The weekend that was

Pçhum Ben

We spent this last weekend doing two things. Sitting in the Tuktuk waiting and sitting in the tuktuk waiting, hmmm maybe thats overstating things a tad!

Saturday was spent wandering around Phnom taking pics for a birthday slideshow for Nate (it is being done in between classes today, hopefully to be completed this afternoon!) we encountered amourous Maquaque, a stroppy elephant and deep fried tarantula whilst doing that which was kind of exciting (think Amazing Race Asia but without the amped asian couples, just a procha barang and his khmer girlfriend)

Sunday was spent mainly in a tuktuk as we made our way slowly out along the highway south (think NZ highway through Otaki, rather than US highway) amidst the heaviest traffic i have seen since being here.

It was wall to wall moto/tuktuk and 4x4, with the old monster truck to make everyone feel small.

Everyone was dressed to the Sunday best which meant white lace tops for the ladies with khmer silk skirts and buisness shirts for the boys. (I was wearing my Hoi An best, which made me want to sweat buckets in the windless and sweltering Cambodian morning)

We stopped at Savrey's place to pick up Grandma Savrey and Tep Savrey (the lady who looked after May when she was younger).

We had a curry to start the morning, it had coconut pulp sliced into it which was amazing, almost like a firm taro.

With offerings in place we started off, joining the throng of vehicles all heading to one of the temples that surround Phnom Penh.

Then we stopped, i dont mean slowed to a crawl, i mean stopped, our driver got off and went to have a smoke and a chat with some guys along the road! thankfully there are drink shops everywhere (well a person with a block of ice, a large "esky" and some straws)

It took 2.5 hours to make our way along the roads, watching the traffic nudge and weave its way along was insightful into how Cambodians approach such things. there was no honking, even when people got REALLY close or bumped each other, there was a general feeling that we would get there eventually even though everyone knew that at 12 the monks would stop accepting food and begin to feed the people (themselves incl) that assemble at the temple (thus answering my question about where does all this food end up!)

We finally made it to the temple, it was about 20 mins past the Choeung Ek Genocide Memorial (the Killing Fields site as it is called here)

The temple was filled by a throng of people, all aware of what they were doing and i felt very "odd one out" (its ok, i get that alot)

We carried our foods inside one hall, taking off our shoes and giving them to one of the local kids who guard them for a small price. making our way past wooden ships and large piles of rice we approached a serving area.

The piles of food were immense, people have these metal food carriers (they are actually great for keeping and moving warm food, no tupperware here!) and they were decanting the contents into the plates that the nuns were passing forward.

We placed our food, and then took the rice to the next hall where a group of very old nuns were sitting near a large statue.

Knealling we passed over an offering (we had exchanged $10 for 100 riel notes earlier, lol it was the first time i have had a wad of cash in my pocket here, 100 riel is worth how much you ask? well a 1000 riel is 25c so 2.5c for those amongst you who find decimal place a difficult concept)

We then took our rice and scooped a small mound into a series of bowls that were on a long table. It looked very similar to the money bowls at a wat in Thailand that we went to earlier this year.

We then walked over to an outdoor area that had five large earten piles that were studded with incense, people were waliking amoungst them placing incense sticks in them and sprinkling earth from a small plate on the piles as they went.

We followed and as we went i asked May what this was for, it represents the lost souls who have no place to go, giving them i guess a place that they can claim as their own (dont quote me but i like the idea of it)

I was the only barang there, i guess the rest go closer to town?! a couple of people asked May why i was there, the answer they got was "Good luck for him" it got a nod and a smile so May must know what she is doing.

We then stopped to give alms to some of the old people who were at the gates and then we drove further out into the countryside.

The landscape is this amazing mix of utterly flat rice paddies and construction sites (the pace of development is crazy, there are large industrial sites being put up everywhere, next to small shanties without power or running water.

We were going to visit some friends of the Savreys, none of whom spoke English so i smiled, said the few Khmer terms i knew for polite society and let them laugh at the many things that Barang do that makes Khmer people smile.

We went for a walk along the paddy walls to see the mango trees and fields that are owned by Tep Savrey. Hopefully the pictures convey some of the colour if not the oppressive heat that was lifted every so often by a beautiful light breeze.

This visit completed we made our way quite quickly back into the city, The state of our clothes and hair when we got back made us wonder what our lungs must be like (the dust is everpresent and something that can never be forgotten, it tends to accumulate in the strangest places)