holidays

Last Minute Christmas Tips from the World’s Best Chefs

Last Minute Christmas Tips from the World's Best Chefs. The Sugar Palm, Siem Reap, Cambodia. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

We’ve got some last minute Christmas tips from the world’s best chefs for you in case you’re still stuck for gift  ideas for foodie friends, are still worrying about what to cook tomorrow, and are panicking in case things go wrong in the kitchen on the day. Over the years we’ve published tips for people like us … Read more

Cambodian Cuisine, Asia’s Most Misunderstood and Under-appreciated Cuisine

Cambodian Cuisine, Asia’s Most Misunderstood and Under-appreciated Cuisine. Street food in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Cambodian cuisine must be Asia’s most misunderstood and under-appreciated cuisine. Come discover Cambodian cuisine with us on one of our Cambodia Culinary Tours or Travel and Food Writing and Photography Retreats, which we host throughout the year, every year.

Join us in Siem Reap and Battambang on a delicious journey to discover Cambodian cuisine, Asia’s most misunderstood and most under-appreciated cuisine. We host 9- and 10-day trips and retreats every year, based out of Siem Reap with a few days in Battambang. While nine and ten days might seem like a long time, at the end of our trips participants always tell us that they wished they’d stayed longer.

UPDATED September 2017: Click through to this post for dates and prices for our 2017 and 2018 Cambodia Culinary Tours and Travel and Food Writing and Photography Retreats and to read testimonials from previous participants.

Also check out our Instagram feed for images from the experiences and we now have a dedicated Siem Reap Retreats and Tours website as well.

If you’re not a regular reader and are not sure why you should come discover Cambodian cuisine with us, you can learn more about us here. In short, we’re a veteran travel/food writer and photographer team who have lived abroad for 18 years and travelled to over 80 countries. We’re based in Siem Reap, where we’ve been researching and writing a Cambodia cookbook for several years. We have a handful of degrees between us and have both taught at university level. I’ve taught writing, filmmaking and media studies; Terence taught photography and design.

Our work and travel and food writing and photography has been published in National Geographic Traveller (USA & UK), Australian Gourmet Traveller, Delicious, Feast, SBS Food, The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Wanderlust, Sunday Times Travel Magazine, Conde Nast Traveller China, Get Lost, International Travel, Travel+Leisure Southeast Asia, DestinAsian, AFAR, CNN Travel, and scores of in-flight and hotel magazines.

Discover Cambodian Cuisine on our Cambodia Culinary Tours and Travel and Food Writing and Photography Retreats

On both trips you’ll do a lot of eating, tasting and a little cooking as you discover Cambodian cuisine and learn about the country’s culinary culture and culture, from Royal Khmer Cuisine to Cambodian street food.

The main difference between the trips is that participants on our Travel and Food Writing and Photography Retreats are focused on honing their creative skills, whether that be in travel and/or food writing or photography or both, and developing culinary travel stories as they discover Cambodian cuisine.

Those joining us on our Cambodia Culinary Tour are primarily here to get a taste of the local cuisine and culture and an insight into the history and everyday life, as they explore the countryside and villages, and experience the stupendous temples of Angkor Archaeological Park, including Angkor Wat, and more remote temples such as Banteay Srei and Beng Mealea,

We’ve created 9-day and 10-day trips crammed with mouthwatering experiences and meals, and enriching activities, aimed at enabling you to fully experience Cambodian cuisine in a way that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to.

We’ve structured the itineraries in such a way so that participants on the Cambodia Culinary Tours will have some downtime that they can use to relax by the pool, enjoy a massage or some pampering at a spa, go shopping, or do whatever they please. Those doing our Retreats will no doubt wish to use this time to write and take photos.

Next Retreats and Tours

UPDATED September 2017 Next up: a range of early to late 2017 and 2018 creative retreats and culinary tours. Following requests from readers, we are currently scheduling extra dates, as well as an intensive 3-day monsoon writing and photography retreat, a second Vietnam Culinary Tour and a new Thailand Culinary Tour. Dates coming soon!

Making an Enquiry or Booking

To make a booking or learn more email us at lara@grantourismotravels.com for a full itinerary, price list, and payment information. To book your place, a US$500 non-refundable deposit is required.

Media and Blogger Affiliate Programme

If you are a food/travel blogger and would like to be part of our affiliate programme or if you’d like to write about our Cambodia Culinary Tour and need a media release and hi-res images, please email us on the address above.

