New Year’s Day 2

Today was the second day of the new year and according to tradition, it is a day for visiting relatives.  We didn’t see much visiting here in Phnom Penh, though, because many, many people have left the city to go visit their relatives at the family homesteads in the provinces.

Most people left town for the provinces two or three days ago but this morning there were still some who were just now heading to the homeland and a family reunion.
The streets of Phnom Penh during the new year holiday have many fewer cars and people but they also have a lot more garbage. Only skeleton crews are working during these days.
These are garbage men who are working during the holidays. In the absence of cans, containers, etc., the crew picks up garbage by hand and uses pieces of cardboard and other materials as shovels and scrapers.
Phnom Penh may be one of the only places in the world where the garbage truck crew is equipped with pitchforks to pick up the loose mounds of trash in the streets.
The Kiwi Bakery and Restaurant is a place we take visitors because they have more Western type offerings in addition to Khmer dishes. They were closed up today just like 99% of all businesses.
Hotels have to stay open for the tourists who appear not even knowing it’s the Khmer New Year. This hotel added a new year touch in the white table with a shrine to ancestors at their front door.
The tourists keep coming. Here several visitors work on their lunch.
At the same time, other tourists were on the road snapping pictures.