Last Friday it rained a lot
here in Phnom Penh and as usual some Streets will be flooded. Here are some
pictures of how it looked on Street 13, just north of Kandal Market, in the afternoon of Friday the 20th
of July 2012. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.
Seen in Phnom Penh
Monday, July 23, 2012
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Buddhist Monks in Phnom Penh
Buddhist
monks are a common sight in Phnom Penh especially in the morning when they walk
around asking for alms. Here are two
girls showing their devotion to monks while giving them their alms.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Koh Oknha Tei Island close to Phnom Penh
Koh Oknha
Tei Island is also known as Silk Island. I don’t really know how it got the
name Silk Island, I mean I understand it is because here are a lot of families
making a living by weaving silk but I can see the name being slightly confusing
for tourist that might think they will find a lot of silk vendors here.
If you come
here for the silk someone from the boat will guide you to a family that will
show you their weavers, house and some scarves (they will even show you scarves
that are imported from China and not hand-woven at their house, so be careful).
Anyway, I
did not come to the island to see the silk weaving. I just took a relaxing boat
trip and a small hike on the island because it’s nice to get away from the busy
streets of Phnom Penh center sometimes.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Independence Monument 1961 and 2012
I found this picture of Independence Monument from 1961 and then I had one I had taken in May 2012. I wonder if it is the same trees that are standing there today as the one you see on the picture from 1961, it looks like the same kind at least. Otherwise it seems like they have changed the streetlights and painted the monument in a reddish color. I didn’t know that the monument use to be grey.
Thieves caught in action
In most of the markets and even in some shops around Phnom Penh you will find whiteboards where they post photos of people who have been caught stealing. The first time I saw one of these whiteboards I actually thought it was missing people until I asked a women who worked in the stand next to the whiteboard and she told me it was thieves. It makes sense, why would missing people pose with a sign before they go missing (haha), don’t know what I was thinking.
A boat trip on Mekong River in Phnom Penh
This
weekend I took a boat trip on Mekong River with one of the boats that you can
find in the north part of Sisowath Quay. It was a nice and very relaxing thing
to do during a Sunday afternoon, when you are too tired to do anything active.
It is also
a nice way to get a glimpse of the country life around Phnom Penh, it’s actually
amazing how close the country side is to Phnom Penh Center.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Traditional Cambodian Medicine – Coin scraping (Kos Khyal)
Today I saw a girl getting her back scraped by a man on a bed on the sidewalk. It is called coin scraping or Kos Khyal in Khmer and it is a very common treatment when you have a cold, fever or back pain here in Cambodia. It is believed to originate from China where it is called Gua Sha. They first put oil or tiger balm on the skin and then they scrape the skin with a spoon, a coin or an instrument made from buffalo horn or wood. The scraping normally leaves marks on the skin that can look like you have been beaten.
The first
time I saw one of my Cambodian colleagues with these marks I thought he had
been in fight, until he told me that his wife had treated him the night before
because he was starting to get a fever. When he told me about the method I was
very skeptical, why would something that you almost can describe as abuse help
when you are getting sick? Since then I have read a lot about it and the next
time I get a fever in Phnom Penh I will try it myself to see if it really
works.
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