Country

The annual Water Festival in Phnom Penh is coming up. It will be held from Saturday November 20th to Monday November 22nd, but expect festivities starting already on Friday Night.

More than 400 boats, propelled by precision-trained oarsmen, take part in the boat races and the city takes on a carnival air during this period.

Open-air live concerts are held, make-shift food stalls selling a variety of local fare are set up in parks and children as well as adults take rides on ferris wheels.

Cambodia is a wonderful country with some lovely people, except for one race: drivers of big SUV's who all think they are above the law. In October 2010, an expat witnessed something that happens every day in this country, but what happened next is almost beyond belief if it wasn't recorded on video.

Bonn Pchum Ben is the festival held for commemoration of the spirits of the dead. The highlight is on the 15th day of the waxing moon during the tenth month of the Khmer calendar, called Pheaktrobotr.

The festival does not just begin and end on one day. In fact, it lasts 15 days, each of which is called a day of Kan Ben. A Ben is an offering. During the first 14 days, people take turns offering food to the monks of their local pagoda in the hope that their offering will reach the souls of their ancestors by virtue of the monks’ sermons.

So there is this guy on Vimeo, called properniceinnit, who spend two weeks in Cambodia and made an amazing video.

He says this about the country: I was fortunate enough to spend 2 weeks in Cambodia, if you haven't yet been, go. I had an amazing time and would highly recommend visiting.

Yes, of course Angkor Wat features in this 5 minute video, but like Cambodia is much more than it's temples, properniceinnit has succeeded in capturing the spirit of the country. He himself gave his video the simple title Cambodia, but I think it should be renamed in The Spirit of Cambodia.