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Visit Cafe Inklusi to get great local food and support the deaf community.
The Magic of Kupang
To most travellers Kupang is a transit hub en route to hiking Mount Mutis in South Central Timor’s Mollo highlands, surfing Nemberala Beach in West Rote, or diving Alor’s coral reefs.
But Indonesia’s southernmost city has its own wonderful charms. From natural splendours like sprawling tropical landscapes, swimming caves and waterfalls, to a scenic city steeped in centuries of history as a trading port, with a waterfront that sets the stage for an amazing sunset.
The Kupang Lighthouse, an historical landmark from the colonial past. The Dutch name for it is Ruïnes van de Oude Indië Pier in Koepang.
To me though, Kupang is my other home. My maternal grandparents were from neighbouring Rote island, so Kupang was their gateway to the world.
I grew up with “Bahasa Kupang” (Timorese Malay), Rotinese songs whose lyrics I’ve yet to memorise, my great-grandmother’s handmade textiles and faded stories of the Timor and Rote my grandparents remembered: pristine beaches, sugar palms, horses and church. As a foodie, one of my regrets growing up was never having the opportunity to savour my great-grandparents’ West Timorese cuisine.
This is what brought me to Kupang's shores - to discover a missing part of my heritage.
It’s a good time to be a foodie in Kupang. A gastronomic revival has drawn many to the city’s distinct culinary heritage. West Timorese cuisine centres around aged maize, fragrant endemic herbs and the local specialty - se’i, Timorese smoked meat, a dish that’s rising in popularity in Indonesia. These flavours are being appreciated in smokehouses, restaurants and hawker centres—by Kupang’s population of 450,000 as well as tourists.
The se’i method smokes meat on beams of Ceylon oak and river tamarind wood, covered with their leaves. The result is a deep pink meat with a bold and spicy smoky flavour.
There is one special place in Kupang that does more than just delight my tastebuds. It tugs at my heart strings as well.
Artisan coffee bar Cafe Inklusi (CafeIn) serves Timorese fusion dishes and native coffee from all over the Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT) province. They also serve a great cause. Employing predominantly deaf cooks and baristas, CafeIn’s mission is to transform Kupang’s food and beverage (F&B) landscape into an inclusive intercultural space to bond over food and coffee.
My mission: to meet these people, learn from them, make new friends and reconnect with my heritage.
The CafeIn crew sign hello.
Meet Cafe Inklusi
“Warming people’s bellies with food is the simplest form of happiness.” Sischa Solokana is proud of her establishment which she co-founded in 2019 with her cousin Kichi Jacob.
Back then, it was called Kopi Saa. Today it has expanded to become Cafe Inklusi, with the cafe operating in Dekranasda, the province’s colourful handicraft centre. With Sischa now a member of the Indonesian Chef Association, and Kichi a certified barista, Kopi Saa lives on as their F&B training programme.
There haven’t been many options before for Kupang’s deaf community to find jobs, so CafeIn, along with its weekly training, provides them with an opportunity to be empowered, engaged and to have something to care about.
Kopi Saa/Cafe Inklusi co-founders: Kichi Jacob (left) in the CafeIn barista apron and Sischa Solokana in the Indonesian Chef Association uniform.
The heart of the operation are the 2023 CafeIn crew - An Mone, Daniel Yohanis, Frengki Riwu, Misel Elik and Tanel Loa, who are deaf, as well as the hearing Doni Kopong and Nona Saekoko.
CafeIn’s working language is BISINDO, an Indonesian sign language. Currently only Sischa and Kichi speak English. Diners who do not know Indonesian can communicate using apps like Google Translate.
As an amateur cook, I suggested an intercultural cookout, experimenting the Timorisation of my and Sischa’s favourite Western recipes with the deaf community.
Sischa and Kichi respond delightfully. “Let’s do this!”
A Timorese culinary excursion
What is “Timorising” fusion cuisine? For Sischa it is all about adapting locally.
“We aim to serve dishes that are familiar to most travellers, but with a novel twist. We use local ingredients whenever possible. Timorese parsley instead of rosemary. Virgin coconut oil instead of olive oil.”
“Timorising” requires an understanding of authentic Timorese flavours, so CafeIn invites me to a food excursion at artisan smokehouse Se’i Baun in Kupang’s outskirts. An important part of training at CafeIn, Sischa says, excursions help staff learn from other businesses.
Se’i is the centrepiece of Timorese cuisine. Commonly pork, se’i could also be beef, fish or chicken produced with the same smoking technique: on Ceylon oak or river tamarind wood and leaves.
