Category: Daily Life in Cambodia

Cultural Differences

This is a trailer, pulled by a motorcycle, coming from one of the provinces with a load of furniture–a heavy wooden bed in the rear, a heavy, solid chair in the middle, and a heavy wooden sofa in the front.

In the US it would be unusual first of all because of the style of furniture which would not be to the taste of most Americans. Secondly, in the US no one would be selling furniture–whether it was a popular style or not–on the street like this.

Everybody works

For generations Cambodians have been small farmers, eking out enough to eat and a little to sell in order to buy what they can’t grow. And whenever there was an opportunity to sell something on the side to make a little extra income, they jumped at the chance. Nearly 60% of Cambodians now live in cities but the old ways came with them, and the family is always thinking of ways to supplement their income. This woman makes some sort of snack in her kitchen and sells it to passersby outside her front door.

Cold Weather

The “cold snap” here in Phnom Penh is continuing and the low temperature today was 64ºF, really frigid by Cambodian standards–and nippy even for the foreigners when taking a morning shower with no hot water.

There must be all sorts of clothing stored up in Phnom Penh, waiting for the opportune time to be sold. This morning as the cooler weather continued, this man stopped at a display of seldom-seen leather jackets
This phone vendor settled for a heavy jacket and a khrama wrapped around her head to ward off the cool breezes.

Rest Stop….I’ll pass

I had to return by myself to Phnom Penh from the DDP annual staff meeting rather than with the group. I took a bus service and we made a stop halfway through the trip. Each company has an arrangement with the restaurant or shop where they stop, to allow the drivers to eat for free, etc.

The place where our bus stopped for a rest break was a real dive. It is out in the middle of nowhere and has nothing attractive. It was late evening when we arrived and the bus driver left the headlights on to shine into the eating area so we could see. (The picture looks lighter but it was really dark inside.
Most such rest stops allow passengers to choose food from a menu, to be cooked on the spot. This place had five or six large pots of food probably cooked early in the morning.
This is the little “convenience store” which all these places have. It was stacked with trash and covered with a layer of dust. The toilets were to the left of this shack and were unlit and absolutely dark when we were there.
There was no selection in this “store” that would entice anyone. Everything there looked like it had been there for months. I had some cookies with me so I just bought a Coke from the orange coolers on the left, figuring that would be safe.