A boat, balloons and 7 boxes of beer

To mark my 30th year of existence on this planet, I spent the day with my Khmer colleagues and friends by Tropieng Tmar reservoir. Not one to miss an opportunity for a party I had informed my colleagues of my upcoming birthday (along with jokes of more wrinkles and lines) but never expected what was to come.

As luck would have it, I was fortunate enough to have welcomed Madeline into the country a few days prior to the ‘big day’ so I had someone to watch me open the presents and cards the postman had delivered.

We drove to the lake on my moto; well, I drove. Mads held the inflated balloons and screamed into my left ear every time she thought she was going to be dragged off the bike by said balloons. We only lost one on the way (balloon that is) despite Mads’ daring “look, no hands!” stunts. What amazed me at this point, bearing in mind that the day had only just begun, was that Madeline’s fears of being on the road as a passenger in the UK where safety standards are inevitably a lot higher than here in Cambodia, did not transfer across the continents with her. In fact she was remarkably calm about hopping on the back of a moto (even sans helmet!), riding in a crammed taxi where the taxi used his horn instead of his brakes, and various other normally hair-raising-seat-gripping-teeth-gritting-swearing transport moments. I was proud of her!

I was truly overwhelmed at the trouble my colleagues had gone to. They strung up more balloons into a tree, provided a delicious Khmer curry and bread picnic, presented me with gifts and lit candles on a birthday cake. Birthdays are not traditionally celebrated in Khmer culture and everyone becomes a year older at Khmer New Year in April despite when your actual date of birth. In fact, many Khmers don’t even know their own birth date! It really was a special occasion. A homemade birthday cake from Ruth survived the whole journey through the post and was shared out and gobbled up and Soroth joined the party, making the trip from Oddar Meanchey and it was lovely to see him. As food had been provided for us, we decided to get the beer in so we bought one box (24 cans) and a crate of soft drinks to start with. The lady at the stall had to moto off to get us a box and it was not her first trip by far!

It was fantastic to share the whole experience with Mads (friends circa 1990!) and she fitted in straight away and enjoyed every second of it (of course it was also handy to have her around to take photos of ME!).

After the present giving ceremony, 2 more boxes of beer, a thank you speech, a Khmer-style rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’, an Anna-style rendition of ‘Super-Trouper’ (I WAS FORCED!) and a random-style rendition or 3 of some traditional Khmer songs, we piled onto a small boat.
Normally, the thought of a half-cut group of people, busy ordering 2 more boxes of beer, boarding a floating vessel driven by two whippersnappers young enough to be my offspring (well, I am 30 now!) would fill me with a quiet sense that my time on earth might be up. Not to mention Madeline – did I mention how she is not normally the best of passengers? However, with her strangely foreign liberation of fear, plus the amount of cans of Angkor we had consumed, we really didn’t care that the boat had no life jackets.

The boat chugged into the middle of the reservoir where a static raft awaited us and as the boat chugged off to collect another box of beer I received some lovely birthday phone calls from the UK. It was so surreal and wonderful to be sitting on a raft in the middle of my district in Cambodia, sat next to one of my best and oldest friends, chatting away to my nieces thousands of miles away. I really couldn’t have asked for a better of more memorable 30th birthday. And just as I thought things couldn’t get anymore surreal or wonderful the boat returned with more beer AND a parcel from some lovely VSO friends!

More speeches were made on the raft, including one from Mads, as darker clouds crept into the sky threatening rain. Through the Angkor haze I recognised the fact that if a storm hit us we may have to swim back. However, Soroth ‘fell in’ and immediately dispelled any fears of drowning as the water came up only to his waist. Oh well, if the worst happened we could always wade back home.

After a rapid rainy journey home, a slightly drunken experience with a moto, the party continued at Mr Sophan’s house where Madeline continued to be a hit and where more beers and presents and general tomfoolery appeared. We eventually tumbled into our beds, Mads a very happy bean (I could swear she sang American Pie at some point) and me a very happy 30 year old (but not a dog owner, much to my dismay – “Hello Puppy”)!

Cheers to everyone for messages, cards and pressies – it was a very special day! x