Suor Sdei Chhnam Thmei - Happy Khmer New Year

Well the dry season rice is harvested and the smell of rain is in the air - which means only one thing here in Phnom Penh - Happy New Year! As we get ready to welcome the Year of the Snake (extra lucky for Samuel as he was born in the last Snake Year) preparations are being made for the festivities all across the country. 

Cambodia’s traditional New Year, “Chaul Chhnam Thmei” generally falls around mid April or during Chet, the fifth month of the Cambodian lunar calendar. This is the time when the farmers are relieved of their farm work after the dry-season rice harvest. Leading up to New Year’s Eve, houses and temples are decorated with flowers, lamps, candles, colored papers, incense sticks and small  mounds  of rice or sand which later will be carried to temples as an offering to monks.

During the New Year festival which lasts for three days, Cambodians, especially the aged, go to temples to make offerings to monks and pray for the souls of their ancestors and on New Years Eve an exorcist rite is held to pray for happiness and prosperity in the coming year.

Young people also enjoy the festival. They dance the Roam Vong (Cambodia’s most popular dance) and join in playing some of the traditional games such as; “Chol Chhoung” – knotted scarf throwing where those that fail to catch the scarf have to sing a song, and “Angkunh” – a nut throwing game similar to billiards but played on the ground rather than on a table. Nowadays several traditional games such as throwing colored water at people passing by as a wish for luck, or bamboo canoe racing are no longer seen - which is a shame because the water throwing from the back of our pick up in Vientiane, jammed pack with friends with semi automatic water pistols at  the ready, dressed in brilliant coloured floral shirts  is one of our special memories of our time in Laos!

I get the idea that celebrations are a bit more low key here.

In the countryside singers are invited to sing in praise of legendary or real heroes and of revolutionary exploits. People gather in temples to worship or in public parks to contemplate the natural beauty of their surroundings - taking time to smell the roses I suppose!  In urban centers, people dressed in their Sunday best stroll around public gardens and parks and visit sites and historical monuments. Cambodians on the whole enjoy picnicking or visiting ancient temples, including Angkor Wat and Preah Vihear during the New Year holidays.

 

The Embassy held a party for all staff and their families at the Ambassadors Resisdence last week and it was lots of fun. Set in the beautiful gardens and on a very hot night we all got together for loads of games, a wonderful buffet, some dancing and  karaoke (of course). It was quite a fun night as the Khmers love to get together and enjoy themselves . The kids had a great time playing the games and learning the dances......as for Phil - of course we couldn't get him off the dance floor. 

 

 

 

 

Now having said all that - we are actually leaving town for the New Year long weekend!  We are off to Bangkok for a few days and are all really looking forward to some time back in that buzzing metropolis that we love so much! As it turns out it looks like being a huge weekend of reunions as some of our dear friends from our Laos days and even Stevie from home will be in town.  So plenty to look forward to; reminiscing the old times, creating the new times, cocktails by the pool, seafood dinners, night markets  and of course a bit of shopping -  look out Bangers here we come!   It is also Thailands New Year festival (Son Kran) and like Laos they also take part in dousing everyone with water - so with a bit of luck it still may be water pistols at the ready!       

So we hope this post finds you all well - drop us a comment on the blog
bye for now and happy new year
xMekong Molloys