Happy Bonn Om Touk
November 4, 2006
The EYE on the boats
Within the 3rd-5th I cannot remember what I did each day, as I don't have my notebook with me, however I have just included them all randomly in this entry...
3rd November
Within the 3 days of festivities I managed to attend the first two days, whilst including a visit to a traditional Khmer Kickboxing tournament. The main bout was between Cambodia's #1 Kickboxer Eh Phothong and a Canandian fela. At first it seemed like Eh wasn't very active, and was just defending himself, but it wasn't till the last round when he managed to throw a very nice blow and the Canadian KO'ed! The crowd gave a huge upheave with an agressive standing ovation; with great excitement, cheering, clapping and shouting words of defeat.
Monks out on a afternoon stroll through the festivities
After the match, Bohng Phatry, Tim and I headed off to Banana Bar where we shot a bit of pool and had a few drinks, before calling it a night.
4th November
During the day I popped by the riverfront to watch the many repetitive boat races held on the Mekhong. There were several different sized boats, and still till this day, I'm not 100% sure how many people were on each boat, the small ones were 20 people, and the big ones came close to 100 people!
I decided to drop into one of the Happy Pizza joints along the river front (something I was meaning to do on my second trip to Cambodia in 2002, but never had a chance to) and tried out their happy pizza's. The pizza didn't look all that appealing, and it tasted pretty bland. The effects kicked in about 45minutes later, while I was at FCC Restaurant and Bar, having a few beers whilst watching the Boat Races.
The Royal Palace
The main highlight of my first night at the water festival was seeing the King of Cambodia, HRM King Norodom Sihamoni. Along with hundreds of thousands of other onlookers, wishing to take a glympse at the royal monarchy.
The fireworks display for the first two nights were nothing fancy, it was worst than the fireworks display in Melbourne on Khmer New Years in April!!!! But apparently the final night was the night that showed a decent display (I didn't get a chance to pop by).
5th November
During the day, just like the first day of Water Festivities, I popped by to the riverside, just to see the million+ people watching the 400+ boats try their best in fulfilling their dream of winning.
I met up with Bohng Phatry to have lunch at the Kiwi Bar on the riverfront, which had some spectacular views of the races, and of course the millions of people on the ground walking endlessly non-stop.
Afternoon Swim at Boeung Kak Lake
Before heading home, I kicked back at Boeung Kak Lake, and had a chat with a fellow Melbournioun, and to my amazement he had some breathtaking photos, equal to that of photojournalistic photo's you see in famouse travel and photography magazines!!!!! I'm so envious! hehehe
Anyways that pretty much sums up the few days of water festivities...
I must say though that the crowd was ridiculously BIG, as soon as the fireworks display was over, you could not by all means could not walk anywhere, as people were all chained up walking in one direction and there was no breathing space whatsoever!
Word of Warning: If you ever attend the event DONT CARRY ANY VALUABLES with you!!! and be VERY CAUTIOUS!!!!
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Bonn Om Touk, is the largest festival in the Cambodian calendar. Each year the festival falls on a different date according to the full moon. However it usually hovers around the early to mid November period. During the 3 day public holiday, villagers from all over the country flock to the capital city to support their local boats and cheer them on, hoping for a minute of fame for their tiny villages.
At the moment the festival is pretty disorganised and doesn't really cater for tourists or even the locals, as they do not inform whose competing or what not. However to lure tourists in the Government has already planned to improve the festival for the coming years, so that both locals and tourists alike can enjoy this magnificent festival.
Each boat can carry up to 100 or more rowers plus the dancer at the front of the boat. Each boat is painted with beautiful floral motifs and carries offerings of fruits and other delicacies.
At night time, large brightly lit up floats sail up and down the river in front of the Royal Palace with a mini fireworks display in the background. Opposite the riverbanks, a section of the Royal Palace is brightly lit up and provides an interesting view of the Palace.
The festival is also attended by the King of Cambodia, so if your lucky enough you might be able to have a quick peak at Royalty amongst the hundreds and thousands of other locals wanting to witness the Royal figure.
During the festival, many foodstalls pop up along the riverbanks offering many delicacies. Of course prices may be slightly a little bit more expensive as many of the foodstalls would mark up the prices just for the occasion and the opportunity to make an extra Riel or so.
One can easily view the races from one of the top levels of the buildings along the riverfront. The Kiwi bakery/cafe is a good place to sit down, have a few beers and to avoid the crowds.
***Word of Warning***
Even though Cambodians have been labelled as some of the friendliest people in the world, during such a huge festival with hundreds of thousands of people, pick pockets are fairly common. So avoid bringing any uneccessary baggage!!!!
At the moment the festival is pretty disorganised and doesn't really cater for tourists or even the locals, as they do not inform whose competing or what not. However to lure tourists in the Government has already planned to improve the festival for the coming years, so that both locals and tourists alike can enjoy this magnificent festival.
Each boat can carry up to 100 or more rowers plus the dancer at the front of the boat. Each boat is painted with beautiful floral motifs and carries offerings of fruits and other delicacies.
At night time, large brightly lit up floats sail up and down the river in front of the Royal Palace with a mini fireworks display in the background. Opposite the riverbanks, a section of the Royal Palace is brightly lit up and provides an interesting view of the Palace.
The festival is also attended by the King of Cambodia, so if your lucky enough you might be able to have a quick peak at Royalty amongst the hundreds and thousands of other locals wanting to witness the Royal figure.
During the festival, many foodstalls pop up along the riverbanks offering many delicacies. Of course prices may be slightly a little bit more expensive as many of the foodstalls would mark up the prices just for the occasion and the opportunity to make an extra Riel or so.
One can easily view the races from one of the top levels of the buildings along the riverfront. The Kiwi bakery/cafe is a good place to sit down, have a few beers and to avoid the crowds.
***Word of Warning***
Even though Cambodians have been labelled as some of the friendliest people in the world, during such a huge festival with hundreds of thousands of people, pick pockets are fairly common. So avoid bringing any uneccessary baggage!!!!