Its smoky taste is bold and bacon-y like hickory but muskier and spicier. It tints meat deep pink like cherrywood. Se’i Baun’s cinderblock furnaces spread a delicious barbecue scent of smoking premium free-range pork.
Pork se’i has a fuller-bodied smokiness and thicker cuts. Se’i Baun is served with a blazing traditional chilli-citrus relish sambal lu’at, as well as smoked ribs, and a stir-fry of bitter greens.
An excellent se’i meal is both earthy and zesty. Fiery and buttery. Succulent and hearty.
A cook at the Se’i Baun smokehouse puts fresh pork on the smoking furnace while directing the junior staff.
Kichi, who created se’i based cocktail Royal 1917, says se’i was invented in colonial times. Plantation labourers left home months at a time and needed to feed their children while away. Hence the invention of se’i, fermented sambal lu’at and aged maize jagung bose—all which keep for months without refrigeration.
Founder, Kichi Jacob’s Royal 1917 is a beef se’i infused whiskey cocktail with a creamy texture and refreshing citrus and basil flavour. Accompanying it is a micro serving of beef se’i and sambal lu’at.
A Timorese fusion experiment
While se’i cannot be cooked in CafeIn’s kitchen, it is Sischa’s favourite ingredient for fusion creations. CafeIn is applying for Halal certification and only serves locally sourced halal se’i.
At CafeIn, Sischa demonstrates cooking beef se’i Alfredo and tuna se’i aglio e olio spaghetti for the CafeIn staff, who take turns helping her. Neither dish contains added salt or olive oil, with Se’i and virgin coconut oil being used instead. Coconut cream substitute for cooking cream in the Alfredo. Aromatic leaf celery substitute for European parsley.
Now it’s my turn to lead, and as I knead the dough, I pique An’s interest. She loves to bake but is new to bread, so I invite her to shape submarine rolls together. Her eyes light up as the dough expands.
Born and raised in Kupang, 19-year-old An recently graduated from high school. CafeIn is An’s first workplace, but she has been cooking since primary school.
“My mother taught me to be independent, including being able to feed myself. I felt happy and proud when my mother came home from work and I have dinner ready for her.”
An adds that she loves fish dishes, jagung bose porridge and sambal lu’at—the hotter, the better.
Grace and An make submarine rolls. An loves to bake but this is her first time making bread from scratch.
Up next, Daniel, Tanel and Frengki prepare roast chicken.
Originally from Soe, South Central Timor, 19-year-old Daniel has had a traumatic childhood. He and his mother endured violence from his father, who did not accept having a deaf child. After Daniel’s parents separated, the 11-year-old boy walked alone from Soe to Kupang, about 110 kilometres, to find his mother.
Daniel has since graduated from high school and developed a passion for brewing coffee. Overcoming trauma is an ongoing challenge, but having joined CafeIn in April, he now has a chance to feel appreciated and let his talents shine, in the presence of positive role models like Sischa and Kichi.
Locals may recognise 27-year-old Tanel as a BISINDO interpreter for a national television network. But Tanel wasn’t always busy with two jobs. “I used to have difficulties finding a job, but CafeIn gave me and my deaf friends a chance to make something of our lives and contribute towards a more inclusive NTT Province.”
Previously aspiring to become a photographer, today Tanel looks at the barista profession as his future. Tanel finds his barista apprenticeship at CafeIn a much more fruitful pursuit than photography. He recollects the frustrations he felt in photography spaces that assumed all photographers were hearing.
Tanel is currently saving to open his own cafe. “Baristas are cool. I am proud to be a deaf barista."
(Left to right) Baristas Daniel, Frengki and Tanel step out of their comfort zones and rise to the cooking challenge.
Back in the CafeIn kitchen, we work on Timorising my favourite roast chicken recipe. We use limes instead of lemons, and Timorese herbs instead of rosemary and thyme.
The red stemmed Timorese basil is fresh, spicy and sweet with hints of licorice. Sipa is a peppery, minty mini-parsley with an intense palate-cleansing punch. The citrusy and nutty cilantro is also a Timorese staple, and a first for my roast chicken.
Frengki panics as I demonstrate peeling garlic. “Slow down,” he signs. Sischa later informs me that Frengki lost his hearing in an accident, so he fears sharp objects.
After becoming deaf, Frengki used to lock himself at home, but over time and with support he found more confidence and employment.
“Even when I got hired by CafeIn, my parents were initially sceptical, because deaf workers often get paid less than they’re worth. But now that I’m paid what I’m worth, I have my parents’ blessing.”
