Scotching pumpkin rumours

The Siem Reap rumour mill is in action, and this time the misguided word around town is that Arnaud Curtat’s Blue Pumpkin café and pasty empire is closing down.

Arnaud told 7Days he had closed his signature café abutting Pub Street for one night only for a staff party, and said when he began investigating the rumour “someone told me he had read it in the Phnom Penh Post”.

It seems that an article in 7Days on March 19 has been misconstrued. The article commenting on Siem Reap’s café scene said, “There’s nowhere to listen to chill-out music with quality sandwiches and good coffee, especially once Blue Pumpkin closes.”

In the context of the article, this meant there is nowhere to go late at night after the Pumpkin closes.

As Arnaud said, “I am just trying to understand how people got this rumour and trying to refute it.”

Consider the rumour refuted.

Scotching butterfly rumours

One of Siem Reap’s newest attractions, the Angkor Butterfly Centre, is not on its last legs and not in danger of closing, as local rumour has it.

The centre is embroiled in legal action, but this is not affecting its operation.

Founder and director Ben Hayes, at present in Sierra Leone but soon to return to Siem Reap, told 7Days, “We are in the process of court action to sort out problems we are having with one of the partners. ... However, being optimistic, this should all be sorted by September.”

Hayes added that the good news is that the centre has secured funds for training extra butterfly farmers.

Hayes said, “We are looking, through this, to expand further the pupae export side of things.”

The increased butterfly farming activities will “probably” take place in Phnom Kulen National Park.

New doc available

Readers with online access to Amazon’s Video on Demand service can now watch the documentary, Churning of the Sea of Time: A Journey up the Mekong to Angkor.

This looks at conservation efforts at Angkor, including extensive interviews with World Monuments Fund staff.