Monday, October 12, 2009

Battambang Countryside

The countryside of Cambodia continues to amaze me. I can wake-up in my modern home in Phnom Penh, drive for an hour and be among folks living as they have for hundreds of years. No electricity, phone, running water - or money. These are often illiterate farmers that forage and barter for nearly everything. While dirt poor, they eat well, tend to be very happy, friendly and sport a great sense of humor. Example of countryside humor:

"If a man speaks in the jungle and a woman does not hear him - is he still wrong?"

If there were to be an example of one of the millions of Cambodian households in the Provence's, this would be one of them. Zero utilities. Rich folks have a car battery to illuminate a single electric light after dark. For about 18-cents, one can visit a community TV.


Chinese style grave. Many Khmer have Chinese blood.






Long invites a water buffalo to view a picture he has just take. I think the buffalo liked it.





The face of this temple was removed for machine-gunners during the war of the mid-1970's.

Big Bats!


Woodcutter.




One of Cambodia's few wineries. Put in the most polite of terms, wine making in Cambodia is a work in progress.





Phare Circus School

These folks are in full-time training to become circus performers. They pay no tuition and have free room and board. The school prospers from it's weekly show packed with local villagers as well as non-Cambodians.
Admission fee for Cambodians is .20-cents. Admission fee for foreigners: eight-dollars. We call this discrepancy, "Skin Tax". The show was great and well worth the admission.
Here are some stills as well as a short video of their performance.




























La Villa

Batambang is Cambodia's second largest city. Of interest to me are the old colonial buildings that remain from the turn of the century.
A good example is 'La Villa', a former mansion converted to a boutique hotel. Here are some pictures followed by a video.



Great retro fan.

Old fashion French light controls.

Are these a great set of doors - or what!!


Street view of La Villa.