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![]() This is a sequence with an imaginary monologue from the guy in the grey shirt who is loading the motorcycle.... (Click on any picture to enlarge) Pic 1: "Okay. Are you seated? You don't seem to have enough loaded on yet. We'll try this bag of flour. There should be plenty of room at the front." Pic 2: "Okay. Lean back. What's that? You can't lean back eh? Well then, breathe in. Further. Further. That's it. Wait, it's a bit tight, I'll have to change position." Pic 3: "That's better. Now I can force it down. Whoa, not that hard just there. Just a wiggle here and there should do it. What's that? A bit tight in the nether region? Slide about a bit, that should make some room. It's only a flour sack, you should be able to make an impression in it. Try thrusting forward. That's it. Comfy now?" Pic 4: "Wait on, you're not holding anything in your left hand yet. I have just the thing, a bag of dried pork skins. Just lift your grip on the handlebars. I said lift your grip on the handlebars! That's it. I'll wrap this around once and you put your hand over it again. Watch out you don't bruise it with your knee. That's it. What's that you say? I can't hear you very well." Pic 5: "I'll just check inside to see if there is anything else.... Hey, where are you going!? Well, see you drive safely." |
![]() The structure on the right is the beginning of a new entrance to the pagoda. There is a corresponding one on the left, but my skills were insufficient to bring it into view. The structure of significance is the narrow vertical pipe thingy in the middle, which on completion will have a garuda (mythic bird) or similar placed on top (of each). What I find fascinating though is the scaffolding. It is mostly bamboo tied together with ropes, with the odd plank put in to stand on. The workmen (there are two on top) climb up the last part of the scaffolding without the aid of a ladder and haul up the cement and reinforcement rods needed for the pipe by a rope and pulley. I am sure the engineering for the scaffolding is probably fine, but without any steel in it at all, don't expect me to climb it! This is a work in progress visible from our front balcony, so will keep you posted on progress. |
![]() The small bottles are old glass Fanta bottles and it is a wonder that there are still enough to go around. The glass container on the 200 litre drum is a part of a pump. The glass is calibrated so that as the hose feeds into the petrol tank, the tap is closed off at the right amount. This way, you can get up to ten litres at once. The price is chalked up at 2,600 riel per litre. You can do the calculations yourself, with one US dollar worth 4,000 riel and the Aussie dollar at about 3,000 riel. |
![]() Underneath all that plastic is a seat for passengers. It fits one adult comfortably but can go up to three or four adults or even a family of six or seven, depending on how much you have to spend and how much you value comfort. Many of the cyclo drivers tend to be itinerants from the countryside. With a quiet time between ploughing, planting, harvesting, threshing or other farming activities, the men often come to the city to do manual labouring of some type. It does not get much more manual than this. The black bands holding down the load are strips of rubber cut from inner tubes with hooks tied at the ends. They are very strong and have a surprising amount of stretch in them. |
![]() The driver's compartment will have either four or five adults crammed in, with two people sitting in the driver's seat - but hopefully only one actually driving. In this particular ute, the inside space on the back is seating for a dozen or so and the roof has been used for goods, but often people sit on the roof as well. This means of travelling is relatively cheap. |
![]() This particular scene with umbrellas is on the edge of a market, so that the vendors spill out on to the road and take up what should be the road space. |
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![]() These women will sit from early morning to early afternoon tying up fish in bamboo holders and cooking them over charcoal in a smoky haze that probably isn't good for them. You have to bargain a bit too over the price. But if you don't like what you are quoted or what you see, move on to the next vendor - the price quickly comes down then as the competition can be fierce. This brings me to a feature of Cambodian selling that I have not been able to fully understand. All the vendors of much the same product, tend to be in much the same street, side by side. Thus all the sellers of silk are together in a market, as are the sellers of shoes and the sellers of books. The invites the inevitable competition that keeps prices low. Perhaps they mean just to be found, so that a buyer will know where to go in a market or a street to find, say, books or silk? |
![]() The huts are made of poles and planks loosely strung together so there is plenty of flex, but usually not much break. The huts have bamboo slats for floors so don't drop anything through or it's in the drink. The roof is made of thatched grass. Relax, lie back, chat, complain, eat lunch, then stretch out for a snooze. Pack up and go home. |
![]() These sections are then put over a scaffolding of sticks in overlapping style so that the water will run off the top. They are held in place by strips of grass tying them to the scaffolding. It is an art of sorts. These sorts of structures are clearly temporary. How temporary depends on your circumstances. Building them for people to come and enjoy the countryside and the water on weekends means they might last a season, maybe two, before they have to be rebuilt. If it is your house, it may have to last for years with running repairs. Go to top of page |
