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You can find a little bit of everything on Phnom Penh streets, all kinds of vehicles and all kinds of people selling all kinds of products. In an economy with poor transportation, the vendors and goods come to the people. Here are two modern-day tinkers plying their trade on the streets of the capital city.
31 May 2010
"Hey, I'm wearing my helmet!" 
Motorcycle Passengers and Cargo #135
17 May 2010
By dawn's early light 12 hours later, a different group gathers around the mermaid in the traffic circle. This assembly, early morning walkers out for their exercise, are decidedly older and are relying on their feet rather than the motorcycles in the evening. 
16 May 2010
As dusk falls in Phnom Penh, young men gather with their motorcycles in a roundabout or traffic circle to chat and hang out. The Phnom Penh roundabouts are marked by various statues--this one of a mermaid--which provide landmarks for giving directions in the city since no one knows the name of streets except the foreigners. Another characteristic of Phnom Penh is evident in the picture--the five-storey house in the background. Land plots here are normally enough to make a building one room wide so many families live in one of these tall narrow structures called a shop house. That is, if they have money. Most families would live in a much simpler wooden house or one floor, or even one room, of one of these shophouses.
15 May 2010
One of the reasons for the chaos on Phnom Penh streets is that there are all types of vehicles, animals, and people mixed together. These ox carts come from Kampong Cham Province where the clay is conducive to making all sorts of pottery implements and vessels. The carts come into the city and wander through the neighborhoods offering their wares to the transplanted province people who still live and cook the same way they did in the provinces.
12 May 2010
It is hard to imagine the traffic chaos that exists in Phnom Penh. All of us think we know what traffic congestion is so it is hard to think beyond our own experiences to something of a totally different magnitude. This is a typical intersection at a busy time of day. There is no traffic control and everyone just goes for every space that opens up. It is real anarchy and the government doesn't want to do anything about it. They may not be able to do anything about it because they are so weak and ineffective and are not good at doing things in a logical and ordered way, following set rules.
10 May 2010
I had to meet a Maryknoll leader from New York at the Phnom Penh airport and his plane was delayed, not arriving until 11:20 PM. To pass some of the time, I decided to get something to eat, but—as is customary—all the food in the terminal was really pricey, even by Cambodian standards. I had time so I walked 500' out to the street where the ubiquitous food vendors ply their trade. From the young man on the left, I bought an ear of sweet corn (delicious hot, even with no salt or butter on it), and from the woman on the right I got a Coke. The total was $1.50 as opposed to $4 to $5 inside. These vendors have their carts connected to motorcycles and can go wherever the crowds are.
8 May 2010
You have seen pictures of those huge loads on the back of motorcycles in Phnom Penh. Here is how they hold them on—bungee cords made of old inner tubes with a wire hook tied on to each end. 
Motorcycle Passengers and Cargo #133
7 May 2010
This is a parking lot in a Phnom Penh high school. Not one car but lots and lots of motorcycles. And in another lot are plenty of bicycles. Each in-and-out from this parking lot costs the equivalent of seven cents. 
26 April 2010
Most of the people who die in Cambodia are cremated within 24 hours or so, but many of the families of Chinese ancestry prefer burial. They have their own funeral customs and practices, and one of them is using this ornate hearse to transport the body to the burial site from the family home where the monks led prayers. The monks sit on the stools and accompany the body to the place of burial. 
9 April 2010
"I wonder if I can get between that bicycle and the motorcycle?!" 
Motorcycle Passengers and Cargo #132
31 March 2010
30 March 2010
26 March 2010
Buddhas, apsaras, garudas, King Jayavaraman, and various figures from Khmer mythology all appear in this display of statuettes on sale at the Russian Market, the favored shopping place for tourists looking for souvenirs and gifts for people back home. Statues are a bit heavy if you're close to your airline weight allowance, but if you've got the space, they're definitely unique gifts from Cambodia!
24 March 2010
23 March 2010
21 March 2010
Today the temperature was in the low 90ºs F (33º C). This young woman displayed a common Cambodian fashion, though—a rather heavy, lined jacket. The intent is keep the wearer out of the sun so her skin doesn't darken, but more often than not, to accomplish that, young women wear what would be cool-weather jackets and coats in colder climes. They are so accustomed to hot weather that wearing a heavy jacket doesn't bother them.
17 March 2010
This the fourth of four photos showing different types of food being carried on motorcycles. Here is a picture of meat being transported. A slaughtered pig is splayed across the back of a motorcycle making its way probably to some meat shop or market stall. The bag might contain some of the innards taken out of the pig and valuable for sale?
