Rainy holiday

It’s Pchum Ben here in Cambodia, a time when the spirits of dead ancestors walk the Earth, and the living may ease their suffering by offering them food to eat. Khmers rise early and scatter food on the ground for the spirits. The local dogs have a field day. I don’t mean to be disrespectful – Buddhism is one of the main things that has prevented this country from going completely insane, and monks, the poor and the disabled also benefit from the distribution of food.

Several shops are closed as people return to their families and spend time around their local pagoda, so there are maybe less Khmers in Siem Reap, but the number of Westerners is swelling as the rainy season comes to a close and peak tourist season for Cambodia is on its way. Just as I type something about rainy season coming to a close, it has started chucking it down outside. Typical.

Laos was beautiful, cool and calm, and in the case of Luang Prabang, very tidy and not very exciting. I saw landcapes that were reminiscent of the Central Highlands of Vietnam or Yunnan province in China, and the people were polite if cool. Luang Prabang has doubtless benefitted from preservation as a UNESCO World Heritage city, but like Lijiang, preservation in this way seems to lose some of the colour and character of the place, and I get as much enjoyment from rounding the corner to a part of town that isn’t preserved, where everyone isn’t sat at stalls selling pashminas or tickets to attractions.

One weird episode in Luang Prabang was when we visited a French-run pub with a landlord who got everyone drinks, gave everyone a free shot of Lao Lao (strong rice whisky which was enough to have me gagging for the next hour) and then promptly disappeared for half an hour, leaving seven punters in the pub alone. We could have emptied the bar and the till, trashed the place and sold his Pastis for a thousand kip to the nearest degenerate, but of course not. Like pathetic baby rats we sat there for half an hour, no drinks, unable to pay, watching a Bob Marley concert on the TV. Never again I tell you.

It’s still raining outside and I have no waterproofs.