![]() In this boat there is a man, woman and three children. The cover over midships is the only shelter. The kitchen is midships (outside, unless it is raining) and the bathroom is outside - the whole river. At the front is an oar for manouvering. It is tethered near the edge of the boat and is used in a standing position. This fishing boat is a bit sophisticated as it has an outboard motor at the back. It is a petrol engine mounted on a swivel with the propeller on a long shaft hanging over the back of the boat. The motor is started, and once the propeller is spinning, another lever mounted near the engine is used to swivel the whole motor and shaft so the propeller is lowered into the water and used for steering as well as propulsion. There is also another standing oar mounted at the back for added steerage or with use in conjunction with the fore oar. This boat uses a floating net strung about 40 metres across the river, hoping to catch something as they paddle against the current. These people always seem to me to be paddling against the tide. |
![]() The monks play a pivotal role in the life of Cambodians being central to all significant ceremonies and celebrations. These range from weddings to funerals to house blessings to good luck ceremonies to opening ceremonies to coronations. Providing alms to monks is optional. Many people do not do so and the monks tend to know who will give something and who will not. But it is clear from the very good condition of the robes that plenty of people are providing for the buddhist community at the moment. Where do the monks come from? Many males in Cambodia spend time as a monk, whether as young boys or later in life. Many of them would be in their late teens and twenties. It is considered good karma to spend some time as a monk, so that even the cynical politicians do it for short periods as a publicity stunt. But a true monk, especially a teacher, is hard to beat for calmness. They exude it. |
![]() It is very common for bread to be sold on the roadsides at strategic exit points to the city. That way, travellers need only lean out the window of the taxi, or lean over from the back of a utility, or pull up their motorbike to get provishioned for their journey. This guy is running the bread from the central bakery out to these roadside sellers. The top basket is not tied on. It is assumed that it will not move very far, placed as it is on top of the bottom basket. But, just to be sure the rider knows where it is, he leans it forward against the back of his neck so that he can keep tabs on any movements. Also it prevents the bike from tipping backwards with too much weight at the back. His load is not covered either, though you would it expect it to be if it was raining. |
![]() In this particular picture, the person picking the rubbish is not visible but they have left their collection cart there with their child in it. They sit among the cardboard, plastics and other objects retrieved. The picker is usually a woman and cannot leave her child at home, so must take them along with her to care for them. |
![]() In the bottom right of this picture is a fish seller. Some of the fish are kept semi-alive in shallow water and she guts and dresses them as customers order them. But a lot of the fish will sit there for several hours in the heat before being purchased. The fish, and other vendors, such as the meat sellers, take advantage of the fresh is best principle. The cattle and pigs are usually slaughtered very early in the morning and the meat delivered fresh to the markets. It is usually sold by mid-afternoon, without any refrigeration in the process, cut up and eaten the same, or sometimes the next day. Mostly, this means that there is not enough time for the meat to spoil before being consumed. But watch out for any meats held over a day or two or more. |
![]() While not expecting to reveal this man's thoughts when I took this picture of him pulling his overloaded cyclo up a slight incline, I think I caught him at the stationary point at the top of the rise where he considers going back around to the back to mount and start peddling. But for the moment, he has stopped, and appears to be pondering greater questions. Would he be asking himself if there is not a better way to make an honest living? What sort of answer could he expect? Probably not. Has he just paused to regain some strength to go on, but on to what? Or is he exhausted and considering whether he can go on at all? Does he not wonder for how much longer he can continue to go on? |
![]() Landmines, that used to claim 300 people per month countrywide, but that currently claims about 120 per month. That is, some eleven years after the cessation of hostilities between Cambodians, the legacy of the landmine continues to claim limbs and lives. The second main differnce is that there is no social services structure to provide for disabilities, so it is up to the individuals, and their families, to make do. For the poor, this often means begging. This man, who has deformed legs from polio is using his initiative. He has a hand-pedalled tricycle from which he sells small packets of biscuits. He carries a sign in both Khmer and English asking people to buy his wares. He is a common sight around Phnom Penh. |
![]() Here a man and his son fish on the Mekong River. No commercial or recreational operation this, a necessity to provide some protein for the family. |
![]() The green fields behind have been recently planted with rice and the wet season, already begun, will supply the necessary water for the growing season. |
![]() The field with water was the main ricebed where the seedlings were sown. They have all been pulled now and most of them transplanted by hand to the larger fields. The trees are sugar palms and they are climbed to harvest the palm fruit which is sold whole, or sometimes just the sugar palm juice which can be fermented to make a cheap wine. |
