The monks and students at Wat Moha Montrei near the Olympic Market in Phnom Penh had an unexpected visitor Saturday: a large and vigorous python.
About 50 onlookers were craning their necks Saturday to examine the visitor, who was enclosed in a chicken-wire cage.
Thin Samnang, a monk in the crowd, said the python, or puah thlan in Khmer, had been brought to the pagoda Friday as a gift by Som Serey, a policeman.
The snake appeared to be about 4 meters long, although it was difficult to be certain as it undulated around the cage, and about 21 centimeters in diameter.
“People living in the city don’t often see snakes like this,” Thin Samnang said, as the mostly adolescent crowd joked and urged each other to stick their fingers through the wire. “They think it is very interesting.”
Speculation was rampant on whether the snake was male or female, or whether it had eaten lately. The consensus seemed to be some variation on the theme, “I don’t know, why don’t you check?”
Thin Samnang said the snake would probably be presented to Phnom Tamao zoo in Takeo province.
