orange robes walk ancient stone paths.

The Khmer Empire ruled from the 9th to 15th centuries, building Angkor Wat and hundreds of other temples that still blow people's minds. They engineered massive irrigation systems and created art that influenced all of Southeast Asia.

Then the empire collapsed, the jungle swallowed the temples, and Cambodia got carved up by colonial powers.

France controlled Cambodia from the 1860s until 1953, when King Norodom Sihanouk finally kicked them out.

Sihanouk tried to keep Cambodia neutral during the Vietnam War, but the conflict spilled over the border anyway. In 1970, a general named Lon Nol overthrew Sihanouk in a coup. Five years of chaos followed.

In 1975, the Khmer Rouge took power under Pol Pot. They evacuated cities, banned money, closed schools, and tried to turn Cambodia into a farming society.

They killed anyone who seemed educated, wore glasses, or spoke foreign languages. Up to 2 million Cambodians died from execution, starvation, and overwork between 1975 and 1979.

Vietnam invaded in 1979 and ended the genocide, but Cambodia's still recovering from those four years.

Visit Angkor Wat near Siem Reap, where kids can explore temples with tree roots bursting through walls at Ta Prohm and count the smiling stone faces at Bayon Temple.

Kids under 12 get in free. The temples are massive, so plan multiple days and take breaks when everyone's hot.

Every April, Khmer New Year turns into a three-day water fight where everyone soaks each other with buckets and water guns.

In November, Bon Om Touk brings dragon boat races to celebrate the Tonle Sap River reversing flow. Teams from villages across Cambodia race long, narrow boats while millions watch from riverbanks.

The tradition dates back to the 12th century when King Jayavarman VII's naval forces defeated invaders.

Try Fish Amok, the national dish. It's fish curry steamed in banana leaves with coconut milk until it's creamy and mild.

Beef Lok Lak comes with lime-pepper dipping sauce. For breakfast, grab Kuy Teav, a noodle soup that street vendors sell from carts.

The food's lighter and less spicy than Thai cuisine, making it easier for kids who don't handle heat well.