Geographically, Phnom Penh in Cambodia is a half a world
away from home. The time shift is 12 hours; when it's 7:30 AM at home, it's
7:30 PM here.
But more than that, culturally, Phnom Penh is also a half
world away. This morning, I ventured out onto the street shortly after dawn, before
the chaos got under way. The shopkeepers were just opening. The street vendors
just getting into position, and here across from our hotel was a lady manually doing
laundry on the sidewalk. Sitting at the sidewalk level, she was scrubbing the cuffs of
a shirt with soapy water, and had other clothes soaking in pans nearby. She smiled
and turned back to her work.
At the market later in the day, there was organized chaos as
there is in markets everywhere, but here along with fresh produce, they were
selling meat and seafood out in the sun without refrigeration. Some vendors
took the time to swish the flies away, but most not.
Out on Silk Island in the middle of the Mekong, we saw beef cows tethered in yards out front of
the houses. Then around mid-day, they were herded down to the River, and bathed. Not just for a drink, but they were actually scrubbed down.
The fields on the Island, though not big by North American
standards, were being worked either by hand or small rototiller.
We visited a small Silk factory where they used a manual
winder to load the bobbins, then on the loom, they passed the shuttle back and
forth manually.
It's just the way it is here in Phnom Penh, a half a world
away.
For the next story in this series, click here:
http://travellingwithsteveandmarlene.blogspot.com/2017/03/relocating-from-city-to-sea-cambodian.html
For the next story in this series, click here:
http://travellingwithsteveandmarlene.blogspot.com/2017/03/relocating-from-city-to-sea-cambodian.html
