Festivals

Celebrated Halloween in Bangkok. The streets were filled with locals though few were in costume. Most people were just rambling up and down the streets taking in the different Halloween promotions the bars were putting on. I ducked into a basement bar that turned out to be massive and was featuring some marshal arts demonstrations before the dance floor opened up.

The next day headed out on a train for the border, trying to reach Cambodia's capitol, Phnom Penh, for their huge Bon Om Tuk Festival, the water or boat racing festival. I arrived into the city expecting not to find a place to stay. The paper said one to two million Cambodians flood the city for the 3 day holiday. I ended up being the only one in the guesthouse. Turns out that it is common for Phnom Penh residents to host 10-20 family members and friends in town for the event. And those who don't have a contact in the city were camping in the city parks by the tens of thousands.

As it's a weekend of boat racing, the festival is not spread out over the city, everything is centered on a 1 mile stretch along the Tonle Sap riverfront. The riverfront road is closed to traffic by 11am each day and then the mass of over a million people hit that street and the 3 parks that connect to it. It's hot and sweaty and a throng of people every which way. But everyone is in a good mood, no one's in a rush, the whole thing runs surprisingly well.

During the day boats race down the river, finishing at the confluence with the Mekong river. At night it cools down and the fireworks start early, nightly at 6pm. At the same time a parade of river floats head upstream. I had never seen anything like it, and there are some good float pics in the album. Meanwhile the streets turn into a carnival atmosphere with games and rides and lots of street food. I never made it that late, but the streets were just as crowded at midnight as at 6pm.

Definitely was a great way to start off my time in Cambodia. I love trying to plan as many local festivals into my trips as possible. Years after trips, sometimes it's difficult to remember all the visits to museums, palaces, and other places of historical or cultural interest, but time spent at festivals rarely fades from the mind.

More PICS from the Festival.