Wedding Day in Mondulkiri

    We all packed up our gear and lugged it up, up, and up the long steep driveway to where the beat up old truck was parked (the nightly rains made the driveway simply too slippery to negotiate).  The sweat was really pouring until Jack came by on his motorbike and carried my big bag the rest of the way.
    Good thing!  I didn't want to ruin my wedding apparel.  I hadn't packed any good clothes, but I figured cheerful colors would suit.  We loaded up the truck and, looking much like the Beverly Hillbillies, headed to the village.
    The wedding reception was like wedding receptions all over the world.  There were the out-going guests who mingled relentlessly.  There were mad relatives (apparently a Khmer-Bunong wedding is frowned upon).  There were people who found a favorite friend, plunked themselves down, and talked exclusively to that person.  There was the groom feeling out of place and uncomfortable. There were kids circulating around amazed at all the alcohol being consumed by the adults and equally amazed (and a little scared) by Xerex.  There was lots of drinking and lots of music. 


    There were also a few differences.  For example, it IS the first wedding I've been to where a couple of baby pigs were sacrificed.   I've almost never seen wedding music performed exclusively on gongs.

Gong Show from Northpith on Vimeo.
AND I'd never been to a wedding where nearby there were bomb craters.  To say nothing of the bride who'd selected a "hello kitty" outfit for the occasion. 

     The pigs alone were a cause of high excitement.  I'd seen a couple of sows shuffling around in the yard--obviously mothers--but had only heard rumors of the baby pigs.  When I heard one squealing, I thought somebody had caught one for the children to pet.  So I wandered toward the squealing with my camera and was closing in for some cute piglet/children pix when I abruptly realized that something very different was taking place!  As you can well imagine, I did NOT photograph THAT event!   I also managed to gracefully avoid tasting the blood pudding that was being passed around later.