18 October 2007

Asia » Cambodia » North » Siem Reap
October 24th 2007

Published: October 25th 2007

Today was a travel day. We had hired Loy Bun Seak as our driver for the Siem Reap area and to drive us to Phnom Penh. Talk about a smart idea! Bun Seak has a very nice (and wonderfully air conditioned) Mercedes passenger van. He is extrememly knowledgeable of both Siem Reap & Phnom Penh, super nice, and we couldn't recommend him highly enough if you ever go to Cambodia! (Even though he doesn't th... Read Full Entry

Photos are below

Photos: 45, Displayed: 21

Countryside_16

field shrines

Farm w/pond & cattle

stone carvers

We were cruising down the National Highway when out of the blue we went through this village that had men carving stone figures on both sides of the road. We stopped and talked to them for a little bit and found out that their families had been stone carvers for generations.

Deep fishing

This guy is out there up to his armpits. Apparently there isn't much concern about crocodiles in this part of Cambodia....

Duck farm

This is blurrier than I would choose to use ordinarily, but I don't have any other options. The closer we got to Phnom Penh the more duck farms we would see, (and right next to the road hence the blurriness of the picture). Chickens are raised but are free ranging, (and therefore not plump like our chickens), but ducks, and their eggs, are much more part of the local diet.

fishing boats

Homes

You can see why they build their homes on stilts.....

Mekong River floodplain_1

Mekong River floodplain_2

moto load

It's amazing what these guys pull, ordo, witrh their motorcycles.

No seat belts

Even though this was taken in Phnom Penh, we saw this scenario repeated everywhere. Cargo trucks would have big loads, with a couple of people siting on top. The two on top of this were younger looking than most however.

Pigs

These guys were going to market on their backs. The were alive and squealing.

Roadside vendors

Basically a typical scene of roadside vendors found everywhere. Either in the provinces or in the less developed areas of the cities.

Boat

This was considerably bigger than most boats that we saw on the drive to phnom Penh.

Shrine entrance_1

Every buddhist shrine has an ornamental gate at it's main entrance, wheter or not the shrine is right by the road or several kilometers in the distance.

Shrine entrance_2

And no two gates were the same.

Shrine entrance_3

This was the coolest one for me , I really liked the elephants.

Shrine_1

These are found all over the county, in the cities and countryside alike.

Shrine_2

This shrine was also flying huge kite-like things. (They were easily 30 feet long). The pictures don't give a true impression of the size of the shrines either. Just figure that the main doors to this place dwarf me (I'm 6'2").

traffic

I had been trying all week to take a traffic picure that might convey the concept of Cambodian traffic, this is the only one that comes remotely close, and I stress remotely. There are bicyles & motos on the right, a car, van, & truck in the center (car & truck passing the van) and schoolkids on bikes on the left shoulder (the usually ride on the pavement).

Mekong River floodplain_3

There are some fishing boats in the far left and cattle & water buffalo in the foreground.

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18 October 2007

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