East of Angkor

DISPATCHES CAMBODIA East of Angkor A short ride from the erstwhile capital After 25 minutes, we ditch the remorque at a colorful temple where of the Khmer Empire, once-impoverished smartly attired residents have congre- Preah Dak is now the model village in a gated to celebrate Pchum Ben, an annual visionary campaign to bring ecotourism 15-day festival honoring their ancestors. The atmosphere at Wat Preah Dak is fes- to rural Banteay Srei. tive, which sums up a remarkable year in BY JONATHAN EVANS a village that’s seen its landscape trans- formed thanks to the progressive vision of a young governor. From the temple, Leap leads us on foot n a bright Sunday morning in Siem Reap, I through fields and past thatch-roofed jump in the back of a remorque for an excur- huts to the main street of Preah Dak. sion into the countryside of northwestern We’re quietly astonished by what we see: O Cambodia. Riding along with me in the motor- tidy wooden houses fronted by modest cycle-pulled cart is an effervescent tour guide gardens and waste-segregation baskets, named Mony Leap and a couple of her clients. A rural road all with solar panels on their rooftops. takes us past tidy farmhouses and rice fields glimmering with Leafy champa saplings decorate the road- STILL WATERS wet-season rain, the bucolic scenery tarnished only by the side alongside flowerbeds and shiny new Above: The Phnom belching exhaust of trucks as they as they overtake us. This is lampposts crowned by more solar panels. Kulen mountain range provides a my first trip to the village of Preah Dak since moving to Siem There’s not a scrap of litter to be seen, not backdrop to the Reap 18 months ago; it’s also the first time that Leap, who grew even a cigarette butt. ENOUF 35-hectare lake at R up in the surrounding Banteay Srei district during the Khmer Preah Dak is not just a step up from H P the heart of Song L Saa Reserve. Rouge years, has led a tour there. the typical Cambodian village in its clean, Ra 27 DESTINASIAN.COM DECEMBER 2020 / FEBRUARY 2021 DISPATCHES CAMBODIA orderly contentment — the place is immaculate. And that’s GREEN DREAMS Right: Green why Mony has brought us here: to show off a so-called “model Bamboo Village village” that is the flagship for ecologically driven projects Ecolodge & across Banteay Srei, one of a dozen districts that make up Retreat founder Caroline Chau. Siem Reap Province. Below: A basket In a destructive year for Cambodia’s economy, the work shop in Preah Dak, Banteay of 37-year-old district governor Khim Finan seems particu- Srei’s so-called larly farsighted. His aim is to capitalize on the area’s natural model village. and rural attractions by laying the groundwork for ecotourism experiences around Banteay Srei’s 36 villages, of which Preah Dak — with 518 households — is the largest. Though best known for its namesake temple, whose matchless collec- tion of 10th-century mural carvings have attracted admirers for decades, Banteay Srei is also home to the lotus-festooned waters of Boeung Chhouk lake and lies adjacent to Phnom Kulen National Park, whose forests harbor picturesque wa- terfalls, rock-cut fertility reliefs that date back a millennium, and the ruins of the ancient hilltop city of Mahendraparvata, birthplace of the Angkor Empire. As for Preah Dak itself, there are handicraft shops purveying bowls and baskets made from sugar palm trees, and restaurants dishing up wholesome mounds of num banh chok: hand-milled rice noodles topped with a fish gravy, crisp vegetables, and herbs. Since entering office last year, Finan, a former entrepre- district’s unique identity, like its lush neur and president of the Siem Reap–based Innotality hos- green forests, ox-cart riding, rowing, and pitality group, has checked off an impressive list of projects mountain climbing. If we want to develop designed to improve the lives of his constituents. Apart from Banteay Srei quickly and successfully, we water-conservation and waste-treatment programs, these in- should start with ecotourism.” clude the One House, One Light initiative, which introduced Nor is he alone in his outlook for solar lighting to Preah Dak in a US$30,000 pilot project that the district’s potential. Rory and Melita is now being extended across the district. Finan has also in- Hunter, the Australian couple behind the stituted monthly rubbish collections and classes on clean and eco-chic Song Saa Private Island resort environmentally friendly living, with prizes for owners of the off Cambodia’s south coast, are bringing best homes. And in May, as the Covid-19 crisis deepened, he their own brand of responsible tourism to oversaw the creation of 40 hectares of volunteer-farmed “so- the area in the form of Song Saa Reserve, cial rice fields” to produce grain for 2,000 poor families affect- a 233-hectare development centered on ed by the downturn. September saw the first harvest. a lake just west of Banteay Srei temple. Despite his early successes, Finan acknowledges there Touted as the country’s first fully inte- is still work to be done. “We have to ensure highlighting the grated, sustainability-driven eco-resort, it will, when completed, encompass ho- tels, residential villas, a Khmer cultural center, a hospitality training center, and an affiliate of Bali’s Green School, all run- ning on renewable energy. The site will also have permaculture gardens and a reforestation nursery that will serve as the hub for a planned planting of one million trees over the next five years. “This project scales up our ethos and approach and allows Cambodia to show the world how tourism, done right, is a powerful means for lifting people out of poverty and protecting the environment,” Rory Hunter said at the announcement of NS (2) va the project. N E A TH One passionate environmentalist at A the heart of this ambitious undertaking JON 28 DESTINASIAN.COM DECEMBER 2020 / FEBRUARY 2021 DISPATCHES CAMBODIA RURAL RESPITE Left: A villa at Bong Thom Forest Lodge. Below: Preparing saplings as part of a reforestation program on the grounds of Song Saa Reserve. is Caroline Chau, who heads up Green THE DETAILS Bamboo Village, an eco-lodge set for a 2023 opening within the Reserve. The Beyond Preah Dak and the district’s retreat will include a seven freestanding namesake temple, cottages and rooms alongside a central attractions in pavilion with a restaurant and wellness the area include the Banteay Srei center, all constructed from bamboo. Its Butterfly Centre sustainability plan — solar power, water (angkorbutterfly recycling, organic food, comprehensive .com), the Cam- water and waste management company Veolia, Chau first bodia Landmine waste management, zero net energy — Museum (cambodia heard of Song Saa while studying at bamboo design and sus- mirrors the same ideals as Song Saa itself. landminemuseum tainable architecture at Bamboo U school in Bali. “I was Chau, the daughter of Cambodian ref- .org), and the amazed. Song Saa is not only luxury villas; its foundation Angkor Centre for ugees who fled for France as teenagers in Conservation helps people on the island — with security, education, health- the late 1970s, didn’t set foot in her an- of Biodiversity care — and protects the water. It’s an ecosystem. Then I saw cestral homeland until she was 22, on a (accb-cambodia that Song Saa Reserve was looking for investors. So I contact- .org). Local tourism visit to discover Cambodia’s rich cultural association Visit ed Rory Hunter, and that is how everything started.” heritage. Fifteen years later, she’s here Banteay Srei (visit Chau, whose passionate advocacy lies at the heart of Green for other reasons. “I’m returning to give banteaysrei.com) Bamboo Village, says she is discussing a potential tie-up with provides a good back,” she says. “I hope Green Bamboo overview of sights Hanchey Bamboo Resort, a clutch of beautifully design bam- Village will inspire people and be repli- and itineraries on boo bungalows and pavilions in the Mekong Valley just up- cated in other countries.” Environmental its website. river from the southeastern city of Kampong Cham. “There For overnight innovation aside, the project is a deeply stays, options is so much to learn about this material — that’s the mission of personal one for Chau. “Both my parents range from Bong the whole project. It is not only to do a business, or one more lived in Preah Dak until they were 10 Thom Forest hotel, but to have a social and environmental impact on the Lodge (bongthom years old, just before the civil war. They forestlodge.com; community.” grew up on the main street. When I show doubles from With Covid-19 stalling progress, Song Saa Reserve won’t US$147) to budget- E them pictures and videos of the village to- materialize any time soon. Until it does, visitors looking for V friendly Steng day, they are very surprised.” an overnight stay in the district have a growing number of rus- Toch (steng toch RESER aa Chau adds, “I used to visit a lot of poor .com; doubles from tic guesthouses and homestays to choose from. Bong Thom, S villages, but the first time I went to Preah US$20) in Beong with a clutch of cozy wooden cabins and A-frame villas (not to G Chhuk. More infor- Dak, I saw the evolution there and how mation about Song mention a fabulous swimming pool), is a good option in San the people are so happy.

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