Day 23

This morning we went to the Buddhist temple with our homestay family. We took some food we cooked yesterday to offer to the monks. There are a few temples in the city, but our homestay family prefers going to one outside of the city.

When we entered the temple, we took our shoes of and showed respect to the monks. We went and prayed before Buddha and offered some scent sticks and flowers to him. We then offered the food to the monks and listened to their chanting’s. They wished us good luck and sprayed water for purification.

It was a very nice experience. I was very lucky. The other one of my friends from my homestay group who came with us is Buddhist and could explain everything to me. Learning about the Buddhist religion practised in Cambodia gives me a much greater understanding of their culture.

After we left the temple, we had a picnic in the garden of the monastery. The food was nice and it was great to have a look at the other buildings of the monastery.

When we got home, we were all a bit tired and decided to have a nap. After the nap I got a cooking lesson in cooking my favourite Cambodian desert. Pumpkin with sweet coconut milk and sago. It was great to learn some of the cooking and the end result tasted awesome.

This was at the back of the temple. i didn't want to take a picture of the main hall with the monks. Often, the monks don't like if people take pictures of them and I didn't want to make them feel uncomfortable.

In the garden of the monastery.

In the garden of the monastery.

We all went to the temple together.

Out picnic lunch.

The pumpkin desert I learned how to cook.