The house of the spirits and the snake-slayer

On Saturday, I was awoken at 6am by a loud persistent banging. Rolling over, I cursed the early start of somebody's daily routine. In fact, it was the guard, Sokhan, who had spotted a snake in the garden and had spent the best part of an hour - against his better judgment - tracking it and then impaling it on a long pole. We were touched by the guard's devotion to duty in protecting us from this reptile, especially when we susbequently identified the beast as a Cambodian Black Spitting Cobra (Naja siamensis). Sokhan admitted that if he had encountered it at home he would have run a mile. He received a well-deserved tip as reward for his bravery.

Following this incident, which seemed yet another is a growing list of minor pieces of bad luck that had befallen us in the house, we went out to purchase a small temple for the garden in the hope that our ancestors' spirits would afford us some protection . Almost every house in Cambodia seems to have one of these shrines, a small elaborate replica of pagoda crafted from concrete and painted in gold, standing on a concrete plinth. The custom is not strictly Buddhist, but an example of how Khmer culture has assimilated conflicting beliefs. Ancestor worship is more a Chinese tradition.

So now our ancestors receive regular offerings of McVite's Digestive Biscuits and Green Oranges in return for keeping the evil spirits at bay...