Cambodian style water balloon
My guesthouse bathroom sink after I broke it
Trying to keep my finger in the hole so the room didn't fill with water
Doing a quick inventory of snacks for my bus ride to Phenom Phen

Before I talk about my hilarious bathroom adventure, I should mention the Cambodian counterpart to Thai New Year. Apparently it is still called Songkran but it here it is of course the Khemer New Year. The most noticeable event is no doubt the flinging of water activities on the street. However, I would have to say that Khemer New Year is kind of a hic version of that in Thailand. I'll give a couple examples. Instead of packing pickup trucks full of kids and water guns, I noticed several people sitting in the open trunks of cars, squirting water at pedestrians. Also, take the simple design of a water balloon. Something as simple as this is not considered as part of the festivities. Rather, small bags closed with long rubber bands (need 10 or so wraps) are preferred. I don't get it.

This evening when I was routinely washing the day's clothes in the sink I must have been a little rough because the sink collapsed and shattered on the ground. Looking back I actually have no idea how it didn't collapse on my bare feet. The sink and attached pipes were replaced by a stream of water that shot out so powerful it knocked me off my feet. I tried my best to shove a cloth in the hole but it was just too strong. I got my finger in there but it was pretty painful because of the pressure. I forgot to mention that I was also naked because I was of course, washing the clothes I had on for the day. This made it very difficult to call to the guy I was rooming with since he was already really suspicious that something wild was going on in the bathroom. I didn't want him to take off since we were saving good money sharing a room.

It took me forever to get my board shorts on with one arm. That drawstring and velcro is cumbersome enough with two free hands. I did eventually get them on though and opened the bathroom door. My room mate definitely knew something was going on since plenty of water had already leaked under the bathroom door. Eventually the guesthouse staff got the water off and plugged the hole properly. Well, kind of properly – they just shoved in the cloth I was trying to work in before. Then came the argument of how much I had to pay for the sink. The staff said it was $30 US. But of course everything is bargainable so I drove it hard down to $10 and we were all square and smiles again.

-steve-

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