18 February, Phnom Penh
#10 Lakeside Guesthouse 32,000KHR ($8)

Tomorrow is the Chinese New Year. According to Chinese astrology, each year is associated with an animal, occurring in a 12-year cycle. The 12 zodiac animals are: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. 2015 is the year of the goat, which falls 8th in the Chinese zodiac. We spent a lazy day in and around our guesthouse, an area popular with backpackers and hippies and dope smokers. The hot weather is conducive to doing not much at all under the insistent twirl of a wall-mounted fan. Our hosts had made an elaborate offering at their spirit house, which included a full roast piglet. Spirit houses are shrines to the protective spirit of a place, and are found out- or inside most houses and businesses in Southeast Asia. The spirit house takes the form of a small pagoda mounted on a pillar and placed in an auspicious place on the property. Votive offerings are left at the spirit house to appease the spirit. Our hosts subsequently ate their offering for lunch, which makes sense.