APAD 013: Preparing for Pchum Ben
It is Pchum Ben once again Cambodia. It’s the time of the year when chaotic Phnom Penh empties out as most residents go back to their homelands to celebrate this religious celebration.
Pchum Ben is the festival for commemorating the spirits of the dead. The faithful Buddhists go to different wats (temples) in their hometowns to offer prayer and food to their ancestors. It is somewhat similar to the Catholic’s celebration of All Soul’s Day, but the celebration of Pchum Ben lasts longer, for 15 days.
Anyway, since Pchum Ben is two weeks away, there are now activities at the wats. Achars (layman) and elder women start decorating the wats, putting up banners and such, like what you see in this picture:
The statues have been scrubbed washed and are now immaculately clean.
Did you know that the Cambodian Catholic community celebrate All Soul’s Day during the Pchum Ben? Traditionally, the Catholics celebrate All Soul’s Day every 2nd of November but here the date was “adjusted” to coincide with the country’s traditional holding of Pchum Ben.
APAD 012: Eating dust
I took this photo Friday last week. It was a lovely day for a roadtrip.
Cloudy and dusty.
But this morning, around the same time, we have a heavy downpour. Quite the opposite of last week’s weather. Moonsoon season is finally here:
Public swimming pool. Who wants to swim, eh?
Flash flood in my street. It is getting worse every year. I don’t fancy going out to do some errands.
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APAD 011: Who’s going with me?
Are you also going this way?
Last weekend, I wore my geek hat and escaped to geek heaven, that is, the BarCamp Phnom Penh 5. It is like a convention of sorts of techno-geeks, hackers, and technopreuners who descend to Phnom Penh for two-days of geekery.
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APAD 010: Secondhand
A sea of secondhand stuff.
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APAD 009: Prek Pnov flooded forest
It’s the time of the year again in Cambodia when, during the rainy season, the Tonle Sap Lake changes its size making it the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia.
Each year when the monsoon season begins, the waters from the Mekong river reverses to the Tonle Sap Lake, increasing its size to tenfold and engulfing the surrounding forests. Hence, the name, flooded forests. An example of which is shown in this picture:
The submerged forests are rich breeding grounds for fish and other aquatic resources. Photo taken at Prek Pnov, Kandal Province.
As the Mekong flood water abates around November each year, the Tonle Sap water reverses and the fish swim out. This reversal of the current is marked and celebrated by holding Bon Oum Teuk, or Water Festival, in Phnom Penh. It is a national celebration and is the merriest and rowdiest celebrations, next to the Khmer New Year.
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