![]() At Kompong Cham is a bridge across the Mekong, the closest one to its mouth, which is still several hundred kilometres to the south in Vietnam. Here the river is wide, brown and dotted with vessels of all kinds. |
![]() Made from any material to hand, including sacks, old mats, sheets of plastic, bicycle tires and bamboo poles, this square structure should be big enough for a family of five or six. |
![]() Is someone handing out free arms and ammunition, or are people handing them in? One assumes it is the latter, but what is the incentive? The writing tells people to hand in any illegal weapons to the government. This is all very fine, but the problem is not illegal weapons (whatever they are) but the number and availability of weapons. Plenty of so-called legal weapons are used everyday in crimes. And there would most often be some irony in handing over 'illegal' weapons to the government, as what are the underpaid local government authorities likely to do with them? Sell them of course! Government propaganda in Cambodia is cheap and easy to generate - get a few signs painted. |
![]() This one is loaded down with 4 wooden bed frames. He hasn't left yet, so maybe they will load some more on. Because the motorcycles are not designed to carry these sorts of loads, they overheat after a short time. The most common method to overcome this is to have a water bottle on board with a short hose to drip water on to the engine head to help dissipate the heat. Go to top of page |
![]() There are two selling mechanisms. You may have a market stall to sell them to, or you may have to sell them yourself. So, what you see are travelling salesman who pedal their merchandise along the roads by bicycle. They rely on catching the eye of someone who wants to buy what they have to sell, which seems like a very hit and miss approach. |
![]() No, it doesn't rain every day, but probably three days in a week. Later in August and September, the frequency may go up. Usually the rain is torrential, but not always. Sometimes it is a fine rain that goes on for an hour or more. The rain comes most often in the late afternoon and it always cools things down. But of course the humidity is very high and this makes it hard to keep things for very long periods here. In the short term you have to be careful with film and anything made from leather as mould will grow on them. In the long term even things like books start to deteriorate after a couple of years, so keeping an archive of any sort must be a constant battle. |
![]() Why, indeed, does most of the Buddhist world require some physical evidence, some physical idol to worship at all, when the Buddha spent his life teaching that such things were not only not required but actually counterproductive to the practice of true Buddhism. Buddhism is practised in the mind by the individual. By all means have schools to teach the teaching of Buddhism, but do not look outside the self for its manifestation in any other form. It lies only within. It is interesting that the day after I wrote this, I came across this quotation by Samyutta-Nikaya: - "I lay no wood for fires on altars. Only within burneth the flame I kindle." |
![]() Funerals in Cambodia usually require three ceremonies. The initial cremation, which is usually at a pagoda, though it starts out at the home as there are no such things as funeral parlours. Then there is a ceremony after seven days and another after 100 days. During the ceremony with the monks, they provide a blessing while the participants provide obeisance and offer food and other goods to the monks. These might include some incense for the pagoda or some new robes. Since monks are not allowed to have possessions, only their robes and begging bowls, there is little else to provide for them. This tradition is little changed in over 2,500 years. Mr Gautama Buddha certainly knew what he was about, when he founded a belief that is tolerant of all other beliefs, a belief that does not require the existence of an outside agency directing things, and a belief that has not been the source of any persecution or war or jihad in its name. |
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![]() A flour delivery to a bakery is made throught the front door of the shop on a busy street. Three men unload a small truckload of flour, picking their way through the morning customers. |
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![]() Forty-four double matresses on a small lorry. |
![]() A practice that has remained unchanged for over 2,500 years, when Goutama Buddha first instigated the colour, the robes, the practice and the order. One of the most passive of 'religions' Buddhism is probably one of the few, if not the only one, that has not caused a war in its own name, produced conflict in defence of its aims nor incited hatred in the name of its gods. In fact, Buddhism does not have any gods. The dharma (teachings) point out that one is on one's own in this world. |
![]() Once chiselled in stone, the modern material is concrete. Go to top of page |
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![]() This occupation is invariably for women, although older children of either gender may also sell fruit from baskets on the street. The fruit is held in large, flat baskets, which is carried on the head while mobile and is lifted down (all a skill on its own) when selling. |
![]() Eggs put out to dry in the sun. These are almost certainly salted eggs with chick embryos in them, considered by many to be a delicacy. |
![]() They are colourful affairs with a lot of dressing up, a lot of music and with an endless stream of duties, such that the process usually takes all day, although the older tradition is for the wedding to take up three days. Go to top of page |
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