Unlike most holidays, where Phnom Penh residents leave the city to join their extended families in the provinces, during Water Festival they bring them all here! I considered fleeing the mayhem for a quiet weekend out of town, but decided instead to enter the fray...
Fray being millions of people, literally. Most packed along the riverfront to watch the boat races, each province with their own teams, representing military boat trainings from days of old.
The atmosphere is a bit like a state fair during the day, with people selling various snacks and handicrafts.
The night ends with fireworks and brightly lit boats representing various ministries of the government that float by with Cambodian music on loudspeaker. Beautiful.
My favorite moment was meeting a sweet young couple on Saturday night, who invited me to join them for dinner after a fun conversation in Khm-english. I was thrilled at the gesture, and joined them on a mat on the sidewalk, where we were brought a plate of what I thought were boiled eggs. Emphasis on the "thought." What I actually recognized after cracking open the top was feathers. And membranes. Baby bird. About to hatch baby bird. Baby ducks to be exact. Boiled baby ducks for dinner.
(internal thought process: AHHHH! Don't panic Jenny. People eat this every day, it can't be bad for you. But it's a baby duck! I can't swallow feathers! It's ok. Don't grimace. Grab the MSG--it's the lesser of two evils. Heap it on. It's just meat. Chew the meat....)
I will say though, minus the beak and the spinal cord, it's not so bad. I ate most of two. Tonight however, I went in search of a hot dog for dinner. Which is probably just as strange culturally to some, and a far worse meat source than fresh duck, but something I recognize. It's all really just in your head, and I'm conditioned to think that hot dogs are ok and baby duck is strange. So I'm reconditioning. There are plenty of opportunities for that here, water festival being one of them :)
Balut! That is a win my friend. Now I want some.
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