Phnom Penh Day One

   Had a great first day! Breakfast at the hotel. Normal fried eggs, toast, etc. Will try something more adventurous tomorrow.

   Then with a clash of cymbals and beating of drums my attention was drawn outside. My balcony faces the street so I threw open the sash and... oops, wrong story. I ran out on the balcony and saw this group of kids in gold and red uniforms riding on top of a truck and causing the commotion. They
stopped right in front of my hotel and started to offload all this equipment and costumes. It was obviously for some celebration or show. Maybe like a Chinese Opera. I remember a lot of the same kind of "music" during those in Taiwan, right down the street when I was trying to sleep!

When I saw the costumes it became apparent they were doing some kind of Dragon Dance, probably

in celebration of Chinese New Year. I took a few pictures and then wandered down the street to what appeared to be a local monastery, since it was going to be a while before the kids were set up for their show.  The monastery was a pleasantly quiet place with friendly looking folks. In the center was a large temple. I found the entrance but didn't go in as I wasn't sure of protocol and didn't want to offend or cause a commotion. I can't put all the pictures I took on this blog so will have to upload them to a Picasa Web Album that I will post a link to later.

   After wandering around a bit I was stopped by a monk and asked, in perfect English, where I was from and why I had come to Cambodia. I told him New York and his face lit up. Even after I
explained it was not New York City, he kept smiling and then I told him I was going to see Angkor Wat. He smiled and said he had been there many times. I think he was quite proud of it.

   About this time I headed back to the hotel to see and hear what was going on. A large crowd had gathered to see the show. It now became obvious that the fancy pilings the group had erected were going to be the performance platform. And what a show it was. I hope the following pictures gives you some idea of the dangerous feats these young men performed as each two man team made its "Dragon" jump and dance its way across the pilings and back. I don't even want to think about the consequences of a missed step!

After the show I went inside and met the pro photographer, Nathan Horton, who will be our instructor/leader on this trip and the other participants. But, since it is already past midnight here I will go into more detail on those subject tomorrow.