Local traditions and culture in Krong Preah Seihanu

4 more images

Khmarnaval.

I happened to be in Sihanoukville towards the end of February and that turned out to be very fortuitous as my visit coincided with the delightfully named Khmarnaval, which apparently happens on the last Thursday, Friday and Saturday of this month every year. It is run by the wonderful M'lop Tapang charity which does amazingly good work amongst the disadvantaged youngsters here. When I say disadvantaged, I am not overstating the case. Many of the children you see pictured (and I am going to break my travelling rule by uploading several photos) live in a dump. I don't mean a dump in the British sense of the word as in a dirty, dishevelled house, I mean they actually live in a shanty town in the city dump and eke a precarious and dangerous living from scavenging what they can for recycling. Naturally, these children, mostly orphans, are prey to the most unsavoury elements of humanity and the charity provides a safety network for them, in additon to running all sorts of activities. You may well see the distinctive yellow scooters and vans running about town.

For months preceeding the event the children, under supervision and using the most basic materials either scavenged or donated by local businesses, make masks and decorate floats, transform rickety old bicycles into artistic displays and so on. It is like a mini Rio without the semi-nudity, or Notting Hill without the crime. This years theme was HIV/AIDS awareness with a spaceship motif, which leads to the title of this tip. The theme was represented by some hugely phallic displays of space rockets, some literally sheathed in plastic "condoms". Bearing in mind the age of many of the participants, I wondered about this but I suppose in the environment they inhabit, you learn quickly.

What was evident was the sheer joy of the youngsters, it was very touching. I suppose if you live on a dump and someone gives you a chance to dress up in a costume you have made, that must be a big thing. Then on top of that the local police, not renowned for their altruism, give you a motorcycle escort and stop all the traffic to let you walk down the middle of the road, it must seem like another world. The whole procession was peppered with stilt-walkers and a percussion band, all of whom had been taught by the charity workers. The English woman who runs (and, I believe founded) the charity, resplendent in an electric blue Cleopatra wig, led the whole affair juggling the while.

Each evening, after the processions, there is a show and a firework display on the last night.

I am sure that some people reading this tip, if anyone does, will have seen the huge carnivals of the world and obviously it does not compare in scale, grandeur or anything else. Trust me, if you have seen it, it is one Khmarnaval you would not want to miss.

Pick from album.

395 (top), 368, 385, 393, 398.