Sport in Cambodia - anyone for flipflop petanque?

So what do Cambodians do for sport then?

Most people here work in the ricefields all day, so sport is probably a low priority. However, I often hear Cambodians described as ‘playful’, and I’ve already witnessed a fair bit of jocular jaunts and rollicking recreation...

Flip-flops are the main ingredient of the most inventive sports I’ve seen here – being thrown, kicked, kept in the air and generally not worn on the feet. Groups of guys also play a ‘keepy uppy’ game (sepak takraw) – not usually with a football, but rather using a strange contraption in the shape of a shuttle-cock with a spring-loaded base. Credit is given not just for keeping it in the air, but also the artfulness of the flick, using the back of the heel or sole of the shoe (or flip flop).

In practice, this seems more played than football – I’ve seen surprisingly few pagoda pitches. However, as with pretty much every country in the world, footy is still the top game, and the easiest common denominator for building (male) conversations. If, like me, you can say you come from Manchester, that helps a lot – though insisting you’re an Oldham Athletic fan isn’t so clever.

Surprisingly, volleyball seems to be the most popular ‘traditional’ sport, attracting sizeable crowds - though they seem less interested in serves and smashes than a spot of gambling. There are pitches on bits of waste ground in most towns and villages, and now the rainy season is over, makeshift courts are also promised on the sandy riverbanks – have I really chanced across a hotbed of beach volleyball?

The most fun sport I’ve seen so far is the al fresco keep fit classes in Kampong Cham, just north of Phnom Penh. Against the gentle backdrop of the Mekong river at dusk, giant speakers pump out dancy music, a young guy stands on a platform gyrating to a keep-fit routine, and before you know it there’s a lycra-mob mirroring every stretch and thrust. I will join them just as soon as I’m fitted for my pyjama-leotard.

As this is Asia, I was expecting to see martial arts, particularly at the gym near our language school. However, it actually specialises in body building - isn’t there something a bit wrong about the image of a muscle-bound Cambodian? On a run round Phnom Penh last week there were also a good number of thai chi-ers – it was an arresting sight as they saluted the sun as it rose over the river at dawn. Cambodians also seem to spend hours glued to thai or k’mai boxing on tv - generally when they’re meant to be serving me in their shop or hotel.

The best sport here has got to be cycling – lots of Cambodians use bikes, though usually for practical rather than sporting reasons. But it’s a wonderful way not only to exercise but also to see the luscious (and flat, and generally car-free) Cambodian countryside.

Apart from that there’s also a smattering of badminton between girls or siblings on the pavements at dusk, plenty of rowing during water festival season, and the particularly popular sport of parking Lexus cars in the middle of basketball courts.

So there’s a plenty here to keep me active – my first plan is to sign up for a 10k run in a couple of weeks time. It’ll be a bit warm, but as the route winds through the majestic lost temples at Angkor Wat at sunrise, I think I’ll manage.