Stuffed and salted! A chicken is ready to roast.
Hours later, we completed the dinner spread with guacamole-roast chicken sandwiches, a refreshing cucumber-grape salad with Timorese honey vinaigrette, and jagung bose porridge cooked in bone broth from today’s roast chicken, coconut milk and beef se’i bits.
I am pleased with our creations, and so are my new friends.
“Making roast chicken was fun! I didn’t know garlic, citrus and green flowers make chicken taste good,” says Daniel, who had only “cooked” instant noodles before.
As a first-timer in a deaf space, I feel truly included in my new friends’ generous spirit. Cooking together meant we were all out of our comfort zones: mine linguistically and theirs culinarily. Yet in this feast of few words, food becomes a common ground for us to bond past our cultural differences.
Making new friends and bonding over food.
Future Focus
CafeIn staff are meant to “graduate” within a year or two and continue their careers elsewhere. Frengki, Tanel and Daniel plan to open their own cafés. Misel, also a makeup artist, is saving to open her own salon. Nona and Doni plan to attend university.
An is still figuring out her future, but as her paralysed mother’s caretaker she plans to provide a good retirement for her parents.
“I am grateful. With skills gained from CafeIn, I feel secure about my future,” says An.
While the staff continue to grow in skills and confidence, CafeIn is evolving as well. In their bid to continue advocating for inclusivity in the F&B sector, they have formed a training partnership with a local special needs school.
In the near future, they also intend to hire employees with other disabilities, or hearing/able-bodied employees with disadvantages such as school leavers, young people fleeing from abusive homes, and those from low-income families.
And in mid 2023 Cafe Inklusi will open a second location in Tedis Beach, a trendy district near the waterfront at the Old City district.
“Please come! We serve good dishes and beverages. Come get to know us,” says An.
CafeIn is closed on Sundays, except for secret menu bookings made in advance. This gives you access to dishes not on the daily menu, and helps CafeIn tailor the ingredients to your dietary requirements.
A Full Belly and Full Heart
CafeIn has been a rare opportunity for me to engage in a deaf space. Not always easy for me, who is used to long conversations. What I learnt was that at CafeIn food is just as powerful a tool for building friendships.
Unlike almost everything else in life, food is a space where it doesn't matter who is hearing or deaf. Even in near silence, in this space we are just fellow cooks, eaters and human beings enjoying the pleasures of life together.
Ready to feast: a whole day of cooking followed by 10 minutes of eating.
CafeIn’s menu might not look like my great-grandparents’ traditional cooking, but their Timor-inspired fusion creations speak so primally to my diasporic soul. A piece of my heritage—our common heritage—is present in the dishes in a way that I am proud to call my own.
Our “Timorising” experiment has been more than just flavours to me: it is an expression of my identity as a world citizen with roots in Kupang, made special by a group of new friends in this special city who show me what the Inklusi (inclusive) spirit truly means.
I hope in due time, the hearing world will learn to reciprocate.
Book a rainforest experience with Green Hill
Gopeng is quintessentially a Malaysian sleepy hollow. It’s a town that whispers to you, a far cry from the roar it had in the 19th and 20th centuries when it was a tin mining hot spot. Today Gopeng is one of Asia's top adventure destinations. From the heritage of this old mining town, a new haven of eco-tourism and adventure has been unearthed.
Friday | Hup Teck Soya Sauce Factory, Gaharu Tea Valley, Adeline Villa & Resthouse |
Saturday | Ulu Geroh (Rafflesia trek), Museum Gopeng, Earth Camp |
Sunday | Nomad Adventure Mountain School |
The town lies two hours away from Kuala Lumpur, and is near Ipoh. As old mining towns go this tranquil one boasts of rivers, caves, and limestone cliffs.
It was the exact answer for me as I searched for a way to keep the centuries old way of life intact for the locals and the honouring of its history as a mining town.
Soy sauce making process at Hup Teck Soya Sauce Factory. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
History meets craft at Gopeng. First up there is Hup Teck Soya Sauce Factory, one of the last surviving businesses from before the First World War. The secret to its survival lies in a fermentation technique for making soya sauce introduced by the late founder from Guangzhou, China. The heavy earthen pots are used for ageing the bean mixture. According to second-generation owner Low Pak Tong, "The pots absorb heat during the day to allow the fermentation to continue at night and their porous surface allows air circulation which enhances the intensity of the flavour.” These pots are at least a century old.
