The list of holidays in Cambodia is as long as Angkor Wat is old. While I have heard unsubstantiated rumors that Cambodia has more official holidays than any other nation-state on the planet, the fact that Cambodians tend to “take off” more than just the actual day of the holiday, usually the days before and after as well if not more.
Pchum Ben is a Buddhist holiday in Cambodia that celebrates the deceased ancestors of one’s family. At its essence, the impetus of the holiday is that, as mortals, we can somehow benefit our dead relatives by feeding them things like rice (naturally), fruit, cakes and water (because ghosts need to wash big meals down too…). This basic level of understanding Kate and I gained through participation in the rituals with our host family and by speaking with some of our language tutors.
At the height of the festival, families go to their local wats at different times of the day to make offerings of food and money to the monks that, it is believed, are then directly offered to the ghosts of relatives dead and gone via the monks who are constantly chanting and giving thanks. Offerings are also made to one’s ancestors by participating in a VERY early morning ceremony where family members go to the wat and walk in a circle around the central pagoda three times. At each corner, it is expected that you toss a small piece of rice cake or fruit away from the temple (presumably towards the ghosts) into the ever-growing piles that reach several feet in height after the ceremony is over. This makes the angry ghosts, those who are in the Buddhist equivalents of purgatory or hell, turn back and not harm the living. It sounds like the prologue of a sweet fantasy novel, but its actually an amazing service to be apart of. The smell of incense is overpoweringly thick, there are so many people waking around the temple that its difficult to take full steps and the 4am bike ride in the dark to the wat makes you feel like you are either going to a Halloween party or a midnight service on Christmas.
The festival seems to run over a three day period, during which the Cambodian transit system goes into its “holiday mode” where the number of traffic accidents goes up drastically, the price for travel increases (sometimes by a few 100 percent) and families tend to gather together at their “homelands” or where they were raised. My usual 3k-bikeride to town went from a relatively serene and leisurely trip to one of alert, terror and a strong desire to not cross the road at all. Cars usually drive somewhat recklessly on the highway the runs by our house and traffic laws always have been negotiable in this country, but commuting via bike on Pchum Ben felt more like a game of high-stakes Frogger.
On the plus side, the food is awesome – but not on account of any traditions. Since houses are suddenly full of family members, everyone is vying for the title of best cook, and since our house in particular happened to have two Americans living there, the stakes were much higher. We had some dishes that were truly amazing and made me wonder why we had not experienced that cacophony of tantalizing spices and flavors previously. Roasted duck that was then stewed in a thick spicy, peppery peanut sauce, curry that would knock out your neighborhood Thai joint, and this salty, rich dish with potatoes, carrots and pork that was cooked in pork fat so long it almost tasted creamy (nom,nom!). While we had a particularly skilled cook catering to us during PST, I couldn’t help but think that this was the food I had been waiting for.
Cambodian food in general, I must say, is something that I have generally been disappointed in as it is relatively bland and has little variety. When you consider Cambodia to be nestled among China, Thailand and Vietnam – regular leviathans of Asian cuisine – you might assume that Cambodia is one of those undiscovered jewels of culinary awesomeness. Not so.
Ill leave you with some pictures of my extended family, and my Yea in particular, making traditional Pchum Ben cakes of rice, beans and pork or banana wrapped in a banana leaf and cooked until the insides become gooey and delicious.
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| The whole family (in town for the holiday) and a few neighbors, getting in on the Pchum Ben fun. Here they are making the traditional rice cakes with pork and beans.
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| Just for fun, one of the geckos that lives in our house. Its called a T'kai because of the noise it makes. We have one that is about two feet long, but this one stands at a measly six or seven inches... |
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| Our house! Here you can see the front porch, the table where we typically eat all meals and the rice paddy beyond on the side of our house. The buildings beyond are actually a high school where we practiced teaching during training. |
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