Weather & Temperature and Religion in Cambodia

Weather & Temperature
There are two seasons in Cambodia:  One is hot; the other is rainy and hot.
   

   The rainy season runs from May to October, which menas it rains almost every day. Sometimes it’s only for an hour or less and sometimes it can go on for several hours – but it’s nothing like parts of the world where you get constant drizzle for days on end. Rain in Cambodia is impressive. It often begins with a gentle wind which quickly escalates into a strong gust, bending trees and plants and sending cyclists running for cover. You’ll generally see torrents of water pouring from the sky, sometimes accompanied by claps of thunder and brilliant flashes of lightning in a fabulous display of nature. While it may be stimulating to watch, lightning in Cambodia is far from welcome for rural communities, as it’s the cause of  many deaths among farm workers (in 2012, 103 people died from lightning strikes).
   

   Since Cambodia lies 10 – 13 degrees north of the equator, the climate is tropical and temperatures can get as high as 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in the hottest months, accompanied by high humidity, which leaves you dripping with sweat and in search of anywhere with good air-conditioning. The best time of the year is between November and February when it can fall as low as 18 – 20 degrees Celsius (64 – 68 degrees Fahrenheit) after the sun goes down, and locals are often seen during this season wearing down jackets, gloves, and scarves.

Religion

More than 90 percent of Cambodians are Buddhist. Everywhere you go, you’ll see curling spires of pagodas and bell-shaped stupas (tombstones holding ashes of deceased Buddhists) and hear the early-morning chant of monks summoning worshippers to special ceremonies – for the dead, for the newlyweds, for their ancestors, and for a multitude of occasions which require a monk.
   

   When Cambodian businesses open a new location, monks are always summoned to bless it. When a couple gets on in years, their children bring in the monks for an aging ceremony. When a baby is born, monks come to bless and name the infant. Not much of significance is done in Cambodia without consulting the monks first. They are even used to select an auspicious date for important ceremonies or christenings.
   
   According to their religion, Theravada monks can only eat two meals daily and are not allowed to prepare food themselves, so the lay Buddhists in the community cook and serve the monks - which also earn them merit for their next lives.

Religion is a huge part of Cambodians’ lives and it’s apparent in the way they conduct themselves, since the acts they do in this life reflect on the next life they are preparing for. Many a time we have been surprised and taken aback when a tuktuk driver has returned money from a fare we overpaid, or a market owner has run after us with a bag we left behind in his shop. Once, we left behind a packet of items from a pharmacy in a food stall at the always-busy Russian Market and returned 24 hours later to have the owner of the stall run over to us, clutching our packet, happy to see we had returned for it.
   
   Under the Khmer Rouge, religion was one of the casualties, since the oppressive regime forbid any practice - and particularly targeted Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity. In today’s much freer society, there are a number of other religions represented in Cambodia in addition to Buddhism. There are a couple of small Muslim communities (primarily in towns and rural fishing villages on the banks of the Tonle Sap and Mekong rivers), a small but growing Christian community, as well as Jewish centres and an emerging Mormon community.
Almost every home and business displays a small shrine (spirit house) containing fresh fruit, incense, flowers, and other offerings of food. They are often positioned in an auspicious location (which has been determined by a monk). It’s important that you take care not to disturb them, since they are regarded as shelter for departed loved ones and have special significance in the home (or business). Our local supermarket, for instance, has a spirit house in front of the customer service desk with a notice which reads “Please do not stand in front of the God house.”
   
   Cambodians are also a very superstitious race of people. They are fearful of ghosts, some believe that black cats carry the spirits of the dead, and most practice traditional healing methods of rubbing coins on the skin to rid the body of “bad air.”