the legend of ya-mao

'Beach town,' 'port community,' 'fledgling resort destination,' - all describe Sihanoukville, my current home, and Cambodia's premier beach town. However, it is more than these things. It is also a land of strange, and slightly rude, legend...

At the crest of the Oich Nil Pass on National Route 4 dozens of small spirit houses line the road. These are maintained for Ya-Mao, the deity who, many here believe, oversees the southern coastal region of Cambodia.

According to legend, Ya-Mao was the wife of a village chief near Sihanoukville. Her husband was forced by his work to spend months away from her on the island of Koh Kong. One rainy season she grew lonely, and took a Koh Kong bound boat to meet him. On the way the boat was swept away in a storm, drowning everybody, including Ya-Mao.

After her death her spirit proved powerful and, through dreams and spirit possessions, she made it known she was overseeing the southern coast from above, and protecting the fishermen and villagers. In return, she required only their good behaviour and the occasional offering of phallic symbols.

And people do just this. When travelling Route 4 into Sihanoukville, many display 'phallic' bananas on their dashboard in homage, and then offer bananas, incense, and a little money to Ya-Mao when they pass Pich Nil. The offerings are usually made with a prayer for safe travel. The Ya-Mao shrine at Pich Nil is also covered in hands of bananas, and phallic symbols can be seen on the beaches of Southern Cambodia near fishing villages, often in the form of a stick and incense stuck in the sand under a tree. Wat Khrom in Sihanoukville maintains a small but significant temple for Ya-Mao.

Why Ya-Mao makes such a demand is a matter of debate. Some people say that the male phallus was what she was seeking in her ill-fated trip and she still desires it. Others argue that she is angry with men in general, because she died trying to get to her husband, and wants them as an offering symbolising severed manhood. Sidestepping the debate, some more conservative, and perhaps naive, members of the community maintain that Ya-Mao just likes bananas, and that's all there is to it!

Who knows the truth, but now at least the next time you drive through Sihanoukville, and see bananas all over the place you'll know why.