Sponsors and Candidates

We are offering one sponsored spot to young Cambodians on our Cambodia Travel and Food Writing and Photography Retreat and Cambodia Culinary Tour. If you’d like to nominate a Cambodian candidate for these or future retreats and tours, or you’re a business or individual who’d like to sponsor a place, please email us on the same address above.

Updated: September 2017

Halloween in Siem Reap – Join in at the Drag Bars and Expat Pubs

Celebrating Halloween in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

As it’s Halloween tomorrow night we thought we’d share some images from Halloween in Siem Reap last year. Whether you like Halloween or not, participating in festivals and events or celebrating holidays when you travel is a fantastic way to meet locals.

First, a confession: we’ve never been into Halloween and never participated until last year. We’re Australian and Halloween wasn’t part of our culture or tradition growing up. When people started to throw Halloween parties in Australia and kids started trick or treating our inclination was to go out to dinner or stay in and refuse to open the door. The idea was so foreign and we’d had enough of American cultural imperialism.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved to dress up and we had a reputation for throwing memorable costume parties when we lived in Sydney in the late 1980s and ’90s, from our Period Party (not what you’re thinking – people came in an outfit from their favourite historical period) to a (surprise) super-hero themed party I threw Terence for a birthday.

Our tradition, upbringing and beliefs aside, Halloween just never appealed. We were filmmakers when we were younger and I taught film for many years, but horror films, scary movies, and B-grade monster flicks were my least favourite genres. But that’s changed since we moved to Siem Reap!

Halloween in Siem Reap – Dress Up and Join in at the Drag Bars and Expat Pubs

After we moved overseas in 1998, however, we started to see holidays, festivals and celebrations that weren’t necessarily part of our culture, very differently. We started seeing them as a way into other cultures.

As expats living in the United Arab Emirates for many years, we used to get excited when it was Diwali and our Indian neighbours in our Dubai apartment building hung fairy lights in their windows and placed illuminated candles around their welcome mats.

In Abu Dhabi, we delighted in the different traditions of the various Eids. Although we also got a bit teary when we saw goats and sheep tethered to light poles and a few days later saw our Muslim neighbours washing away the pools of blood.

Songkran in Thailand can be fun, providing you’re prepared. Pchum Ben ancestors festival in Cambodia is fascinating to observe, as are the New Year rituals at the pagodas and around Angkor. When we lived in Hoi An we always looked forward to the monthly full moon rituals.

If we arrive serendipitously in a place when a festival or holiday celebration is underway, as we have everywhere from Rio de Janeiro to Perpignan, Sardinia to San Miguel de Allende, we’ll join in as participants or observers as they provide a fantastic way to not only get an insight into a culture but also to connect with locals.

On Halloween in Siem Reap last year, we headed out to see what was happening and were surprised to see that there were Halloween parties everywhere. Pub Street and the surrounding alleys were full of revellers in fancy dress, masquerading as everything from the Egyptian King Tut (Charlie, owner of local bar, Charlie’s) to countless zombies, witches, ghouls, and gremlins. And somewhat bewildering, nurses and maids. Right.

It wasn’t only locals and expats who dressed up either – surprisingly there were also a lot of backpackers in costume. Had they brought something with them or improvised I wondered. They seemed to be the ones who went as nurses and maids.

The best party was at beloved LGBT spot, Linga Bar, one of Siem Reap’s best bars, where the usual drag show was Halloween themed and, as you can see from the gallery of images above, was indeed, very very scary. We made friends with locals we hadn’t known that night, and we also befriended some tourists watching the show.

There’s something about the positive spirit and joyous mood of a festival or celebration such as Halloween that brings people together and makes people more open to conversation and camaraderie in a way that an ordinary night out on the town wouldn’t.

Sadly, the old Linga Bar, which had a reputation for throwing the best parties for Halloween in Siem Reap has gone. It’s moved across the lane to Hotel Be and its new incarnation is an understated little lobby bar.

Where to experience Halloween in Siem Reap

  • Heritage Suites is having a pre-Halloween Masquerade party (7-10pm) as part of their Thursday Jazz nights.
  • On Friday night, head to Siem Reap’s bars, cafes, restaurants and pubs in the Old Market area and Pub Street.
  • Backpackers, younger travellers and big drinkers will join the Zombie Apocalypse Pub Crawl, which begins at 7pm at X Bar.
  • If you’re missing Linga Bar get along to The Station Wine Bar, which is holding a Halloween themed ladyboy show.
  • The more laidback vibe of lovely Asana bar, which is having a party, appeals more to me.

Happy Halloween!