Khmer culture

Siem Reap Water Festival – A Celebration to Mark the End of Monsoon

Siem Reap Water Festival – A Celebration to Mark the End of Monsoon. Siem Reap Water Festival, Siem Reap, Cambodia. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Siem Reap Water Festival or Bon Om Tuk marks the end of the monsoon and rice season, the reversal of the flow of the Tonle Sap (Great Lake), and the start of the fishing season with boat races, water rituals, traditional ceremonies, such as moon worship and floating lanterns, as well as fireworks, street food, … Read more

Performing Culture, Tourism Spectacles and Authenticity

Performing Culture, Tourism Spectacles and Authenticity. Performance, music and Apsara dancing, Siem Reap, Cambodia. Copyright © 2023 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Musings on the nature of tourism spectacles, performances that are artificially constructed and commodified for the tourist gaze, and the notion of authenticity when we travel. This is the metanarrative of my previous post, I suppose, so perhaps you’d better take a read of that one first, if this is to make sense. No matter … Read more