Customs and Lifestyle April 20, 2009
Diet and Eating
Soup and rice are the main components of the Cambodian diet. A bowl of soup may have any combination of fish, eggs, vegetables, meat, and spices. More than 20 years ago, Cambodia was known as “the cradle of rice”, and many different varieties were grown in the various regions. Today, Cambodia is less productive, and fewer varieties are grown. Rice is prepared in many ways and is eaten at every meal. Vegetables and a wide variety of fruit are available throughout the year. Seafood and fish are also common.
Cambodians eat with chopsticks, spoons, or their fingers, depending on the food and family custom. Food that has been influenced by Indian, Chinese, and European cuisine is also enjoyed. In general, Cambodian food is less spicy than in neighbouring countries such as Thailand.
Recreation
Most of Cambodia’s recreational facilities were destroyed or fell into disrepair during the late 1970s and the 1980s. Today, however, the people enjoy football, table tennis, volleyball, and badminton. They also dance, play music, and sing. Video cassette recorders (VCRs) are becoming more accessible and are used to create small village cinemas. Other leisure activities include picnics, card playing, and Sunday rides on bicycles or motorcycles. Festivals and weddings provide other recreational high points.
Among friends and relatives, visiting is frequent and usually unannounced. People remove their shoes when entering a home or wat (a temple for worship and religious education). A houseguest may be greeted with a bouquet of jasmine flowers placed on his or her desk or table. In general, Cambodians are extremely hospitable, although they may be cautious about inviting strangers into the home. If a meal is provided, guests are given the best place to sit and the best portion of food.
Holidays and Celebrations
Cambodia’s national holidays include Liberation Day (7 January), Victory Over American Imperialism Day (17 April), and The Front Day (2 December). Both the Chinese and Buddhist new years are celebrated. The Buddhist New Year is in April and is celebrated for three days.
Vassa, the Buddhist Rains Retreat, is the period when monks halt their usual peregrinations during the monsoons and stay inside to meditate and pray. It is also known as the Buddhist Lent. During these months, restraint and abstinence must prevail. During this time, weddings are not held as a rule and moving house is avoided.
In the last week of September, near the end of the rainy season, an important Buddhist festival, Pchum Ben, takes place. It is a celebration on behalf of the dead and for one’s own salvation. Before it begins, people are supposed to accomplish a seven-wat duty to please their ancestors. This involves worshipping at seven wat or performing seven moral good deeds (or a combination of both). Six weeks after Pchum Ben, large or wealthy families raise money to pay for the living expenses of the monks.
The Festival of the Reversing Current, which occurs between late October and late November, celebrates the return to normal direction of a river that reverses its current during the rainy season. When the flow of the river, the Tônlé Sab, returns to its original direction, fireworks, canoe racing, and general merrymaking erupt in Phnom Penh.
Funerals are also an occasion for gathering. White clothes are worn to funerals, and music is an integral part of the event.
Source: Encarta Interactive World Atlas
Events and Festivals for Year 2009 April 20, 2009
| January 01: International New Year’s Day January 07: Victory Day Over Genocide Regime February 09: Meak Bochea Day – Buddha’s preachingMarch 08: International Women’s Day |
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April 14-16: Cambodian New Year May 01: International Labor Day May 08: Visaka Bochea Day – Birthday of Buddha |
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May 12: Royal Ploughing Ceremony May 13-15: Birthday of King Sihamony June 18: Royal Birthday of H.M Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk |
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September 24: Constitution’s Day September 18-20: Pchum Ben Day – The Soul Day October 29: Royal Coronation of King Sihamoni October 31: Birthday of King Father Norodom Sihanouk November 09: Independence Day |
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December 10: International Human Right’s Day Mid December: Angkor Festival |
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Beyond Angkor Wat: Cambodia’s Hidden Coast April 20, 2009
Serendipity Beach in Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Most visits to Cambodia begin with the ancient temples of Angkor Wat or the Khmer Rouge’s infamous killing fields just outside Phnom Penh. I’m not saying they’re not worth seeing, but on our recent 10-day journey through Cambodia, we visited neither. My husband had already hiked Angkor Wat a couple of months back, and frankly, it just felt too depressing to center an entire vacation on mass murder. So we headed instead to southwestern Cambodia, to the developing coastline, in search of waterfalls and beaches. And we found that the people there were just as welcoming as the landscape.
We flew into Phnom Penh International Airport and took a tuk-tuk (a motorized rickshaw) into town. It was a $5, 45-min., open-air trip on the highway, which probably did bad things to our lungs but helped ease my motion sickness from our wobbly descent to the airport. It also gave us a nice visual primer of the capital, which we were using only as a way station. Looking back, I would have liked at least another day in Phnom Penh to take in the culture — the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, for example — and the laid-back, late-going bar scene. As it was, we had time only for dinner at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club (363 Sisowath Quay, Phnom Penh; +855-23-210-142), where we stayed the night, and to hit up a couple of bars, including Love Orange — a disco packed with teenagers cheering on the drag-queen lip-synching show.
