PJs all day? Yes, please!

Upon living in Cambodia for the last few months, I have taken note of several things. One of these things is the innate sense of fashion and style that people have here. Ok, so maybe in the U.S. we wouldn't find it quite so fashionable to carry around a fuzzy Pooh purse at the age of 18 and maybe we wouldn't choose to proudly wear a baseball cap with a gold, glittery bill, but I really think that one thing could catch on...pajamas! And, not just any pajamas, but matchie matchies as they are called. Women often wear their pajamas out all day here, and often times accessorized with glittery high heels. All pajamas are sold in matching sets and come in floral, teddy bears with funny English sayings, Hello Kitty, and fuzzy bunnies. There is really quite a variety.

So, in order to see what all the hype was about, some friends and I decided to purchase our own pajamas and wear them for an evening out on the town! However, we waited a bit too long to purchase our pajamas and were quite limited in our choices as nearly all of the markets were shut for several days over the Chinese New Year. But, alas, we found a few stalls open and were able to purchase some pajamas of our very own!

Julie, Rachel, and Danielle in their pajamas preparing to go out.
We took a sunset cruise on the river, and this was our boat. A couple Canadian tourists joined us and didn't seem a bit concerned that we were wearing pajamas!
Sunset on the river.
Farming on the banks.
The river is lined with fishing boats, which often double as families' homes.
Phnom Penh skyline. If you can call it a skyline...
Danielle and I on a cyclo after our river cruise. I am sporting Hello Kitty pjs with some funny English thrown in as well while Danielle went for the pink floral print.

You would be amazed at the number of comments we received from Khmer people as we strolled about in our pajamas. They smiled and waved and said, "sa-aht," which means beautiful in Khmer. Some of them, wearing their own pajamas, would even stop us and smile and say, "Ahh, same, same!" and point from their pajamas to ours. It was quite the experience. However, the pajamas were not what one might call comfortable. The fabric was hot, and they were made in such a way that made you feel as if you were going to split the back seam when you walked (small steps were required). Thus, I have to conclude that the reason all the Khmer people wear their pajamas out is simply because they are fashionistas, and the matchie matchies are just that amazing!