14 March 2010
This series was interrupted by the trip to Sri Lanka, but this is photo number three of motorcycles hauling vegetables, fruits, poultry, and meat. Here a load of chickens are taking their first and last ride on a motorcycle, to a market. I've noticed chickens drool a lot when carried this way. It's probably not a very pleasant experience for them.
15 February 2010
This is the second of four photos of motorcycles carrying four basic food groups here in Phnom Penh. The second basic group of foods is the fruits. Bananas--many kinds, shapes, colors, and tastes of them--grow all over Cambodia throughout all the year so they are rather common, and are probably an important part of the diet of poorer people.
14 February 2010
Click here to see photos about driving in the wrong lane in Cambodia. MUCH more to follow!
Click here to see this first set of photos about driving practices in Cambodia. MUCH more to follow!
A constant frustration to many foreigners in Cambodia is the local preoccupation with light-colored skin. Light is good; dark is bad. As in so many other areas of consumer products, what comes from the West seems best. Women routinely cover up exposed skin to protect it from the darkening rays of the sun but at the same time they also embrace all sorts of skin lighteners. This model is certainly not Khmer but her face and skin color set an ideal for young girls in Cambodia.
Sunday on the way back from mass, my motorcycle taxi started making a grinding noise and we pulled over. Something was obviously wrong with the chain but there was a little sidewalk repair shop fifteen feet ahead so we pushed the bike over there, the young man who was repairing another bike dropped that project, came over with his tools, took off the chain guard, and found a boogey gear that had sheared a pin or its fastener and was bouncing around on top of the chain. He put a new fastener on and in literally four to five minutes, we were on our way. Here the repairman and his young assistant take off the chain guard.
We broke down on the other side of this cart selling roasted plantains and just had to push the 110cc motorbike to this side of the cart. There are guys fixing flats, selling gas in Coke bottles, etc., every few hundred feet. My driver paid 2000 riel (50¢) for this repair. That's the part of Phnom Penh I like.
Motorcycle Passengers and Cargo #131
Motorcycle Passengers and Cargo #130
Motorcycle Passengers and Cargo #129
| Click here to see pictures of preparation for the Year of the Tiger |
13 February 2010
The next four photos of motorcycle loads will illustrate how the four basic food groups are treated and transported on motorcycles here in Phnom Penh. The first basic food group to be featured is the vegetable group. Here a young man hauls a load of tofu and bean sprouts, the essentials for a basic vegetarian meal. It doesn't show in the photo, but the tofu is actually steaming hot. Not very hygienic but probably rather nutritious. 
Motorcycle Passengers and Cargo #128
6 February 2010
It is not unusual to see elderly people alone on the streets of Phnom Penh, often just sitting on the sidewalk like this woman. Is she resting? Is she abandoned or cast out? Is she homeless? Ill? Some elderly couples have obviously come in from the provinces and have nothing. Others, like this lady...who knows? 
3 February 2010
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Click here to see pictures of a traditional herbal health practice. |
3 February 2010
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Click here to see pictures of some of the most uncomfortable motorcycle rides in Phnom Penh. But, hey, we're earning some money! |
31 January 2010
Nowhere near all the motorcycle riders are wearing helmets here and even fewer bicyclists. These four young people are all wearing the same model motorcycle helmet which suggests that they may all belong to the same organization that gave out helmets for free. Given that today is a Sunday, they may be coming or going to some Christian church service.
13 January 2010
"It's sorta like a float in the Macy's parade, doncha think?" 
Motorcycle Passengers and Cargo #127
8 January 2010
The most popular kind of bicycle basket here--almost all bikes have them--has a utilitarian shape and size, but they are made out of plastic, with slatted sides. Once the little slats start to go, the basket rapidly deteriorates. My basket had reached the non-functioning stage and I was also having problems with my gear-changing derailleur so a couple days ago—on New Year's Day actually—I pedaled over to the row of bike shops near the Capitol Guest House. I found a family of four--mother, father, and two teenage sons--who hopped right on my repair work and had it finished in thirty minutes or so. I asked for an extra big basket made of metal and they found an old second-hand one in the back of the shop and put it on, and then the father--definitely the repository of experience in the family—-started adjusting the gears. I paid them $3.75 and took off! 
4 January 2010
The gap between the wealthy and the poor is tremendous in Cambodia, and for those who have, it's nothing to hide. Consider this family dwelling being built in Phnom Penh. It couldn't be much more over the top. Every inch says: "I have it. You don't." 
1 January 2010
You can get fast-food fish sandwich at McDonald's or other fast-food outlets in the developed world. Here in Cambodia you get the whole fish, freshly grilled. 