The next day, it was on to Koh Kong, a coastal frontier town on the Thai border, which until a couple of years ago was best accessed by boat. It is separated from the rest of Cambodia by the Cardamom Mountain range, a dense forest that houses endangered species like the Indochinese tiger and the Malayan sun bear, and used to be a Khmer Rouge stronghold. But a national highway built with help from the Thais, which includes four bridges spanning rivers once crossable only by ferry, has cut the drive to Koh Kong from the capital in half — to four hours.
Koh Kong has one paved road, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it dock and an inordinate number of Germans. The main activity for travelers in this border town is meeting other travelers. Most of the guesthouses and hostels in Koh Kong are run by Europeans and Australians (the proprietor and family usually live on-site) and are good for getting a drink, sitting in a hammock and chatting up your neighbor. They’re also good for a cheap ($7 per night) room, if you can endure using a shared toilet. If not, I suggest you stay at the $35-per-night Koh Kong City Hotel (Street 1, Koh Kong; +85…) on the waterfront, which is sparse and basic but has decadent, memory-foam-style mattresses and private, Western-style bathrooms. The front-desk service here is lacking, but you’ll sleep the sleep of the dead.
The tour outfits in Koh Kong aren’t well advertised, but you can get yourself a seat on an organized excursion if you know whom to ask and don’t mind surprises. We stumbled randomly on Otto, owner of a guesthouse called Otto’s, on our first night in town. We went to his place for dinner (fantastic fried potatoes), and when we asked for advice on local tours, he pulled out his cell phone, dialed his friend Thomas and booked us instantly on a boat excursion for the following morning. His method was efficient if mysterious. Even as we boarded the boat the next morning, we had no idea where we were going or what we would see.
There were eight other travelers aboard our long-tail motorboat, seven of whom were German and most of whom were staying at Thomas’ guesthouse, Neptune. Thomas, also German, did the entertaining while our Khmer captain steered with his foot and drank an Angkor beer. The first two hours took us south past islands dotted with stilted fishing villages painted in blues and greens and oranges, then through a mangrove forest, into the Gulf of Thailand. There we hit the jackpot: a school of dolphins jumping in the waves.
We stopped for lunch in a fishing village where Thomas had once stayed a night after being stranded at sea. He made friends with the villagers and now returns often to introduce his tour groups. In general, as tourists, we try not to gawk at the poverty around us, but this was impossible at such close range. About 15 people lined up on the “dock” (really, a front porch) and helped us clamber from our boat over theirs and into their one-room home. There wasn’t much dialogue between the groups, given that none of the tourists spoke Khmer and our hosts didn’t know English, but there was much smiling and cooing at the babies, one of whom was cooling off in a pot of water. We ate stir-fried veggies and tofu with a cabbage salad, sitting cross-legged on the floor. Through the slats, you could see the water a few feet below. The hospitality was free: Thomas brought our lunch and gave our hosts a case of beer as a token of friendship.
Another sail took us to Koh Kong Island, a lush national forest where recreational exploration is forbidden. We dropped anchor off a deserted white-sand beach and hopped overboard into the clear, warm sea. The water was probably 70° and not more than 5 ft. deep, with gentle waves that glimmered in the late-afternoon sun. Then, sated and relaxed, we motored home.
Introduction to Cambodia April 20, 2009
The Kingdom of Cambodia (for the various names of the country in Khmer, see naming section below) is a constitutional monarchy in Southeast Asia with a population of more than 13 million people. Most Cambodians are Therevada Buddhists of Khmer extraction. A citizen of Cambodia is usually identified as Cambodian. Most Cambodians are ethnically Khmer, but the country also has a substantial number of Cham and small hill tribes.
History
Main article: History of Cambodia
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From the 9th century to the 15th century, Cambodia was the center of the mighty Khmer Empire, which was during this time based at Angkor. Angkor Wat, the empire’s main religious temple, remains a symbol of Cambodia during its time as a world power, and is also the country’s top tourist attraction to this day. Cambodia was a protectorate of France from 1863 until the country received independence in 1953. During this period, Cambodia was under Japanese occupation during World War II from 1941 to 1945. During the 1950s and 1960s the country was under the rule of King Norodom Sihanouk, where the country maintained a precarious neutrality in the wake of active aggression against South Vietnam by the North Vietnamese.
