Motorcycles are the number one mode of transportation in Cambodia. They are not only cheap and reliable, but they can also go places, e.g., along the dikes between rice paddies, where cars and tuk-tuks can’t venture. This is the first of a series of photos about the development of motorcycles in Cambodia. Click here to see the first generation.
Category: Culture
Capturing the Culture
Occasionally, just for a lark, the Maryknoll Lay Missioners group in Cambodia goes for a “glam photo,” all of us westerners dressed up in traditional Khmer costumes. The photo shop crew takes individual shots of each person dressed in the color of his or her choice and then takes several group shots. Here a photographer adjusts Sami Scott’s head to get just the right angle while Russ Brine and Hang Tran wait their turn.
The King’s Birthday
King Sihomani gets a three-day holiday for is birthday. It seems a bit much but Cambodia is known for its excessive number of public holidays (24 vs 11 in the United States). Today is the second day of this holiday with one more to go, and then it’s back to work on Wednesday.
Topics: Sun #2
An earlier posting looked at how Cambodian people avoid the sun on their heads. This post today looks at how they avoid the sun on their arms. Click here to see some of their techniques.
Khmer New Year Day 3
The third day of the new year traditionally is focused on honoring statues of Buddha but there was not much sign of that in Phnom Penh. Maybe it was taking place in the provinces. Probably later tonight we will see real traffic jams as the hundreds of thousands of people start returning to the city.


Khmer New Year Day 2
This new year celebration is not like most through the years because two of the three days fall on a weekend. In the past the government would give an extra day for that but they have abolished that practice. One aspect that is the same as previous years is the much emptied city. Here are some pictures of Phnom Penh today.
Khmer New Year Day 1
It’s not only the local Cambodians who have abandoned Phnom Penh. Many, many of the expatriates here have followed the locals on to the highways for a long holiday weekend for the Khmer New Year. Today, the first day of the new year, we saw attendance at our Saturday evening mass down a great deal.
Khmer New Year’s Eve
The official new year celebration starts tomorrow but many (most?) people have already taken off from work and the city has largely emptied out. Still there was plenty to do for the people who stayed behind. Click here to see some of the new year’s eve scenes.
Khmer New Year at DDP
April13-15 is the official Khmer New Year but the deaf people will go to their home provinces then so there was a new year celebration today at the Deaf Development Programme office in Phnom Penh. Click here to see the activities.
Better hot than tanned!
Yesterday it was 93ºF in Phnom Penh, I believe, and this young woman was waiting at the light beside me. Notice the sweatshirt with the hood up under the helmet, the gloves, even socks with her sandals. And all the other women are like her, all bundled up to avoid the sun and dark skin.