Our journey brings us to Cambodia, a kingdom in Southeast Asia famous for its ancient stone empires and resilient spirit. There are around 17 million people living here, and the capital is Phnom Penh, a city where golden-roofed palaces sit alongside French-style buildings and bustling riverside walks. The official language is Khmer.

Cambodia covers about 181,035 square kilometers, or 69,898 square miles. To imagine its size, the country is roughly the same size as the state of Missouri in the U.S., or about half the size of Germany. It is shaped like a giant bowl, with high mountains surrounding a large, flat central plain.

The most popular sport is Football, but they also practice Kun Khmer, an ancient form of kickboxing that is very similar to Muay Thai. Their national animal is the Kouprey, a rare and majestic wild forest ox, though it is so elusive that some people think it might be a legend!

The flag is the only one in the world to feature a building in its design, showing the three towers of Angkor Wat in white against a red and blue background, which represents the country’s heritage and its religion.

The food is a wonderful balance of sweet, salty, and sour. The national dish is Fish Amok, a creamy, lemongrass-scented fish curry steamed inside a banana leaf. You might also see people snacking on Fried Tarantulas in certain markets—they are crunchy on the outside and considered a local delicacy!

Cambodia is home to Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument in the entire world; it is so huge that it’s actually a city made of stone, filled with thousands of intricate carvings of dancers and gods. In the center of the country is Tonlé Sap, a lake that does something truly strange: once a year, the river that feeds it actually changes direction and flows backward, making the lake grow up to five times its normal size! Because of this, many people live in floating villages where the houses, shops, and even vegetable gardens drift on the water. Another amazing sight is the Irrawaddy Dolphins that live in the Mekong River—these rare “smiling” dolphins are considered sacred by the local people.

From the giant stone faces of the Bayon temple to the quiet beauty of the rice paddies, Cambodia is a land of ancient wonders. Arkoun! That means “Thank you!”