Locals hanging out at the newspaper stall in Gopeng town centre. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
As you enter the heart of Gopeng town where I would highly recommend that you walk… and walk… and walk… and allow the buildings and architecture to introduce themselves to you, one of the first things you’ll see is a roundabout with a Rafflesia emblem - once the site of Gopeng’s historic core. Nearby, a good number of pre-war buildings that survived a great fire in 1886 still exude an old-world grandeur, standing erect. What you see reflected in the original architecture is a legacy of Gopeng’s multi-ethnic settlers. The footprints of these people crisscross the tin mining town of old.
View from the first checkpoint of the Gaharu Tea Valley tour. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
The high fortified wall (dubbed the Mini Great Wall of China) guarding Gaharu Tea Valley - Malaysia’s first and biggest organic plantation for gaharu, the Malay name for agarwood, may seem tacky, but Gopeng’s most-hyped attraction in recent years is quite fun. For just 10 Malaysian Ringgit (USD$2.20), you get to explore the 300-acre property in an air-conditioned van, and find out why gaharu is so highly prized (answer: it’s incredibly difficult to extract), hug a tree, enjoy stunning valley views from the panoramic stage, and sample gaharu ice-cream.
Adeline Kuo. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
Gopeng’s eco-tourism status is intact because back-to-nature resorts and “glamping” sites have mushroomed. One of the sharp business investors at the time built the Adeline Villa & Rest House, which is a must-visit accommodation site.
Adeline Villa & Rest House reception area. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
Set on a hilly terrain surrounded by rainforests, this dual-property, solar-power-fuelled accommodation has bamboo-styled rest houses, upscaled chalets and comfortable dorms to choose from - a far cry from its humble beginnings.
Way back in 2004, single parent and hairdresser Adeline Kuo saw the future of eco-tourism and opened up a barebones campsite as a way to earn a living and better support her children. You can’t help but admire her for her business savviness and grit.
Today, this bubbly lady employs more than 50 workers with some of them from the ‘underserved’ Semai Community who make up one per cent of Malaysia’s population. The Semai people were a formerly nomadic minority indigenous tribe famed for their forestry knowledge. Today they use that knowledge to contribute to eco-tourism and maintain the adventure activities of Gopeng. Adeline’s motto in life is simple, “When you make others happy, you are also happy.”
Breakfast at Adeline’s: Porridge with fried fish, fermented vegetables, braised peanuts, spring onions, anchovies on the side. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
Knock yourself out at dinner with Adeline’s legendary village-style buffet. The ingredients are indigenously sourced. The local specialties include asam laksa, which is rice noodles in a spicy-sour broth, nasi ulam or rice salad, tau fu far which is soya bean curd, barbeque, kueh (dessert snacks), and a whole lot more. A large gulp of cool mountain air is highly recommended after dinner. And the mountain also serves up some delights for the eye. Brilliant orange striped spiders, baby birds and glow-in-the-dark mushrooms.
A 10-minute drive on a narrow hillside road will bring you to Kampung Batu, one of five villages that make up Ulu Geroh, otherwise known as Gopeng’s gateway to fertile grounds of the Rafflesia, the world’s biggest flower. While not unique to this area, researchers say Ulu Geroh has the highest concentration of the Rafflesia, which blooms once every nine months and dies mere days later.
One of many guides available, Bah Insan, is a Semai. Many Semai people resort to becoming tour guides as a way to improve their lives. That way the knowledge they have inherited from their ancestors also lives on.
Rafflesia in bloom. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
To get to the Rafflesia, you will go on a one-hour trek up the Leech Trail (which lives up to its name, so be prepared). The journey can be a little daunting - the trail is one continuous elevation, with some sections at a 45 degree angle - all worth it as you see the Rafflesia in full bloom.
Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing butterfly. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
From here, you’ll proceed to a nearby site famous for spotting the rare Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing butterfly with metallic-green and black wings. Insan hopes to educate the public about Ulu Geroh’s biodiversity so that his community “can have a stronger voice to oppose activities that harm the forest.” A few years ago, he joined forces with the locals to petition against illegal logging and by winning that battle he has helped keep the forest and its wild inhabitants protected for the next generation.
Lunch being prepared. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
A scrumptious communal meal that the Semai womenfolk cook up using natural “utensils” like bamboo and firewood is the icing on the cake. Your host probably caught the fish from the nearby river the previous evening and foraged the jungle for ulam or wild ferns, to go with your rice and durian sambal, a pungent fermented condiment you’ll hate or love. Sorry, there really is no middle path with durian.
