Category: Daily Life in Cambodia

Corn on the Street

Corn, or maize as some cultures know it, is an interesting part of the food chain. In some places in Africa, it is the main food of the culture. In other places, especially in Asia, it is seen as mainly fodder for cattle. Cambodia, though, has a really delicious sweet yellow corn like this vendor is selling from her bicycle. When it is in season, big pots of corn are boiling all day long on the highway for motorists ready to take a tasty break. Within the city, vendors like this woman boil the ears and then stack them neatly in large plastic bags and peddle them from their bicycles. It tastes just as good on the city street as it does on the highway in the countryside.

Generating Resentment

The monsoon rains are filling up the hydropower reservoirs now and our electricity supply is becoming more stable, with fewer outages. And last week our prime minister promised that there would be NO outages next year. We’ll have to wait and see about that.

The past year has seen a booming market in new and used generators. Faced with the extended power cuts because of the really dry season, more and more businesses and institutions–and wealthy families–bought generators for themselves. The average price of a generator went up fourfold from what I heard.

Now those people are going to be ticked off as the power stays on–and their new generator stays off. A whole lot of money went into the hardware and now it’s not much use.

Field Trip

This morning when I had mass at the Don Bosco Technical Training Center, these Year 1 students were preparing for a field trip in the Phnom Penh area. Their Year 2 compatriots had already left for a two-day trip to Kampong Som on the southern coast. The Year 1 girls were looking forward to a one-day trip locally that would show them the Killing Fields, the genocide museum, the palace, etc. Here they are getting some last-minute instructions from two of the teachers.

Motorcycle Loads #261

Not all motorcycle loads are piled directly on the moto. Here is a motorcycle pulling a tuk-tuk that is fully loaded. Notice the jerry can of water on the side of the moto, behind the driver. Most motorcycles pulling tuk-tuks these days have one of these water containers which just drips plain water directly on to the motorcycle engine, adding a bit of water cooling to the air cooling.

Hat Lady

I was in a three-wheel tuk-tuk, the new motorized kind, and the driver went through the Boeung Tum Pun market area. We got stuck in a big traffic mess and this lady selling hats wanted to make a sale. She was half-joking but started offering me hats for 25ยข apiece. I should have bought a bunch to give to the kids.