I've just returned from a 5D4N trip to Cambodia, where my travel-mates and I taught some basic wirework with beads to the villagers in Chambok - a community of several villages located near Kirirom National Park in southwest Cambodia.

In the 70s, the heavily forested area around Chambok was an excellent hiding place for the Khmer Rouge, who would force the villagers to provide food and supplies to them in their fight against Cambodia's ruling party. Many of the resident villagers fled the area during that war-torn time. (See Cambodian Civil War). It was only in the last 10 years or so that the displaced locals began returning to inhabit this area.

Chambok is wild, and the villagers are starting out all over again. So, although they farm and tend to livestock, the community has to supplement with income from eco-tourism. Some highlights for city-folks like us were the trek to the 40-ft high waterfall in the nearby Kirirom National Park, rides on ox-driven carts, and home-stay in the simple wooden stilt houses prepared for visitors. (See Chambok Eco-tourism).

Thanks to the organisers and the warm, friendly Cambodians, this has been one of my best experiences...