Anyam, or traditional weaving by the Semai. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
Post-lunch, Insan’s sidekicks will treat you to an indigenous arts and crafts demonstration. Learn about anyam which translates to traditional weaving, as the ladies skilfully entwine coconut leaves into headgear and baskets. Be pleasantly surprised by the humane philosophy behind Semai hunting techniques; the sumpit, a bamboo blowpipe used to catch small animals, delivers instantaneous death, sparing them from prolonged agony.
Museum Gopeng facade. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
On the way back, drop by Museum Gopeng, which only opens on weekends. Housed in a wooden building that originally served as the horse stables of tycoon Eu Kong (founder of a traditional Chinese medicine pharmaceutical known as Eu Yan Sang), the volunteer-run museum offers a charming look into Gopeng’s past. Rare photographs tracing Gopeng’s evolution from the 1850s, and vintage memorabilia such as mining equipment, rubber tapping tools and other collectibles all hang proudly. In capturing that part of history Gopeng pays homage to the community that helped make this town a rip roaring mining site.
While admission is free for now, donations for the upkeep of the museum are encouraged. Gopeng had other private museums which shuttered after the pandemic, highlighting the challenge of keeping these community-driven initiatives going.
Earth Camp jungle lounge. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
Dinner and a night at Earth Camp is a must-do. This is a campsite and headquarters for outdoor adventure company Nomad Adventure. Located next to the scenic Kampar River, your commune with nature with the bare minimum. Fans and mosquito nets are all you will need - trust me that is more than enough. Designed with green building principles in mind, all the buildings have passive cooling systems, UV-resistant water tanks that are repurposed into low-carbon footprint toilets, and the attractive jungle lounge is made from recovered wood from 100- year-old shophouses.
Nomad’s founder Chan Yuen-Li is the stuff of legends. She has been an outdoor lover whose past lives include stints as an award-winning environment journalist and competitive adventure racer, she captained the first Malaysian team to complete the Eco Challenge Morocco 1998, a multisport ten-day adventure that involved riding camels, kayaking and snow expeditions, among other things.
More importantly, she established Gopeng as one of Asia’s top adventure destinations. She recruited her team by literally showing the locals photos of the sport, and asking, “Who can swim and wants to be a rafting guide?”
These days, the company employs more than 50 people including part-timers, mostly locals from neighbouring villages.
Nomad also invests significant resources into environmental education programmes and activities that benefit the community, such as clean-ups of illegal rubbish dumps, since Gopeng, like many small towns in Malaysia, still has no rubbish collection service.
Student Imran (left) and instructor Rafizi (right) at Nomad Adventure. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
For your last day in Gopeng, it's a full-throttle adrenalin-pumping adventure ahead. White-water rafting is Nomad’s best seller. With 22 rapids, Kampar River offers everything from gentle flat-water rafting for the beginner, to tackling larger rapids for intermediate participants. Also popular: the unique ropes course at their Mountain School.
Nestled in a scenic forested plot of land that’s partly surrounded by a limestone outcrop - with its own private cave - the “school” is really an adventure park that lets you choose from five high-ropes courses of varying levels of difficulty. Fun fact: when building the site, care was taken to ensure the original state was preserved - the durian trees with high-rise jumping-off platforms have been there since day one.
Durian trees at Nomad Adventure’s Mountain School are used for the outdoor learning courses. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
As you test your balance on treetop suspension bridges, climb wobbly rope ladders, and glide across ziplines over limestone pinnacles and lush rainforest below, you will learn about and even surprise yourself. “Our mission is to provide an environment for participants to interact with nature through outdoor learning experiences,” says Yuen-Li. “Nature is our greatest teacher - a place to explore potential and discover purpose.”
I started out saying that Gopeng whispers to you. That’s how instincts also work for most of us – they come as whispers initially. You may wonder then what my travel tip is to you? I say, “Listen to your whispers. Trust your whispers. They rarely let you down.”
Dusty streets, houses on stilts, towering palm trees, At first glance, Banteay Chhmar looks like any other village in rural Cambodia.
Then you notice the moat.
In the very centre of town, just off the main road connecting the community hall with the high school, market and pagoda, a perfectly square waterway appears out of nowhere.
Shaded on all its sides by thick foliage, the moat wraps around a vast temple enclosure, raised to mimic a mountain. This is Banteay Chhmar Temple complex: an Angkorian citadel constructed in the late 12th century under King Jayavarman VII. Nine more ‘satellite’ temples radiate from the main sanctuary.
