Celebrating the Cambodian New Year, the Khmer Way

With our 2 wheels, @jaseats and I set to join the locals and visitors alike in celebrating the Cambodian New Year, Khmer way.

For the Khmer New Year, the Angkor Archaeological Park – more than 40,000-hectare park located in Siem Reap, Cambodia which contains some of the magnificent remains of the Khmer Empire dating back from the 9th to the 15th century – is opened to foreigners for free (if you want to enter the temples though you’ve to pay the necessary entrance fee).
#architecturalphotography

The locals celebrate the Khmer New Year by taking a bath at a creek located inside the park or by taking a dip at the man-made lakes inside the park or simply by having a picnic nearby these bodies of water.

Early evening, the most revered temple inside the Angkor Archaeological Park, the Angkor Wat, was lit.

For dinner, we ordered at a local Chinese-Khmer restaurant vegetable fried rice placed in a glorious empty pineapple shell and soup with beef feet topped with some carrots and local herbs.

Late at night, we proceeded to the city center, in particular, Pub Street for the water fights. Here’s a video link to the actual water fights. We didn’t leave Pub Street dry, of course.

As we drove home, locals congregated in different parts of the city armed with water guns, buckets of water and water hoses. Some of the locals gave us a free pass but others though, in the spirit of the New Year, hit us with their water guns, buckets and hoses. We had a blast!

The Khmer New Year is still isn’t over. It’ll run until this coming Monday. Happy Khmer New Year everyone!

Photos by EllenR
Camera Used: Sony Xperia