Suon Soben Chamkapring (Pring Field Dream Park)

A group of five, including Chetra, Nareth, Nith, Lak and me, went to the park on the third day of this Khmer New Year (April 15, 2010) for sightseeing and taking pictures.

Initiated by Chetra who used to go there in Chinese New Year with her family, the plan was set just at the night before the day. Feeling too excited and obsessed with the images of what we would see and what we would do, I could hardly fall asleep. I also woke up early the next morning.

We gathered at 9:00 in front of RUPP and started our journey. We spend around half an hour to reach the destination.

For foreigner’s understanding, I would like to define the name of the park. ‘suon soben’ means ‘dream park’; ‘chamka’ is translated ‘field’; ‘pring’ is a kind of tropical fruit in purple color; there are many this kind of trees in the park. That’s why it is called so. There are also many mango trees planted.

Pring Field Dream Park is a place for public recreation where we can find facilities in amusement park (though they’re rather outdated), place for concert, good picnic site, and views of nature and manmade structures.

Today’s weather was not as hot as previous days when I could concentrate on nothing but playing games in front of the electronic fan. This morning the sun was shining but now and then it was blocked by some clouds with light, cool wind. The environment was fresh and pleasant.

Perhaps it was too early or it is too newly established, there were not many visitors until it was 11:00 am when people came from visiting Samrongandeth pagoda and prepared their lunch in the park, as we supposed.

What I was frustrated at was the behavior of the gang of young residents who gathered on every exit of the roads and tried to stop passengers and asked money from us. If we refuse to give them, they will spread the powder on our face. To avoid the powder, Lak gave them 500 riels. It was not a great amount of money, but this behavior is intolerable and unacceptable. It seems as if they want ßßto have fun with us in the new year occasion, but in fact they just use it as an excuse to get money. This makes passengers feel fearful of!

It was a tired trip since we had been walking, laughing, chatting, and riding motorbike totally for four hours. Despite of this, we had a special, leisured time together.

These are some of the views in the park.

Pictures taken with Nith, Nareth, Lak, and Chetra.

After having toured the whole park, we walked to Samrongandeth pagoda to see what was happening there. It may seem ridiculous to tell people that I’ve never been to a pagoda in Khmer New Year or other Khmer tradition occasions. Each family has their own culture, and my family has never had this culture of going to pagoda.