With the scorching sun on our backs, my guide Mr Pel leads me along the boardwalks erected over the rubble of Banteay Chhmar.
The temple’s crowning glory is its outer gallery walls, which depict domestic scenes, great battles and vignettes from the royal court, in exquisite bas-relief.
For locals, these structures have always been significant sites of worship. The temple’s face towers, bas-reliefs and intricate carvings that fuse Hindu and Buddhist symbology are every bit as impressive as the temples of Angkor. But unlike Angkor, Banteay Chhmar had been lost to the jungle for eight centuries, and had not benefited from conservation or protection from looters.
Until a group of enterprising residents recognised its untapped potential.
Determined to take a socially responsible approach from the outset, they established Banteay Chhmar Community Based Tourism (CBT) in 2007 with assistance from non-governmental organisations like Agir Pour le Cambodge (France) and Global Heritage Fund (USA). The latter trained more than 40 locals to start restoring the main temple.
Hotels are banned in the protected zone around Banteay Chhmar, so CBT started homestays with families in the town, a truly local experience I enjoyed for the duration of my stay. My room was typical of a Khmer home: A plain wooden room with a large bed, a mosquito net, and a fan.
Many families settled in Banteay Chhmar after escaping civil war refugee camps along the border. My host, Mrs Nil Loeun, was separated from her family and forcibly relocated to Banteay Chhmar under the Pol Pot regime.
“When we first learned that the Global Heritage Fund would be restoring the temple, we were worried that villagers would be made to leave, like in the past,” Loeun says. “We are very happy that they are protecting the temple as well as the people of Banteay Chhmar.”
The CBT welcomed its first official guests in 2007, and continues to welcome visitors from all over the world with guided tours of the temples and villages, traditional music performances and other cultural experiences alongside homestays, meals and transportation.
Book a tour package or pick and choose a range of activities.
A project that puts the interests of the community first is still a relatively new concept in Cambodia, but it’s proving to be a successful one.
“Everything has changed,” Sophal later tells me. “Many people now think about protecting and rebuilding the temple whereas before, they only thought about destroying it. Locals were involved in the looting of the temple. But now they understand how important it is to care for the temple, and are involved in its restoration. So now we have more than a hundred people who come to work at the temple everyday, all of them Banteay Chhmar locals. They work to improve their family income.”
Visiting during monsoon season, I expected to be the only guest. But when I arrived, the office was a hive of activity. A large group had just come from a neighbouring province, to learn the ropes of community-based tourism from the Banteay Chhmar team.
When setting up the tourism initiative, the CBT consulted the community to make sure they had a voice in the project. They also wanted to ensure that Banteay Chhmar locals would benefit from tourism, unlike communities in Siem Reap, which remains one of the poorest provinces in the country, despite being home to Angkor Wat, Cambodia’s most popular tourist attraction.
“In Angkor Wat, we saw most local people have moved outside, and fees go to foreigners,” CBT Coordinator, Mr Tath Sophal, told me over lunch. “We thought we should do something to help the local people here.”
The four villages closest to Banteay Chhmar Temple – home to some 2,000 families – are now actively involved in the CBT in some way. Around a hundred people are employed as guides, drivers, handicraft artisans and cooks, while hundreds more benefit indirectly. As well as steady employment, CBT members receive training in hospitality, food hygiene, and English language lessons.
2018 was Banteay Chhmar’s biggest year, with just over 2,000 visitors. But two years on, the COVID-19 pandemic decimated visitor numbers.
“We welcomed 67 local visitors in 2021,” says Sophal. ” With borders opening up again as COVID-19 pandemic restrictions ease, Bantaey Chhmar has seen a welcome increase in travellers, with over 900 visiting in 2022.
As more travellers learn about Banteay Chhmar as an alternative to Angkor, Sophal and the CBT team want to ensure that local families continue to benefit. Profits from the fund have been used for a range of development projects, including rubbish collection, installation of solar panels, and funding community clean-ups and reforestation projects.
Thanks to the extra income they earn, many families in Banteay Chhmar can now afford to invest in their children’s future. “They save money for their kids to go to school, for food, and for saving money for university fees,” Sophal says.
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), locally referred to by its old name Saigon, is one of Asia’s most fascinating cities. Home to about 9 million people, the bustling metropolis in Vietnam’s south is a colourful juxtaposition of old and new with east and west.
