You don't clean anything or do laundry. You don't take a shower or take out the trash. Is this a college dorm room or a teenagers dream? NO! And, this is not the way to scare away monsters either. Some people might avoid you but the monsters don't care. But I learn there IS a way to SCARE AWAY THE MONSTERS!

After arriving back in Cambodia, I spent the first week in Siem Reap, before going to see my friends in Battambang . Everytime I spend time with them I have a new and unusual experience. One day I was riding around the countryside with Villa and we stopped in at one of his relatives houses. They were speaking in Cambodia (Villa is the only one that speaks English). The first thing I know we are back on the bike riding towards Battambang when Villa tells me we are going to buy a bicycle. He plans to bring it back to his aunt on his little 125 Honda. He says I can hold it! I have seen them doing this before. They place the bicycle crossways on the bike behind the driver while someone else sits behind and holds the bike. 

I say I can do it but before we get the 20 miles to Battambang, Villa has rethought letting a foreigner hold the bike on the moto. He says he things it would be best to go get Samnang to ride with him and do it. That sounds goods to me, because as I started to think about it, I wondered how I was going to hold that bike on the moto and keep myself from falling off with it! I never told him, though . I just said, "whatever you think". I didn't want him to know I was having my doubts.

He let me off at my hotel so he could go pick up Samnang to help him with the bike. He said he would call me later that night or the next day.

About 30 minuetes later he called me in my room. He wanted me to come downstairs. He was sitting on his moto and Samnang was on the new bicycle. They had decided that Samnang would ride the bicycle the 20 miles to the aunt's house. 

The catch was, though, they wanted me to go along on the moto. I would sit behind Villa and Samnang would hold my hand while he sat on the bicycle. He would not pedal. He would just sit on the seat and let the moto pull him!

I say it's carzy, but they say they do it all the time. And, I have seen other motorbikes around town pulling someone on a bicycle this way. It's not unusual here . I guess someone on a bicycle is going the same place as the moto. Maybe a brother or sister is being pulled by a big brother, going home or something.

Anyway, I don't want to do it. It sounds too dangerous for Samnang. The roads here are full or potholes and there is often no shoulder on these small roads and there are cars and motos and bicycles and tuk tuks and pedestrians all along them.

They assure me it is the Cambodian way and it will be okay, so I finally agree to help them, but I still don't like it.

I guess we will just ride slowly the 20 miles there. I guess wrong! We pass other motorbikes and even some cars on the road. Samnang is sitting on the bicycle seat, holding my outstretched hand with his hand. That means he can only hold the handlebars with one hand.

I am horrified we will hit a pot hole or something else and he will lose control on that bicycle . I still have one hand to hold onto the moto with, so I am not concerned for myself. They don't think anything of the set up, though. I look over Villas shoulder, we are going 30-35 mph. Not so fast for us, but too fast I think for Samnang on the bike, with the road conditions the way they are here.

Eventually we arrive at the house and deliver the bike that still has the pedals and handlebars wrapped like it was in the store. 

These people do things that to us look and seem dangerous and difficult, but they have just lived doing with what they have to do with. The aunt will use the bike to take her 6 year old girl to school.

 I wanted to stay in Vietnam for TET. It also called The Lunar New Year in Vietnam. It is a two week celebration of the Chinese New Year. They celebrate Jan 1 as New Year, but it doesn't have much of a celebration. The Lunar New Year is a big one in Vietnam, though . It happens on different dates, according to the moon cycle, I think. This year it is the last of January and first of February.

Things close and people go back to their home towns and the families spend the time together. I read where familiar eating places in town would be closed and food would be hard to find on the streets like normal. For two weeks Hanoi would be quiet on the streets.

My Vietnam visa expired on February 14th anyway, so I could not stay unless I could get an extension. All the local people I had met would not be around, so I decided to cross the border into Cambodia and spend the New Year there. 

A few of the Asian countries celebrate this New Year date. In Vietnam they call it TET or Lunar New Year. In China it is called Lunar New Year or spring festival. It is celebrated in Korea, Japan, Thailand and other Asian countries. 

In Cambodia they call it The Lunar New Year but more commonly you hear it called The Chinese New Year . It's one of 3 New Years they celebrate in Cambodia. The other comes around April and I was in Battambang last year to celebrate that one. 

