9-11 November 2011

Water Festival

This year turned out to be a really different Water Festival because the boat races, the central event which brings 400 boats and 25,000 rowers and their families to Phnom Penh, were canceled.  Cambodia has been subjected to serious flooding the past month and the government decided that money normally spent on bringing boats to the races could be better used to rebuild houses and replant rice crops in the provinces.  The cancellation would have been a big disappointment to the two to three million people who converge on Phnom Penh every year for three days of fun, but it was also a real disaster for all the vendors who bought stock and made preparations for selling all sorts of items to the crowds.  They may have lost a very significant part of their yearly income.

	In previous years, when the crowds were thronging all the thoroughfares leading to the riverfront, there were police barricades at the Independence Monument to prevent vehicles from accessing what became a huge pedestrian area.  This year the barricades were gone but the monument received a ring of floral wreaths in remembrance of I know not what.
	Beyond the Independence Monument, farther toward the river, a new banner was hung this year proclaiming Phnom Penh as a "Charming City."  That's true in a way, but it's sad to see the greed and venality of the government destroying so much of the charm of the old city which was once known as the Paris of Asia.
	Some tourists plan their trips to Cambodia at this time of the year just because it coincides with the Water Festival.  Others arrive not knowing that the Water Festival will be celebrated while they are here.  This year there seem to be fewer tourists around, maybe because of the global economy, maybe because of the recent flooding, but there was at least this one couple at the Russian Market.