Friday | Blanc. Restaurant Saigon, Fito Museum of Traditional Vietnamese Medicine |
Saturday | Cat Tien National Park (Vườn Quốc Gia Cát Tiên), Saigon Outcast |
Sunday | Fin Saigon |
The city’s rich imperial and colonial past can be found in its architecture, ubiquitous street coffee culture and hole-in-the-wall eateries serving up some of the most delicious and affordable local and international cuisine in the region
But Saigon is more than its colourful past. Rapid development has brought with it skyscrapers, modernised public transport — rent a public bicycle, take the water bus or even hop on the upcoming metro line — and a lively arts and events scene.
Set out for District 1 (D1), the city centre and default starting point for most travellers to Saigon. If you’d like to base yourself here, look out for Caravelle Saigon, a city icon. Built in 1959, it was one of the country’s icons of modernity, and it is currently only one of two EarthCheck-certified hotels in the whole country.
D1 is home to many of the city’s colonial-era monuments, including the Saigon Post Office and Notre Dame Cathedral. Both are located within walking distance from each other, and a stone’s throw away from shopping malls, streetside coffee shops, and markets selling assorted goods in all colours and tastes — a contrast of old and new that will be a recurring theme throughout your trip.
If you are feeling energised, it’s possible to cover most of D1 within a day with TNGO’s Public Bicycle System app, allowing you to seamlessly navigate the city’s many alleys – some hidden – exhaust-free.
Some of Saigon’s more iconic restaurants and cafes can be found in D1, alongside popular family establishments and street vendors. If you’re not ready to take the plunge into Vietnamese street cuisine, head to Blanc. Restaurant for lunch.
The restaurant serves a fusion of cuisines in a modern setting — think duck breast served with butternut squash puree, Vietnamese basil, starfruit, bamboo shoots and ginger fish sauce. With a few set menus to choose from, helpful staff are on hand to help you make a decision.
And you may notice the menus come with illustrations featuring Ho Chi Minh City sign language (one of three Vietnamese sign languages) for each dish — which you are encouraged to use instead of speaking. Blanc. Restaurant employs staff who have hearing disabilities. According to the restaurant, about 65 to 70 per cent of deaf and hearing-impaired people in Vietnam are unemployed, and the restaurant was opened to give people with hearing disabilities a chance to earn a living.
Make your way to District 10 (D10), a short ride away from D1. On your way, notice the colonial buildings and wandering tourists giving way to a vibrant residential district filled with rows of traditional shophouses, juxtaposed with modern malls and office buildings. D10 is one of those districts where the main roads lead to smaller roads that hide alleys that lead to even more alleys, each with their own little secrets.
Nestled along a single-lane road is the Fito Museum of Traditional Vietnamese Medicine. Founded by Dr Le Khac Tam in 2003, the private museum showcases the evolution of Vietnam’s traditional medicine, a part of its heritage that dates back thousands of years. The museum’s architecture reflects the styles of some of the ethnic minority groups in Vietnam like the Chams, including a Champa temple on the fifth floor. You can also find original traditional instruments and other prehistoric artefacts, including some from the Stone Age.
For dinner, head back to D1 and make for Organik Kitchen Saigon. In true east-meets-west style, your first dinner in Saigon could be a falafel pita sandwich, a bacon salad, or even an Italian margherita pizza, all under USD$6-$7. Besides their plant-based offerings, what’s even more memorable about this vegan establishment is the revolving door of live music performances, stand-up comedy shows, art exhibitions and charity fundraisers within its premises, which it shares with Indika Saigon, an indie bar and events space. Enjoy a house made tropical rum punch as you soak in your first night in Saigon.
Ready for a break from the chaotic energy of Saigon?
Dong Nai Province, home to Cat Tien National Park (Vườn Quốc Gia Cát Tiên), is an ideal escape into nature. The national park is about 150km from Saigon’s D1, a five-hour bus ride away.
At 738sqkm, Cat Tien National Park is about the size of Singapore, and home to Ta Lai village where the Ma, Tay and Stieng ethnic communities live. Primates like the native golden-cheeked gibbon and pygmy slow loris, as well as sun bears and leopard cats, including a thousand species of birds, can also be found at the national park. Endangered creatures like Asian elephants, Sunda pangolins and the Siamese crocodile can also be spotted.
In the park, you can visit the Cat Tien Bear and Wildlife Rescue Station, Bau Sau Crocodile Lake or go on an Animal Night Safari. Better yet, consider an overnight stay at Ta Lai Longhouse, an initiative by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to support the Ta Lai communities by developing their capacities to guide travellers on ecotourism activities like trekking, kayaking and fishing.
These opportunities enable communities to improve their livelihoods and better access essentials like education. Thirty per cent of the bill from your stay is donated to their community development fund which provides job opportunities and supports community projects.
