Bon Om Touk - The Water Festival

Last weekend held the annual Bon Om Touk Festival in Phnom Penh. The event is commonly called the Water Festival by English-speakers, but I believe it is more correctly translated as the Boat Race Festival. I heard several accounts as to the origin of the celebration--I imagine they all hold some truth. Apparently the races date to ancient times when the king wished to test the strength/speed of his warboats, as well as celebrate the Khmer naval victories. Additionally, the festival is a sort of thanksgiving, as Cambodians show appreciation for the mighty Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers. There was some talk about November being the time of year when the Tonle Sap changes directions and flows upstream?!, but I only heard this from foreigners.



For the festival, some 500 long (20meter) pirogues and their 50-60 person crews gather in Phnom Penh from all over Cambodia, along with hundreds of thousands of folks from the provinces. The city, especially the streets and avenues near the riverfront, becomes choked with people, cart vendors, and motos. The masses gather on the concrete riverbank and for three days, watch the 500 boats compete on the Tonle Sap (to my eyes, still flowing downstream!). All day, pairs of boats, race the 1km course in the center of the river, and upon finishing, move to either bank, and began paddling back upstream to race again. I had a spot right at the finish line, but found I enjoyed watching the boats paddle upstream much more than the races. The crews passed just a few meters in front of me, and were all too eager to exchange hellos, sok sapbais, and smiles.




Many of the boats had a drummer to keep their spirits high, as well as a "character guy", a guy with a mask, or dressed in drag, who entertained his mates and the crowds. Each boat appeared to have two coxswains, one on the bow and stern--during the race the stern-men guide the boat and the bow-men dance to keep the paddlers in rhythm. A few boats had female bow-coxes, and there were a number of boats that had entirely female crews.






It was a gorgeous day, friend Daniela and I enjoyed watching on the riverbank for several hours before relocating to an acquaintance's third-floor apartment terrace, with a grand view of the river and away from the crowds.