Sounds of the Night Cambodia

In the early evening sounds from the local Karaoke bar, with its loud speakers, drift across from the riverside, but this finishes around our bed time 8.30pm and we go to bed with just the cicadas screeching joined by the squawking frogs if it has been raining –which at present is most nights.

The local dogs start barking, howling and fighting each night to see who is the pack leader at around 10-11 pm. There is usually a terrific thunder storm at around midnight and the rain on the tin roof is deafening.

                                                       Our house with large tin roof.

The animals that live in the roof space run about at various times –2am, 4am etc. are they rats? mice? lizards? night squirrel or birds? –I lie awake pondering this as some nights they seem to just skitter around while other nights they seem to bang about having fights.

The geckos sit on the mosquito screens of the bedroom windows (we have no glass in any windows) and randomly shout ‘gecko, gecko’ at each other.

At present it is the 2week festival of remembering the dead and appeasing the spirits: Pchum Benn so at 3.30 a gong is banged in the Pagoda across the road to awaken the monks for prayers. The chanting starts at 4am and lasts about an hour. Then they play what to my western ears sounds like plinky plonky ice cream van music for about a further hour. By 6am the motos are buzzing about as people go to work and the water buffalo in the field outside are complaining at being made to move –sounds like a cow bellowing deeply.

                                           Water buffalo during a rain storm taken from our window

My alarm goes at 6.30 having enjoyed all these cultural sounds that I would not have experienced in Kendal. As for Chris – he sleeps with industrial ear plugs in and misses it all!