Tonight is the full moon. The sky is clear, there's a beautiful breeze, and the bass is thumping all the way across the river and up into our bedroom. It's day two of the Cambodian Water Festival, and things are in full swing. Siem Reap is normally pretty sleepy, aside from the moto bikes, but on a walk earlier tonight, we could barely move down the street. There are thousands of people along the river eating street food, screaming on carnival rides (wins a sketchiness contest with the Yarmouth Clam Festival) and listening to ten sets of huge speakers blast music. We're trying not to be grouchy about the noise, it's just that it's been going strong since this morning. Announcements from 7:00 am to 2:00 pm and then music from then on. Oy vey.
Aside from being loud, the Water Festival celebrates the reversal of the Mekong River. During the rainy season, the river flows into the Tonle Sap lake and it expands to four times its size. The lake is about half an hour from here. It's the biggest lake in South East Asia and it gives Cambodians a lot of jobs and food - fish is a huge part of the diet here. So the lake, and the river, are the foundation of Cambodian life. During the dry season, which just started, the lake shrinks and the water reverses its flow, back into the Mekong. The Water Festival is always on the full moon at the beginning of the dry season.
This afternoon, we settled in at the FCC for a drink and a riverfront seat to watch the boat races. The boats hold about 20 rowers each. Everyone faces forward, two across, and rows on one side of the boat with a short paddle. It looks really hard. The trick is to get everyone synchronized, and not many boats pulled it off. But it was fun to watch and cheer. Also, a crazy American man sitting next to us took of his shirt and dove into the dirty river. He seemed to enjoy himself. And the attention.
Almost midnight and the music goes on. We're going to try to sleep while the Cambodians party!
To see more Water Festival photos, check out Keith's blog.