If you prefer to stay in Saigon, check out Thu Duc City; in 2020, Districts 2 and 9 in Saigon were merged to form Thu Duc, effectively a new city in a city.
An up-and-coming major economic zone and technology hub in Vietnam, Thu Duc can be reached via the futuristic-looking Thu Thiem 2 bridge. Its glass-walled skyscrapers, al fresco dining establishments serving international cuisine and high-end serviced apartments are a world away from the colonial buildings and shophouses of Saigon. You may even spot a few metro stations — the city’s first metro line, which runs through Thu Duc, is set to open in 2023.
Saigon Outcast, located just on the edge of the expat enclave of Thao Dien, is an excellent hideout from the concrete modernity of Thu Duc. An authentic and welcoming ambience awaits those seeking a touch of bohemianism with a dash of adventure with a rock-climbing wall greeting you near the entrance. At this alternative events space, don’t miss the Thao Dien Flea Market on Saturdays with pop-up stores by local artists, artisans, and microbusinesses selling their crafts and products. These include colourful cookies from the Little Rose Bakery, an initiative by the Ho Chi Minh City Child Welfare Association to protect and empower underprivileged girls at The Little Rose Warm Shelter.
A short walk away and you’ll see The Factory, a centre for contemporary arts with a facade made from parts of shipping containers. Opened in 2016 by Vietnamese artist Tia-Thuy Nguyen, The Factory is a social enterprise with workshops, live arts, talks, film screenings, and other initiatives to connect and develop cross-cultural dialogue. The profits from the sale of artworks or products are mainly used to fund the running costs of these programmes.If you’re ready for some shopping, head to boutiques in Thao Dien like Purr Nature where you can find eco-friendly products made by local artisans. These range from handmade face masks to organic honey, and all proceeds go towards operating the Purr Shelter, a home for orphaned and abandoned kittens. You can also look for The Organik House nearby if you’re searching for alternatives to everyday plastic items.
Make your way back to D1, where the (by now) familiar scents of suon nuong (grilled pork ribs) and nuoc mam (fish sauce) wafting around the streets will remind you that it’s almost time for dinner.
Eating local is part of any quintessential travel experience, but go a step further with Noir. Dining in the Dark, where you dine in darkness to experience the world the way a person with visual disabilities does.
Run by the same organisation behind Blanc. Restaurant, Noir. Dining in the Dark works closely with the Blind Association Centre in HCMC and other partner organisations supporting people with visual disabilities, providing employment to this community.
The menu, which is also available in braille, comes in three categories: From the East, From the West, and Vegetarian. They all comprise a starter, a main course, and dessert. Through it all, you will be assisted by a food guide, to whom you can explain your dietary restrictions and food preferences, for a custom menu, and a one of a kind sensory experience.
Start your Sunday with breakfast at the Green Bamboo Kitchen, also run by the Ho Chi Minh City Child Welfare Association.
The Green Bamboo was founded in 1993 as a beacon of hope for hundreds of homeless boys in the city by providing them with opportunities and support to lead them toward a stable life. By rehabilitating the boys’ mental and physical health to reintegrate them into society, they have been able to pursue education and even employment opportunities.
The dishes are typically Vietnamese home-cooked meals within the USD$1-$2 price range. According to head chef Ms Thu, the kitchen’s operations took a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they switched to a delivery-only model. However, she aims to resume dining in by the end of 2022.
The city is notorious for its unforgiving heat during the dry season from March to May but luckily, there are many ways to keep yourself hydrated. From streetside sinh to (smoothies) carts, to a vast array of coffeeshops dishing out glasses of ca phe da (Vietnamese iced coffee) and even free water dispensers along the streets – you’ll never go thirsty in Saigon.
Enjoy a scenic 15-20 minute ride down Hoang Sa street, which flanks the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe canal, before crossing the bridge towards Phu Nhuan District, another vibrant district popular with young locals due to its numerous secret cafes and juice bars dotting the main commercial street, Phan Xich Long. One such cafe is Fin Saigon, a Vietnamese boutique coffee brand using Robusta beans grown sustainably by farming communities across the country, including the renowned coffee and tea producing regions of Lam Dong and Gia Lai in the central highlands.
Fin Saigon is located on the ground floor of an apartment building and it is the perfect place to find the ultimate souvenir from Vietnam: grab some locally-grown Robusta coffee beans and a filter, and make your own ca phe phin (traditional Vietnamese filtered coffee) when you’re home, dreaming of your next trip back.
