Trip to Kampong Cham Province

Scenes: General

Adventure in
Kampong Cham
1 September 2009

Scenes: General

A day traveling through the back roads of Cambodia provides glimpses of a lifestyle quite different from that of the modern developed world. The local people might not advert to all the sights but they can be intriguing to an outsider passerby.

Shortly after we left Kampong Cham town and just as we reached the end of the paved road, we turned across a bridge and found a young woman struggling with a shifting load of hundreds of pounds of some fruit, maybe pomelos which are a lot like grapefruit in shape, size, and taste. Our crew helped her reposition the heavy load so she could continue her journey. Steadying a shifting load

This scene is worth two photographs. Here the young woman prepares to start off again after our guys stabilized her load. Note that someone else had to load all the fruits on the bike after she got on. If she went down--very likely given our experience on the roads ahead of her--there's no way she could get back up and reload the motorcycle. Fully loaded

This van is coming from the border area near Vietnam. Notice the large plastic containers of liquid on top. That's Vietnamese gasoline being smuggled in to avoid paying taxes. Such illegal activities are commonly out in the open in Cambodia because the officials get their share of the profits and have little desire to stop the illicit traffic. Smuggling gasoline

You will seldom find a scene so natural: thatched houses, an unpaved muddy road, a wooden dugout canoe for the Mekong River, a naked little boy, the encroaching jungle growth. There's hardly a manmade element in the picture; just the clothing of the people under the shelter. Close to nature

This man is securely stuck in the mud, weighed down by two pigs in the basket on the back of the motorcycle. Pigs on a motorcycle

AGain, not everyone found the rain and mud burdensome. These kids found it a fun diversion for afternoon play. Some enjoy the water and mud

This family knew the rains were coming and stacked firewood under the house for cooking.

Some of the houses have individual tube wells drilled by the building. Some people depend on rainwater from the roofs or water from the creeks and Mekong. This cluster of houses had a communal well, very new judging from the date inscribed on the side. The village well

This bicycle is carrying a load of some vegetation but the purpose is unknown to me. Perhaps it's a crop used as food or in cooking. Perhaps its fodder for some animals. A load of some green crop

Haystacks are quite different around the world. Cambodian haystacks tend to be mounted on a platform to keep them off the wet rainy season ground. A Cambodian haystack

Outside the Muslim area the Buddhist people have their own pagodas. This entranceway marks the road leading back to a wat (pagoda) set off the main road. A pagoda gate

Go to Kampong Cham Trip page
Go to Projects page on DDP website
Go to Charlie Dittmeier's home page

Shortly after we left Kampong Cham town and just as we reached the end of the paved road, we turned across a bridge and found a young woman struggling with a shifting load of hundreds of pounds of some fruit, maybe pomelos which are a lot like grapefruit in shape, size, and taste. Our crew helped her reposition the heavy load so she could continue her journey.
This scene is worth two photographs. Here the young woman prepares to start off again after our guys stabilized her load. Note that someone else had to load all the fruits on the bike after she got on. If she went down--very likely given our experience on the roads ahead of her--there's no way she could get back up and reload the motorcycle.
This van is coming from the border area near Vietnam. Notice the large plastic containers of liquid on top. That's Vietnamese gasoline being smuggled in to avoid paying taxes. Such illegal activities are commonly out in the open in Cambodia because the officials get their share of the profits and have little desire to stop the illicit traffic.
You will seldom find a scene so natural: thatched houses, an unpaved muddy road, a wooden dugout canoe for the Mekong River, a naked little boy, the encroaching jungle growth. There's hardly a manmade element in the picture; just the clothing of the people under the shelter.
This man is securely stuck in the mud, weighed down by two pigs in the basket on the back of the motorcycle.
AGain, not everyone found the rain and mud burdensome. These kids found it a fun diversion for afternoon play.
This family knew the rains were coming and stacked firewood under the house for cooking.
Some of the houses have individual tube wells drilled by the building. Some people depend on rainwater from the roofs or water from the creeks and Mekong. This cluster of houses had a communal well, very new judging from the date inscribed on the side.
This bicycle is carrying a load of some vegetation but the purpose is unknown to me. Perhaps it's a crop used as food or in cooking. Perhaps its fodder for some animals.
Haystacks are quite different around the world. Cambodian haystacks tend to be mounted on a platform to keep them off the wet rainy season ground.
Outside the Muslim area the Buddhist people have their own pagodas. This entranceway marks the road leading back to a wat (pagoda) set off the main road.