The Chinese New Year is a family time. Family members do whatever it takes to get to their homelands. It's like an entire country throws a family reunion at the same time!

In China it's the biggest human migration season of the year. People use cars, pack onto busses or trains, or do whatever it takes to get to the homeland. The government says during this holiday in China there are 3.62 billion journeys taking place, all at once.

In Korea last year I read there were almost 30 million people traveling.

And it's not just for one day. The holiday lasts for two weeks. That's two weeks of family food, betting on horse racing, watching parades, shopping or trying to find space to worship at the temple!

What I found interesting were the different customs connected with this holiday .

There are dragon dances all thoughout the streets. I saw some dragon dances in Battambang, Cambodia, outside the hotel. I saw many of them during the two week holiday period. There were street parades on some days. Then, I saw the dragon dances going from buisness to business, doing the dragon dance in front of the business. Then, they would go inside the building and do the dance. They would throw some water out and I think that was to bring good luck to the business in the coming year.

One day I was out roaming around and when I returned to the hotel, the desk person asked me what I thought of the dragon dancers that came to my room. I told them I hadn't been there all day. Apparently, the dancers came to the hotel and went to each room to 'bless' it for prosperity in the coming year.

There are lots.....I mean LOTS.....of superstitions in these Asian countries and this holiday is loaded with them . 

Here are some (I think some are more strickly observed in some countries than others):

 ......You can't buy shoes or any footwear during the entire lunar month because the term for shoes (haai) sounds like losing in Cantonese.

.......A girl can rent a boyfriend. When the single girl is not married, she gets drilled at the family get togethers as to why. So, some rent a boyfriend for the day. It's a big online business in China. You rent the bogus possible marriage partner for the day. Included you get a free embrace, hand holding, and a goodbye kiss. There are additional 'add on' services a girl can buy if she wants it to be more convincing, like being taken to dinner or a movie.

.......You don't clean house or do laundry or shower or take out the trash on the first day of the Lunar New Year. If you do you will wash away your good luck and prosperity for the new year!

.......On the second day you hand out with family, especially in-laws. 

.......Don't visit with family or friends on the 3rd day. It's a day prone to arguments.

.......The 7th day is the day to party to celebrate everyones birthday.

.......Food, like in all places on holidays is very important for the Lunar New Year. You should eat lots of sweet food to sweeten up the prospects for the coming year. Traditional holiday treats include rice pudding, candid fruits and seeds among other sweet goodies.

.......Scare away monsters by ..... shooting off firecrackers! Legend says the half-dragon, half-lion monster comes out of hiding and attacks children during the Lunar New Year. The monsters weakness is his senstive ears. So, the loud fireworks are the thing. In the olden days people would light bamboo sticks on fire to scare them away. Sometimes the dragon dancers going to the various business I saw would set off fireworks, but not at every door .
 
.......Wear red underwear to scare off the monster. Besides the loud noises, the color red is frightening to the monster. That explains all the red lanterns and costumes used in the Chinese New Year holiday.

Villa invited me to come to his village to spend the day with his family. The Cambodians that have Chinese relatives that have died get together and cook up a lot of food for the dead relatives. Then, the living relatives take the food to the Wat (Temple) and leave it for the dead relatives.

I decided not to go since it was such a somber day for the family. But, the next day Samnang invited me to spend the day with his family. On this day he had the altar in the house filled with food. This was for his dead Chinese ancestors.

Also, they buy photocopied U.S. bills to burn. This is a ritual they all do for their dead relatives. They use U.S. money in Cambodia as well as the Cambodian reil . Samnang's family had both riel and dollars to burn, burn, but mostly dollars were used. He told me it was "Ghost Money".
 
Thanks for reading! In my next post I will tell you how I got in to a fight with two Cambodians.......

  'Evil spirits': The truth about Chinese New Year
 
http://www.travelfish.org/location/cambodia/western_cambodia/battambang/battambang

11. Customs are flexible
Customs and superstitions aren't set in stone.There's room for flexibility in interpretation and application.Banning shoes for the entire lunar month?That depends on how you read the rules -- the word for shoe might sound like sighing, but it also sounds like harmony (hexie).Not showering for the sake of Lunar New Year?Many pass on that for obvious hygienic reasons.In the end, Lunar New Year is really about having a great time with family and friends, so many opt not to sweat the details.