Thursday, November 13, 2008

Water Festival in Siem Reap 2/3

Yesterday evening I went with Amy to see the floating lights at the Water Festival. Amy bought a float for 5000 riels to put in the water. The floats have a few incense sticks and a candle, which you light I suppose for prayers and good luck. We arrived at around 6.30pm and there were a few floats already in the water.
Floats galore! Yours for only 5000 riels (USD1.25) each! They are handmade from paper and styrofoam which is how they stay afloat. Some are heart-shaped and some round and they are decorated with coloured paper which are folded and then glued onto the styrofoam base.
You can even have ones shaped like ships!

We did not have a light so I asked a man for one. He promptly lit the candles and the incense sticks and suddenly we were joined by a few Cambodian children! They all seemed excited and the next thing we knew, one boy jumped into the river with Amy's float!
Here you see the little boy in the water, releasing the floated candles. Later when he climbed up the bank, he asked us for USD1. Unfortunately all I had was my camera as I was only out for a walk and Amy did not have change, so she dug in her bag and found some postcards. I hope the boy was not too disappointed! Sorry Little Boy!

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