April 14th – Maha Sangkran (មហាសង្រ្កាន្ត) – Khmer New Year
Traditionally on the first day of New Year or Maha Sangkran as the locals call it people pay homage to relatives, and then light incense sticks. In the morning you are supposed to wash your face in holy water, doing your chest in the afternoon, and then in the evening washing your feet.
We lacked holy water, or relatives, so our day revolved around working on the YPT Membership scheme, and a quick swim, before retiring back to working for the rest of the day.
Another incredibly important factor, and what looked like the most fun is that on Maha Sangkran (មហាសង្រ្កាន្ត) people have massive water fights! Super soakers, water balloons, the whole nine yards, and best of all? You are allowed to soak anyone. Apparently last year in Siem Reap Bar Street things went off, but this year, well the coronavirus thing, that’s a thing here too, and water fights were off the menu.
Of course, we will have our table off offerings set up outside the house, and again it was tradition to keep the incense lit and make sure the table was still looking top-notch. Alas, cats seem to not get the concept of Cambodian New Year, and some of our food had been eaten a little.
Now traditionally on Maha Sangkran (មហាសង្រ្កាន្ត) you again eat what you want, but we decided we should go all out Khmer (when in Siem Reap after all) and ordered in Cambodian Fried Rice to be accompanied by something a little more adventurous, worms…….
I’ve written a dedicated blog about eating worms in Siem Reap, but the taste can best be described as unique!
With it being the Day of the Sun the next day we finished the evening with Soju, not yet quite ready to experiment with Khmer moonshine.