Themed post!
Every community in Cambodia has this large complex of buildings, grand and beautiful. They are called Wats, or Pagodas. 
The main temple is where the Buddhism happens. During high holidays, all the Khmer families go to the wat for various ceremonies. Otherwise, every Sunday the elders go the wat as heads of the families.
Ceremonies include Pchum Ben, in October, which has bot bai ben, a 4am ceremony that involves throwing sticky rice in baskets. For those who don't want to wake up at 4am, each extended family gets a slot of time to be blessed by the monks during the day.
Water festival is in November. That has boat races, carnivals with rides and games, and more monk blessings.
January has Victory over Genocide day, not a religious day, but lots of carnivals in all the wats, (we went to 3-4 wats that week, wat hopping!) and some even had trampolines!
During rainy season, this drum gets banged every morning, 5am on the dot. Not during dry season.
Surrounding the main temple are these tombs, that house the ashes of the wealthy families. The ashes of the not so wealthy families go in a large tomb, buried in the ground.
There are lots of sculptures, and wonderful architecture.
And inside the temples are detailed paintings of the life of the Buddha.
Lastly, the grounds have expansive gardens,
Water lily ponds,
Classrooms, and barracks where the monks live,
And lots of other buildings and pretty stuff!!
Incredible beauty and culture.
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