Siem Reap - fun with family and a Buddhist funeral procession.

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After arriving 24 hours before our expected arrival time and checking into the guesthouse where my sisters and niece we staying it was a bit of an anti climax to find them not in the guesthouse enjoying their lunch break. They were all working as volunteers at ABC and RICE school and usually spent the few hours they had off in the middle of the day relaxing in their rooms. There was no point waiting around for them so we caught a tuktuk to the Blue Pumpkin, an airconditioned cafe in the tourist centre of Siem Reap. Half expecting them to there instead we were once again disappointed - but we did however enjoy lunch before heading back to Bou Savy Guesthouse.


Not long after they returned and were suitably surprised to see us. We were very happy to see them looking healthy and happy. Later that afternoon we all crammed into a tuktuk and returned to the school. It was great to actually see the place that had taken up so much of their time over the previous three months. We met the teachers, students and other volunteers and retired to a shady tree in the grounds to wait whilst they finished their afternoon classes. We enjoyed the view of the colourful wall murals that Deb and Ginny had painted to decorate the exterior walls of the school building. The kids attending the school loved the murals as all afternoon we watched them walk up to the murals and stroke some of the animals painted on it - the dolphin seemed to be a particular favourite - as already the grey colour of his body was heavily tinted with brown from the students' dusty hands.

Over the next few days we did very little - though most evenings were spent enjoying the swimming pool at the Frangapani Hotel. We were to move into the hotel for the last six evenings of our time in Siem Reap - when my mother and other sister Suzie arrived from Australia. Pub street - the main tourist restaurant and bar street in Siem Reap - was nearly deserted during the day but after dark really came alive. We enjoyed a couple of meals there, people watching as we ate. Dozens of restaurants and bars, street stalls selling souvenirs, rows of chairs set up along the footpaths for street side foot massages, music and lights certainly added to the party atmosphere. We all had a street foot massage for the small sum of a couple of dollars - though the quality of the massages probably weren't worth more! None of us were tempted to try the fish massage though where you put your feet into a tank of tiny fish. The high day time temperatures - around 40 degrees - forced everybody indoors during the midday hours so after dark the city streets buzzed when everybody came out to play...

Jerry and I were really loving not doing too much after 12 weeks of constant travelling. Most mornings Ginny and I woke early and went for a walk in the morning gloom - thoroughly enjoyable as it was still cool and we enjoyed watching the city come alive. A couple of mornings we had breakfast coffee at the five star hotels near the river bank - a compromise as we certainly could not afford to stay at them. But it was great to get the chance to check out their foyers (and toilets!). The interior of Raffles Hotel, opposite the Royal Palace, was beautiful, as was the Victoria Angkor Resort nearby. We had not ventured anywhere near the temple sites at that stage (Jerry and I had visited them all on a previous visit) but were planning to revisit some of them with family. Though we knew those visits would only be in the early morning or late afternoon - by lunchtime the heat really was unbearable. Not that you actually had to walk too far - we were constantly accosted by tuktuk drivers as soon as we walked onto the footpaths to go anywhere. They weren't aggressive though - most were very charming and all decorated their tuktuks in some way to make it stand out in the crowd. We were lucky as we mostly used the drivers that worked with Globalteer - mainly Maes and his tuktuk with the hot pink satin seats.

One afternoon we were on our way to have 'high tea' at the Foreign Correspondents Club when we were passed by a procession leaving the temple, Wat Kesararam, close to Bou Savy Guesthouse. We had noticed previously that a structure had been built in the grounds of the temple but had not known what it was to be used for. The procession involved an ornate golden float in the shape of a bird which was topped by a dias on which lay a large wooden gilded coffin. Leading and following the coffin were hundreds of people - a priest, school children, local citizens dressed in black and white, dozens of orange robed monks and the family of the deceased monk are dressed in white robes with shaven heads. The procession was accompanied by the beating of drums as they left the temple grounds.

Our tuktuk driver told us that a senior monk had died and this was his funeral procession. In Buddhist tradition the coffin would wind it's way around the city, followed by the mourners, allowing the local people to pay their respects as it passed. The body would then be placed in the ornate tiered dais we had noticed within the temple grounds where it would lie until the cremation ceremony which would be held within the next week, anytime between three and seven days. As the bodies are not embalmed (because Buddhists believe this will have a negative impact on their rebirth) and with the current high temperatures, we presumed the cremation would be sooner rather than later...

After the cremation, which is held within the temple grounds, the ashes would be placed in a stupa within the grounds. Leaving the procession behind we continued with our visit to the Foreign Correspondents Club for afternoon tea. Our tasty treat was cosumed to the accompaniment of drums and fireworks from the procession. Two hours later we returned to the temple just in time to see the coffin enter the temple grounds. The lid of the coffin was removed twice - first to allow the float to pass under the entrance arch to the temple grounds, next as the coffin was lifted to the top of the dais. The dais was strung with black and white banners and the cut tin roof, in the shape of a stupa, was coloured in shades of yellow and orange. We spent the next hour or so watching and filming the proceedings. There were dozens of monks and many of them were also busily taking photos of the dais and ceremony. Once the ceremony started though they all surrounded the dais chanting and praying. It was fascinating to watch and for the next few days our time at the guest house was enjoyed with the chanting, drums and explosion of fire crackers as background sounds as the Wat was virtually next door to the guesthouse.

After checking that we would be allowed to attend the cremation we decided to do just that - once we found out when it was actually happening! Next day Jerry went to the War Museum which he enjoyed whilst I spent time with my sisters. It was fun checking out the markets and shops with them. Lots of laughs and gossip, the odd glass of wine and plenty of time sampling the menu at the air conditioned comfort of the Blue Pumpkin. Ginny, Jerry and I were up early the following day as we had bus tickets booked to Kompong Thom to meet my mother and other sister Suzie. Deb and Petra were having some quality mum/daughter time together. Mum and Suzie were overnighting there, enroute to Siem Reap, after spending a few days in Phnom Penh. Once again we were planning on surprising them - they weren't expecting to see us until they arrived in Siem Reap. We were hoping to accompany them on their day trip to Kampong Khleang, a large floating village on Tonle Sap.

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Comments

[taracloud]

Ceremony and sisters..
How great that you got to have a family reunion in such a gorgeous and exotic place, and you got to experience that moving funeral ceremony. I often enjoy best the serendipitous events that reveal a culture. Have fun with you mom and other sister!