On 20 May 2019, a group of students from ISF’s Education Centre in Chbar Ampov embarked on an educational field trip to to Phnom Pros Phnom Srey which translates as Man Hill and Woman Hill respectively. Located over 100km outside of Phnom Penh in Kampong Cham Province, these two mountains tell a historic story of  the relationship between legendary Cambodian men and women.

Legend has it that a mountain-building competition was organised between men and women to determine who of the two should propose marriage. As the story goes, there was a Queen called Srey Ayuthia, who reigned over the Khmer Kingdom but because she was acting as a King she had no marriage proposals coming her way. After several years of no proposals, she decided to take matters into her own hands and ask for a man’s hand in marriage. Soon, the rest of the single women in the Kingdom followed suite. Women across the country were asking men to marry them, which was a huge departure from the traditional norm that dictated only men could ask a woman to marry.

Many reigns later, the tradition was still contentious so it was decided to settle the issue for once and for all by organising a competition to see who could build the best and biggest hill. One hill was made by men, and the other by women. They had a one-day limit and whoever built the highest hill would be crowned the winner. The loser would be the one to ask the for the opposite side’s hand in marriage.

The competition was due to end when the Sirius Star rose (at approximately 4am). However, the women had a trick up their sleeve – at midnight, they raised a small lantern into the air near the mens’ hill. When the men saw the lantern, they thought it was the real Sirius star, and joyfully downed their tools , stopped working, and went to sleep. Meanwhile, the women continued to build their hill higher and higher. A few hours later, when the men rose at the sound of the rooster’s crow, they were surprised to see the real Sirius star shining, looking nothing like the lantern that had fooled them. Towering above them was the women’s hill, much higher than theirs. From that day on, both men and women accepted the rule that they must be the ones to propose if they wish to get married.

During the field trip, 17-year-old grade 9 student Vibol* was excited to compare the pictures form his book to what he was seeing in front of him.  “Now I can see the real size and shape of these two hills, I can see the difference between them – Phnom Srey isn’t as wide as Phnom Pros but it is much higher” he explained. “I can’t wait to share this knowledge with my family members and friends at home” he added.

Visiting these hills and learning the origins of this old tale is one of the ways we try to keep our students engaged in their studies and facilitate new learning experiences for them. We believe experiential learning trips to explore Khmer history and culture present students with new opportunities and settings where can consolidate the theory that they learn in class.

*Names of children under 18 have been changed.

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