A Battambang Weekend

Dreams really do come true. After being in Cambodia for over a year and a half I have become a fan of Khmer music, specifically Khmer rap music. Famous singers in Cambodia are Vannda, Norith, Vanthan, YuuHai, Goofy, Roxy, and more. Specifically with Vannda, I have become a huge fan of his music. He is just now releasing a 3 part album series and with that release he did a couple of concerts around Cambodia. Recently, he had a concert in Battambang, just an hour drive away from where I live. Gratefully, a friend that I have made in my town (who is also the daughter of one of the teachers at my school) asked me to go. Of course I had to go to this concert. Her other friend, who had a car, decided to go as well and so on Saturday we drove down in the afternoon to go see the concert and then spend the night in Battambang. On the way we also picked up my friend’s brother and his wife and also got Korean BBQ. 

Me with Norith

The concert was unreal. I had such a good time, and already knew most of the songs that were being played (although knew them by rhythm and beat, but I am still working on learning the words in Khmer). I was with some Vannda super fans too so by the end of the concert, we had made it all the way to the front right next to the stage and when Vannda went into the crowd I touched his hand :0 

YuuHai, Norith, Vanthan, and DJ KDEP also performed and after the concert was over all of the singers were dancing on stage and I danced with some other people in the concert venue. Once people started to leave, the group I was with wanted to stay and try to meet the singers while they were leaving the venue. We saw YuuHai leave first and so we got to meet him!

While waiting for the others, we danced some more outside. All of a sudden my friend had me hustle to the back of the building and we went in the back door where the singers from the night were all hanging out and celebrating. Because my friend was determined, we made it in and I got to meet every singer from the night, which felt UNREAL. The rest is history and we got back to the hotel with the feeling we could barely sleep (although having to wake up at 6 the next morning to go home). 

When Vannda came into the crowd

To anyone, this was just a normal concert, but to me it was just such a happy moment. The concert was great, the music was wonderful, and I GOT TO MEET THE FAMOUS PEOPLE. It was one of those moments that you are already happy (because the concert was so fun) and then it just got even better. I also got to meet the head of Baramey Production company, Laura Mam, who works with the rappers. 

The next day we woke up at 6 to take everyone home and I got back to my house around 9. About an hour later, my other friend texted me and asked if I wanted to go to Battambang for the day. I was just there! I said yes of course (always seize the opportunity to do something, despite being dead tired). I thought we were going to Battambang city, but we did not. We ended up going to Samlot which is a rural area in Battambang known for durian. 

If you do not know what durian is it is the fruit known for being stinky. The smell has grown on me a little, but it for sure is an acquired taste (I can eat it but I prefer not to). It has been a good opportunity to be in Cambodia and try it though because I once read an article about how growers in Thailand sell to other countries for a super high rate because durian is in such high demand. I don’t even know if you can get it in the U.S. So no better time than the present to try it! (It is also mango season right now so we have mangos in every crack and crevice of our house, so much so that we have too many mangos and to make sure they don’t spoil my host mom has been making fruit leather-like a healthy fruit roll-up).

We were driving for an hour down a dirt road-how many of my stories go-and it started to rain. We passed a lot of mango trees (all filled with mangos)! But saw no durian. We stopped at a random lady’s house and asked for directions (although now since teaching my friend how to use Google Maps they got so good at checking where we were going). It turns out durian was not yet fully ripe. We passed a couple of stands that were selling in the rain, but lo and behold, they weren’t ripe, so we didn’t buy. 

On our journey home, we made a quick stop at an all you can eat buffet where you cook your own meat and vegetables. Let’s just say if there was a score: Buffet:1, Alex: 0. The all you can eat buffet defeated me, aka my friends told me as eat as much as you can but I genuinely couldn’t do that, leaving me to feel very sick by the time I got home. 

Combined these two experiences into one post but it was a jam packed weekend (or day and a half) in Battambang! It was nice because although I was so tired by the end of it, it felt so nice going to do things with friends (especially get to ride in a car!) I appreciate cars so much more since my host family doesn’t have one so it is usually the bike or I don’t go somewhere (or take the bus but that only goes so far).