LTO Cambodia: Funeral of Sihanouk: Day 3

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Funeral of Sihanouk: Day 3

Riverfront vendors selling Sihanouk posters and photos.

Today, day 3 of King Father Norodom Sihanouk's funeral, was much like yesterday. The official proceedings, even as stated in the official program, were the "same as Day 2." The Royal Palace park and the road immediately in front of Veal Preah Meru (Sothearos Blvd) remained closed. The King and Queen Mother attended religious ceremonies at the crematorium in the early evening and people crowded at two of the gates (primarily the north gate) to offer respects and try to get a glimpse.

Getting access to the area continued to be a tedious process today due to the many street barricades and restricted access to some areas. Enforcement was still uneven though the police seem to be stricter about enforcing the rules today. Like yesterday, people are still grumbling about the lack of access to the area. Scenes of people trying to talk their way past the police barricade are common, and most often unsuccessful. Nevertheless the crowds are generally respecting the cordon and behaving in an orderly fashion.

Crowds in the Palace area and riverfront area were moderate during the day and increased in size dramatically in the evening, again many people gathering opposite the Palace in the evening to watch the proceedings within Veal Preah Meru on the giant TV mounted on the Palace face. During the day, the shrines at the Preah Ong Dong Ar Temple opposite the Palace on Sisowath Quay were quite busy with people making offerings. The sight of the Royal Barge docked on the river next to the temple also seemed to attract considerable attention.

The following are a couple of shaky iPad videos, which, though not of very good quality, might give some feel for the scene and atmosphere in the Royal Palace area this evening.

Scene on Street 178 at the north gate of Veal Preah Meru this evening at about 6:10PM.

Scene on Sisowath Quay in front of the Royal Palace this evening at about 7:00PM.

Riverfront park, late afternoon.

Trying to get a glimpse, or just as close as possible, at the north gate of Veal Preah Meru

Barge docked next to Preah Ong Dong Ar Temple, presumably the Royal Barge that will transport the ashes of King Father Sihanouk to the Tonle Chaktomuk (the confluence of the Mekong and Tonle Sap Rivers) on Day 5.

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Cambodia

Cambodia is Srok Khmer, the 'Land of the Khmer,' the primary ethnic group in the area since at least the Neolithic and an Indian influenced civilization with origins near 2000 years old. Centered on the lower Mekong and tributaries the Khmer people have dominated the region for millennia. From 2nd century AD Khmer kingdoms rose and fell, culminating in unification and the 500 year reign of the Angkorian Empire, the builders of the temples of Angkor near Siem Reap. The Empire stretched from Burma to the ocean. But by the 1400s Cambodia fell to centuries of change and decline squeezed between the expanding Siam and Vietnam. Colonized and by the French in the 1860s, independence 90 years later in 1954, a brief post-colonial 'golden period' under Sihanouk, coup in 70, civil war, fall to the communist Khmer Rouge in 75, 3 years 8 months 20 days of madness, Vietnamese rescue in 1979, occupation, low level war and international sanctions in the 80s, the UN, ostensive democracy and an adventure party destination in the 90s and now mainstreaming, tourism, rapid development, rapacious capitalism and NGOs, missionaries and other international busybodies aplenty.

Southeast Asia

As the term implies, Southeast Asia encompasses the southeastern corner of the Asian continent, loosely speaking, the area between India, China and Australia. It is made up of two distinct regions: the mainland zone, a bulbous peninsula jutting into the Pacific Ocean, bounded by China to the north and India to the west; and the insular (island) zone in the Pacific Ocean. The name 'Southeast Asia' is a comparatively recent invention, first coming into use into the 20th century and still a bit indefinite in definition. Mainland Southeast Asia is generally considered to include Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Burma (Myanmar) and peninsular Malaysia. The mainland is sometimes referred to as Indo-China though Indochina (Indochine) also designates the 19th/20th century French colonial conglomerate of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Sitting south of the Tropic of Cancer, most of mainland Southeast Asia lies in the hot, humid tropics and sub-tropics with a climate dominated by a monsoon cycle which divides the year into two distinct seasons: a dry season and an extremely wet monsoon season. Much of the mainland is mountainous and thickly jungled, with large river systems and wide, low-lying, flood-prone plains, much of which is, in modern times, deforested and blanketed with geometrical rice paddies. Several major river valleys including the Mekong River, the Red, Ma and Ka rivers and the group of rivers draining to the Chao Praya Delta played host to the rise of early civilization in the area. The Mekong River is one of the world's greatest rivers, the seventh largest on the planet, and since pre-history has been closely associated with the land of the Khmer.