Cambodia is cover an area of 181,035 square kilometres Cambodia is about half the size of Germany. In the West the country is bordered by Thailand, in the North by Laos and in the East by Vietnam.

By far the most important river of Cambodia is the Mekong, which passes through the country for about 500 kilometres in a northsoutherly direction. The Mekong is passable for ships from its delta in Vietnam until Phnom Penh.

Southeast Asia’s largest lake, Tonle Sap, is in Cambodia and is connected to the Mekong by a short river, also called Tonle Sap. For most of the time this river flows from lake Tonle Sap into the Mekong. However, during the Southeast Asian rainy season from June to October when the Mekong drains large areas of Southeast Asia, the Tonle Sap river flows from the Mekong back into lake Tonle Sap thus causing enormous floods in the area surrounding the lake. During this time, lake Tonle Sap can swell to more than twice its regular size.

Central Cambodia is a fertile plain. Mountain ranges in the shape of a semicircle form a natural boundary with Thailand. In the West are the Cardamon Mountains (designated after the spice of the same name), in the Southwest the Elephant Mountains and in the North the Dankret Mountain Range. The highest mountain in Cambodia is Phnom Aural in the Cardamon range, at a height of 1,813 metres.

To date these mountain ranges are comparatively densely covered with forest and are only sparsely populated. All three are still operating areas of the Khmer Rouge guerrillas.

The southern coastal strip has never been of importance for the Cambodian economy. It is separated from the central plain by difficult terrain. The Mekong has always been the economical conduit of Cambodia.

Source: http://www.asiatour.com

AMOK

Ingredients:- 1 kg of mud fish;
- 1 ripe coconut fruit;
- 5 trunks of citronella;
- 0.5 kg of smoke fish;
- 0.5 kg of garlic;
- Bits of saffron, Amomum Galanga, Amomum Zingiber;
- 6 leaves of citrus hystrix and some peels;
- 2 ripe bell pepper fruits;
- 1 duck egg; salt, sugar, fish, sauce, MSG;
- Leaves of star fruit and banana trees

How to cook:

• Cut the fish in to small slices and take the bones out
• Slice and crush the citronella trunks and pound them together with saffron, Amomum Galanga, Amomum Zingiber, citrus hystrix leaves to make a mash mixture
• Slice the smoke spices into small bits
• Break the coconut fruit, squeeze the nut to get its milk by making the phase-one milk and phase-two milk
• Cut the ripe bell pepper into two
• Pour half of the phase-one coconut milk into a frying pan to cook until it turns a litter brown
• Then, put into the pan the spices and the mash mixture, and stir it up
• Add the phase-two milk and turn off the cooking gas after the solution becomes cooked and dry enough
• After that, add the fish, salt, fish sauce, sugar, egg, and fully mix up the ingredients
• Make package of banana leaves, lay star fruit leaves at the bottom of the package, then put enough of the cooked fish on the star fruit leaves, and then top it with a bit of citrus hystrix leaves and ripe bell pepper.
• Turn on the gas and cook the dish again
• Add 1 spoonful of the phase-one coconut milk into the fish, and leave it to cook for a short while. And the dish is done.