Category: Daily Life in Cambodia

All is not what it seems….

Cambodia has made some real improvements in its drive to move from a least-developed country to a medium-developed country. Not all improvements have been substantive and enduring, though. Take electrification. Just five or six years ago only 27% of the country had electricity. Today many more people have power–most of the time.

Sunday night some time after midnight I woke up and realized the power had just gone off. My fan was off and the white noise machine was silent. I figured there was nothing I could do about it and went back to sleep. Then the power coming back on 3 1/2 hours later woke me again because it made my electric alarm clock play a jingle.

Then in the Khmer Times newspaper we got this little article where the electricity company apologized for some error that knocked out the lights for all of Phnom Penh (1+ million people) and the surrounding counties and even Siem Reap 200 miles away.

When I got up I took a shower but then the water went off. It turns out the loss of electricity knocked out the water system, too!

Time for a break….

It’s 7:30 AM and this woman–with her three children–is taking a break after collecting the cart full of recyclable trash at the curb. How long did it take her to collect such a mound of discards? What time did she go out on the street with her kids? In the dark? Will she sell this load and go back out on the street today or is it quitting time for this day? Did they have anything to eat? Will the kids be able to go to school? Will she ever be able to not collect trash?

Sweeping: A Must

If you judge by their driving habits, Cambodians are an undisciplined group. With many coming from remote areas with dirt roads where cars can’t even go, the idea of following driving laws is novel and not easily accepted. There are many other areas of life, too, where modern practices–and requirements–of city life don’t resonate with people who grew up in a small bamboo house next to a rice paddy.

One exception to the lack of discipline, though, is sweeping–sweeping your street, your property, your house, your school, whatever you have. Sweeping is a MUST. Basically every business and household has someone sweeping in front of their building every morning. It’s just something Cambodians do….

Sweeping at home. Notice the car in the living room.
Sweeping at home gives you a chance to chat with the lady collecting recyclables.
Then you sweep the street out front.
And then you sweep the floor of your advertising business.

City Landmark

One of the landmarks of Phnom Penh is Central Market (arrow), an art deco structure that is quite distinctive. You really note its design when you can see the outside, especially from above, although once you are inside it looks much like any other crowded city market.

A little iron-y….

Sometimes things that surprise me the most about life in Cambodia are simple domestic scenarios. For instance…we have a lady who cleans our office and washes clothes a couple times a week. We needed a new iron so we told her to pick out one that she was comfortable with.

The clunker she bought weights 5.5 lbs.!!! I’m guessing the thinking of the manufacturer is that weight is more important for pressing out wrinkles than heat. And notice it’s NOT a steam iron. God forbid! Asians generally have an extreme sensitivity to “bad” air…and the steam from an iron is in that category. The woman ironing for us, even before Covid, would always wear a face mask when ironing to block breathing the steamy air because she had to dampen the shirts and pants at least a little before ironing them.