Thursday, 26 March 2015

Bon om Touk, Cambodian Water Festival

After a hot morning we had a rest and in the afternoon headed out to enjoy Bon Om Touk. This is the Cambodian Water festival held at the start of November. Its origins are concerned with the reversing of the tide in the Tonle Sap lake and water flowing up stream rather than into the lake itself. It is also the end of rainy season. 

"Water is the driving force of all nature." - Leonardo da Vinci

Everyone gets about a week off and the town comes alive with races on the river, stalls on the river side, offerings at the pagoda and on the river and general merriment.

Here are some of the boat races taking place.




We had to laugh - as the whole rest of the year there had been no practising at all until the last two days before the race itself - good luck boys! Not quite the same level as the Oxford / Cambridge boat race. 

"Only the guy who isn't rowing has time to rock the boat" - Satre


 The streets, riverside and bridges were lined with people. A couple of years ago one of the bridges in Phnom Penh collapsed under the weight of all the people and Bon Om Touk celebrations have been cancelled for safety reasons for the past couple of years - so this celebration was quite a big one. 



The crowds were pretty vast and the music everywhere was so loud, Khmer people love loud music, the louder the better!

"Where our music is welcomed we play it loud, where our music is challenged we play it louder" - anon

"I like my music turned up at ignorant levels" - anon

One evening we were sat on the river in a cafe with the cafe music on, and two stages of music on the other side of the river blaring out, plus one family on our side of the river with their own sound system. Completely impossible to think!




The races go on all day and some of the boats seem lucky not to sink with all the men in them and the water they pick up on the way.


"Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks." - Warren Buffett

It was all great fun, but I'd be lying if I said I knew what was going on most of the time.

At one point there was a parade with small floats, marching and riders on horse back.



Still clueless about the origin or meaning of this parade!


The there were some pretty spectacular fireworks on most of the days  - not so easy to photograph!


That evening we headed to Phare - the Cambodian Acrobatic Circus (like Cirque du Soliel). I have seen the show they had on (Eclipse) before, but it is totally amazing, lots of acrobatics, mid air somersaults and playing with fire - so much fun!

The photos are a little blurry as we were in the dark and not allowed to use flash for the safety of the performers, but you will get a good idea of their antics!

Fire poi.

Acrobatics on bamboo. 

Handstands on sticks.

 Tricky handstands on sticks. 

"I'm an idiot walking a tightrope of fortune and fame. I am an acrobat swinging trapezes through circles of flame." - Counting Crows

 
Human towers.


Fire jumping rope.


You could actually feel the heat of this from the back row of the audience!

"Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life." - Terry Pratchett

Strong man on the rings!



 After the circus we headed home to drop off the moto before heading out.

Downstairs the landlady had prepared an offering for the water festival, lit up the house temple and left out some fruit and candles. 


On the river everyone  was leaving offerings, like this one.


 The whole river was alive with tiny pretty little lights.


 
 People were also swimming out into the river to place their offerings in a good spot.


All day and night the streets were packed for three days!


We had one last visit to the temples, to take in Ta Prohm at sunrise and a few more small ones before we headed out to Laos.

"A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find that after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us." - John Steinbeck

Thursday, 19 March 2015

Quiet time with the faces, a few more and saving a monkey.

After how crowded Bayon had been the day before we didn't feel we saw it at its best, so decided to start there for our next sunrise and almost had the place to ourselves...


We could see down the passageways and get some great photos of the place quietly.


"God has given you one face, and you make yourself another." - William Shakespeare



And actually got to see the Buddha who is placed at the innermost and top most point of the temple.



We were also able to get our 'tourist shots'!


We moved on from Bayon to see some of the other temples and palaces.

The Angkor Park is really very big and there are so many more temples than most people have heard of, as you can see from the map.


One of the palaces.

So much ornate, beautifully carved stone lying around - you could build another temple.

Some really interesting trees too.


 This one we climbed to the top of.

Kravan is one of the oldest temples and instead of being build out of carved stone, it is made out of fired brick.


"You say to a brick, 'What do you want, brick?' And brick says to you, 'I like an arch.' And you say to brick, 'Look, I want one, too, but arches are expensive and I can use a concrete lintel.' And then you say: 'What do you think of that, brick?' Brick says: 'I like an arch.'" - Louis Kahn


Inside some of the smaller rooms the brick has been made in shapes to make sculptures on the walls.


Here you can see some colour from paint and some black burn marks where the temple experienced a fire.

And if you look up, you see the light at the end of the tunnel! 

"No matter what you're going through, there's a light at the end of the tunnel and it may seem hard to get to it but you can do it and just keep working towards it and you'll find the positive side of things." - Demi Lovato

All the door ways have gorgeous pali / khmer writing on them.

 This is a great example of the brick work.

We drove on to Banteay Kdei, with mum on the back of my moto.

This is one of my favourite temples, its smaller and quieter, but the atmosphere and carvings are beautiful.

Front

Left as you look at it.

And a zoom in on the left.

There is usually a nun here giving blessings, and I am still wearing her blessing bracelet.

"A blessing is a circle of light drawn around a person to protect, heal and strengthen." - John O'Donohue

I love how the lichen on the stone emphasises different parts of the carvings, or almost hides some totally.



I fell in love with so many window frames and doorways!!

"Freedom is the open window through which pours the sunlight of the human spirit and human dignity." - Herbert Hoover


Some of the walls here are made from a type of lava rock, usually these are covered by the smoother stone.

Again some great and ornate stone carvings and window frames.


From just outside you can see how nature is taking it back.


Mum taking a break in the shade.


Amazing how beautiful a 'ruin' can be. When I was a kid and dreamed of being an archaeologist, this was the kind of thing I hoped to 'stumble' across. As I got older I realised that the life of an archaeologist was likely more digging small bits of pot out of a pit in the rain or baking sun. Happy just to visit these bigger sites I think!





We finished at Banteay Kdei and walked over the way to Srah Srang - one of the epic pools on the Angkor park. Alongside the water is a row of shops and cafes, so we grabbed some shade and a cool drink. Half way through our drinks we noticed a very young monkey on a very short chain, it was hopping around the 1 meter square space the chain allowed for and looked thoroughly miserable. Additionally it was far too young to be away from its mother. We left quietly and said nothing and as soon as we were home I reported it to the Wildlife Alliance here. I figured if we tried to talk to them about it they would move the monkey or mind a way to dispose of it, as keeping monkeys is not allowed. The best chance for the monkey was not to alert them and report it. I stayed in touch with the organisation after the report and around 1.5 months later, after checking a few times, they were able to find and collect the macaque, who I believe is now safely re-homed at Phnom Tmao sanctuary. 

"Just cause you got the monkey off your back doesn't mean the circus has left town." - George Carlin



We headed back to town for an afternoon watching the boat racing and a night at the circus....

"Live life to the fullest, and focus on the positive." - Matt Cameron