Category: Daily Life in Cambodia

The last two nights the temperature in Phnom Penh has gone down to the low 70ºs F and all the expats are rejoicing.  All the locals, however, are complaining that they are freezing.  Some are wearing fur-lined coats with hoods.   Considering that the normal temperature is in the low to mid 90ºs, they have experienced a considerable variation and they don’t have a closet full of winter clothes.  90% of the population don’t have a closet.

The prime minister offered advice(?) about the cooler conditions:

“Please, do sports activities in the morning for health.  For the soldiers stationed at the border, you need to take care of your health and wear coats to protect yourself in order to avoid infectious diseases.”

“We’re going to have the first moto with a periscope!”

Electricity is still not a given in Cambodia.  I think now the percentage of the population with access to electricity is about 34% and where it is available, it is quite expensive.

Cambodia is now buying more electricity from Vietnam and the supply is more reliable.  Previously because the grid was so weak and the price so high, air conditioning was a luxury and was never part of the original design of a building.  Now it is still a luxury but more and more people feel they can afford it so external air con units are appearing in more and more places.  Here fifteen of them have been added to the top floor of a residential block.  Individual units are now not such a rarity but it will still be a while before architects think of central air conditioning for a building here.

This is a scene that wasn’t possible when I first came to Cambodia.  In 2000 there was one “tall” building and that was ten stories.  Now we have this bank building and others that are 40+ stories tall and others are under construction to surpass that.

The bishop’s house on the Mekong River, where we had our lay missioner meeting, offered a viewing point for fishing activity on the river.  Click here for some photos of the people fishing and their boats.

“I never thought I’d say it, but rearview mirrors really can be useful!”

A couple days ago we had a photo of a woman with a scale she carried around, weighing people for a few cents each.  Not far above her on the economic scale is this woman with a stack of khramas (scarves) and other cloths that she is selling.  She probably pays a deposit for the cloths in the morning (and maybe rents the bicycle along with them) and then walks all day to sell a few items.  Will she make two, three, four dollars in  day?  How much of that can she keep?

Cambodia is trying to get its economic ranking raised from low-income country to middle-income country, and by some standards, progress is being made.  But then you see people like this woman.  She rents a scale and then walks the streets all day hoping to weigh people who may give her 3¢ to 5¢ for the weighing.  Here she is counting her money.  Will she have enough to buy food at the end of the day?