>Suosdei Chhnam Thmey!
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Our landlady preparing her offerings
“New Year in April?!?”, you may ask. Don’t worry, my non-Buddhist friends also asked me that in a rather incredulous tone, the same kind of incredulous response I get from them upon learning that after nine years, I am still here in Cambodia. But that’s another story.
To answer the question… yes, dear friends. Not all cultures celebrate the new year on January 1st, and one of them is Cambodia.
The Khmer New Year started Tuesday, April 14. It began around 1:36pm, according to the Buddhist astrology, and runs until today, April 16th. Here, and in other Buddhist countries such as Thailand and Sri Lanka, among others, the new year is based on astrological calculations. When the old year ends and the new year begins, is also based on these calculations. So the year here now is 2553 BE (Buddhist Era) — that is, 2,553 years since Buddha achieved enlightenment and entered the state of nirvana.
The first day of the celebration is called the grand Maha Songkran, or the first day of the Khmer New Year. According to the Buddhist beliefs, angels known as apsaras or devatas come down to replace the old ones here to watch the earth. Cambodians clad in their best clothes go to wats and pay homage to Buddha and offer food to the monks.
And this is our offering at home
The second day is called vanabot. It is the time when families donate or give to their less fortunate neighbours and relatives. They also go to wats for a special ceremony dedicated to their ancestors. The third day is called leung sakk, and the one I like the most. Cambodians wash all their Buddha statues in scented water. Children pay respects to their elders by washing their feet in water, and in turn, they are blessed by them. Read more about Khmer New Year traditions here.
A facade of Buddhist wat decorated for the Khmer New Year celebrations
>Wordless Wednesday 006: Spirit House
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Go check out other Wordless entries at the Wordless Wednesday HQ.
>That’s My World! 002: Two bikes by the curve
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One of my favorite things to do on weekends is to go for a bike ride around Kep with my husband early in the morning. Kep is only a small city with 11 villages in total. It takes about an hour’s easy ride to go from one end to another. All throughout the way, the breeze is refreshing and the view — fantastic!
>Mellow Yellow Monday 001: Village gas-station
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This is my first time to participate in Mellow Yellow Monday.
Photo shows the yellow container full of gasoline. An improvised pump is used to siphon the gas out and onto the car’s tank. This mini-refill gas station is a common sight especially in rural Cambodia. The gasoline comes from the Vietnamese border, unrefined, thus cheaper than the ones sold in gasoline stations. This was even featured in the previous season’s Amazing Race in their Cambodia leg and the contestants find the task very challenging. It was fun to watch them sweat it out, filling their chosen trucks with gasoline all by themselves, while the locals watch them amusingly!
>Sunday Scenery 005: Woman-power
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Imagine riding a motorbike under 40C heat, on a dusty and bumpy dirt road, with all these stuffs packed around you… would you do it? Apparently this super woman can! She goes around village by village everyday, hawking her goods. The money she earns go to food and other needs of her family.
A lot of women are leaving their homes and children to work and help their parents and husbands bring in money for the family. Recently, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs released the Cambodia Gender Assessment (CGA) report where it was found out that Cambodia’s female labour force participation rate is high by regional standards, at 71 percent of the working age population over 15 years of age.What this means is that a large portion of the women population are contributing to the economy but, according to an interview with the Minister of Women’s Affairs Dr. Kantha Pavi, this contribution is mainly from the informal sector. There is still a lot to be done to raise the numbers of women in the formal employment and decision-making institutions. The government is focusing mainly on access to education and health services. Let’s hope for a brighter future for the Khmer women.
Happy Women’s Day to everyone.
>Sky-watch Friday 002: Night river cruise
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The Royal Palace as seen from the other side of the river. Summertime is, when the evening skies are clear and balmy, the perfect time for an evening cruise along the Tonle Bassac river. One can rent an entire boat, similar to this one, for $8-10 an hour. You can bring as many friends as you like and all the food and booze you desire. For additional amount (and depending on the number of guests and the variety of food and drinks required) the boat-owners can also provide catering.
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