We went to a water festival which is a celebration of the end of harvest and the reversing of the river direction, offering to the water deamons, the end to the rainy season, and a parade of the provinces before the king etc. There were teams that came from the Cambodian provinces, and other near-by Asian countries. It was quite a show. We told you about Pchum ben days when everyone goes to the provinces, well this festival brings all the people from the provinces to Phnom Penh-between 2 or 3 million people. The boats contained from 25 to 72 men or women rowing their boats. They were dressed in very bright shirts and hats. This event went on for 3 or 4 days. This is a view of the Tonle Sap just before it empties into the Mekong Sap, a couple of the boats and a few of the people.
In the evening we watched some fireworks and then the float-boats of the king, parlament, and government agencies all floated by; it was quite a show.
We were cautioned about robbers and muggings, but we came and went in a tuck tuck without an incident.
2 comments:
wow now that is a party!! Looks like lots of fun. How do they change the river flow and isnt' that a little odd to be able to change the flow of a river?
The change of river flow has to do with the rainy season. There is so much water running into the river that it changes the flow two times a year.
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