Related Topics:
9th century – 15th century – Khmer Empire – Angkor – Angkor Wat – Protectorate – France – 1863 – 1953 – Japanese – World War II – 1941 – 1945 – 1950s – 1960s – King Norodom Sihanouk – South Vietnam – North Vietnamese
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In 1969 the USA began B-52 bombing operations in Cambodia to destroy Communist bases in Cambodia. The US administration kept the bombing secret until 1970. In 1970 the Nixon administration briefly invaded Cambodia, and the bombing continued until 1973. About 30,000-500,000 civilians were killed during the bombing raids. During the 1970s and 1980s, the country was plagued with a brutal civil war, a hated military monarchist regime, as well as an even worse genocidal, agro-communist regime led by the Khmer Rouge. During the Khmer Rouge period, autogenocide was committed against millions of people who were perceived intellectuals, detractors of Marxism, and some just innocent civilians. Millions fled across to neighbouring Thailand.
Related Topics:
1970s – 1980s – Civil war – Monarchist – Khmer Rouge – Autogenocide – Thailand
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Vietnam invaded in 1978 and the USA instituted an embargo on the new Vietnamese-sponsored government. The Carter administration helped the Khmer Rouge to retain its seat at the UN, giving the impression that Pol Pot’s regime was still the legitimate government of Cambodia. After United Nations intervention, however, Cambodia has gained stability and has begun to rebuild the country’s infrastructure that was lost during the brutality that reigned in the 1970s and 1980s.
Related Topics:
United Nations – Infrastructure
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Ancient states: Funan and Chenla
The first advanced civilizations in present day Cambodia appeared in the 1st millennium AD. During the 300s, 400s, and 500s AD, the Indianized states of Funan and Chenla took hold in what is now present-day Cambodia and southwestern Vietnam. These states had close relations with China and India. After these states collapsed, the Khmer civilization began to flourish in this area from the 9th century to the 13th century.
Related Topics:
1st millennium – Funan – Chenla – China – India – Khmer – 9th century – 13th century
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Angkor and the Khmer Empire
Main article: Early history of Cambodia
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The Angkorian period was in terms of cultural accomplishments and political power, the golden age of Cambodia. The kingdom was founded by Jayavarman II with its capital at Angkor, and the Khmer Empire lasted from the early 9th century to the 15th century. The Khmers had adopted religious and political ideas and institutions from India and began to establish a centralized kingdom which dominated Southeast Asia for much of this period.
Related Topics:
Jayavarman II – Angkor – 15th century
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The rule of Jayavarman VII (r. 1181-ca. 1218) saw the rapid expansion of the Khmer Empire. Unlike his ancestors, who had concentrated upon the cult of the Hindu god-king, Jayavarman VII was a patron of Mahayana Buddhism.
Related Topics:
Jayavarman VII – Hindu – God-king – Mahayana Buddhism
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Jayavarman VII began building activity that included the popular Angkor Thom complex and also the Bayon, a temple whose stone towers bear faces which have been identified as Avalokitesvara, which are either the king himself or the guardians of the cardinal points (Kerlogue, p. 109). He also built over 200 rest houses and hospitals throughout the empire and maintained a system of roads between his capital and provincial towns throughout the empire which would make it simpler for magistrates to collect taxes or for building projects. According to historian George Coedes, “No other Cambodian king can claim to have moved so much stone.” Often, quality suffered for the sake of size and rapid construction. An example of this was the beautiful but poorly constructed Bayon.
Related Topics:
Angkor Thom – Bayon – Avalokitesvara – Cardinal point – George Coedes
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Foreign occupation
Main article: Colonial Cambodia
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After the Siamese seized Angkor in 1431, Cambodia began to endure years of foreign domination by neighboring Siam to the west and by Vietnam to the east. This period is known as the “dark ages of Cambodia“. This period ended when Cambodia was made a French protectorate in 1863 and became part of French Indochina. Cambodia’s chief colonial official was the Resident Superieur (Resident General) while lesser residents, or regional governors were posted in all of the provincial centers. In 1897, the incumbent Resident General complained to his superiors in Paris that the current king of Cambodia, King Norodom, was no longer capable of ruling, and thus received permission to assume the king’s roles of issuing decrees, collecting taxes, and appointing royal officials, including the next king. Norodom and his successors thus assumed the role of figureheads and heads of the Buddhist religion. Even in the colonial bureaucracy, French nationals held the highest positions, while even in the lowest rungs of the bureaucracy the colonial government preferred to hire Vietnamese.
Related Topics:
Siamese – Vietnam – Dark ages of Cambodia – French – Protectorate – 1863 – French Indochina – 1897 – Paris – King Norodom
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During World War II Cambodia was occupied by the Japanese. After it ended in 1945, King Norodom Sihanouk demanded independence from France. With the military situation getting worse throughout Indochina, the French agreed to grant independence to the three states of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia in 1953. King Sihanouk, a revered hero in the eyes of his people, returned to Phnom Penh in triumph, and independence was celebrated on November 9, 1953. The last French officials left Cambodia in 1954 after control of residual matters affecting sovereignty, such as financial and budgetary affairs, passed to the new Cambodian state.
Related Topics:
World War II – Japanese – 1945 – Norodom Sihanouk – Vietnam – Laos – 1953 – November 9 – 1954
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