Cambodian Images

Posted on September 22, 2011 by

Girl in the Russian marketSome snaps from my recent trip from Phnom Phen and Siem Reip.

A bit of a delay on these, partly due to the trip to France to oversee works, and partly caused by choosing a better framework for showing photos. One of the reasons for using this software is the ability to have reasonably long descriptions of the photos.  You can see these by pressing the small ‘i’ button in the top right hand corner (and press again to get rid of the text). I also recommend that you look at the snaps full-screen – just press the ‘full screen’ button below (and ‘esc’ when you are done, to get back to the post page).

All the photos except the first two were taken with a Fuji Z900EXR, a tiny camera, about the size of a pack of playing cards, but with some really neat technology within.  For the first two, and all the upcoming Angkor Wat ones, I used a Sony Nex-5.

Note: Apologies for the earlier problem with MS Explorer. I have now tested this with Firefox, Explorer and Chrome, and all seem to work fine.

Siem Reip and Phnom Penh September 2011

[img src=http://www.mcaughtry.com/WP/wp-content/flagallery/Cambodia snap backup/thumbs/thumbs_waiting-for-the-rain-siem-reip.jpg]Waiting for the rain to stop in Siem Reip
After a pulverizing day of temple-viewing we adjourned for a beer in downtown Siem Reip. The heavens opened and it rained for more than an hour, so it turned into several beers. At the end, lots of people were stuck waiting for it to end - and this is a shot of the bar next door, which offered happy fish treatment amongst other inducements. [img src=http://www.mcaughtry.com/WP/wp-content/flagallery/Cambodia snap backup/thumbs/thumbs_tuk-tuk-in-the-rain-siem-reip.jpg]Tuk-tuk in the rain in Siem Reip
Of course activity didn't cease just because it was raining. This shot is of one of the excellent Cambodian tuk-tuks - essentially a passenger cart attached to a moped. Driver's protection is fairly rudimentary and involves umbrella and plastic bags mostly.[img src=http://www.mcaughtry.com/WP/wp-content/flagallery/Cambodia snap backup/thumbs/thumbs_tuk-tuk-in-the-rain-two-siem-reip.jpg]Tuk-tuk in the rain in Siem Reip
Another wet tuk-tuk, this time enlivened by the yellow of the cape and the red of the boots and tuk-tuk bits.[img src=http://www.mcaughtry.com/WP/wp-content/flagallery/Cambodia snap backup/thumbs/thumbs_girlfriend-reflected-in-bus-windscreen.jpg]Girlfriend reflected in the bus windscreen
On the way back from Siem Reip we were supposed to take the high-speed boat. Sadly it broke down the day before our scheduled departure, so we had to take the bus instead. Over the course of the 7-hour journey, we struggled to get comfortable and keep ourselves occupied. As we entered Phnom Phen I noticed that the sleeping girl in the front row was perfectly reflected in the blue sun screen on the bus front window. I took about 30 shots or so, but I finally got one that balanced the very high dynamic range, and got the boyfriend looking moodlily out of the window.[img src=http://www.mcaughtry.com/WP/wp-content/flagallery/Cambodia snap backup/thumbs/thumbs_girl-in-russian-market-pp.jpg]Girl in the Russian market
It is said that there is nothing you can't get in the Russian Street market. It's certainly an extraordinary place - no tourists, just a hive of activity and commerce. This girl was taking a rest from selling fruit - but her innate beauty and the jaunty hat really made her stand out.[img src=http://www.mcaughtry.com/WP/wp-content/flagallery/Cambodia snap backup/thumbs/thumbs_stuff-in-the-russian-market.jpg]Stuff at the Russian market
No question, there is a great deal on offer here - from motorcycle gearboxes to Buddhas. This aisle contains a great deal of things crammed into every possible crevice. Most of it tat. [img src=http://www.mcaughtry.com/WP/wp-content/flagallery/Cambodia snap backup/thumbs/thumbs_vegetable-seller_edited.jpg]Vegetable seller
Another shot of the food market, this time of a charming seller of nameless knarled and misshapen vegetables.[img src=http://www.mcaughtry.com/WP/wp-content/flagallery/Cambodia snap backup/thumbs/thumbs_market-fortune-teller_0.jpg]Market fortune teller
M*rk nudged me while we were eating breakfast in the food market, and nodded to the amazingly baleful looking fortune teller. She was shuffling her cards and looking very ominously around - possibly because of her marked lack of business. Very surreptitiously (to avoid bad spells) I got a snap of her through the throng.[img src=http://www.mcaughtry.com/WP/wp-content/flagallery/Cambodia snap backup/thumbs/thumbs_street-restaurant-in-pp.jpg]Street Restaurant in Phnoh Phen
On my last night M*rk took me down to the famed Foreign Correspondent's bar on the riverfront, and we had a quiet cocktail as the sun went down. Afterwards we wandered down the road looking for somewhere good to eat. Nowhere looked appealing, so we jumped a trishaw and headed back to his part of town for somewhere better. On the way we passed though the unreconstructed old part of Phnom Phen - dark, murky and clearly stuffed with grinning lascars at every corner. As we rolled through the gloaming, I spotted a corner restaurant that was visibly local, and was absolutely heaving. We jumped out and headed in. This was a place that gave no quarter to western tastes, and all the better for it. Needless to say, the food was spectacular, and the service, without giving too much away, was the most bizarrely exotic imaginable. [img src=http://www.mcaughtry.com/WP/wp-content/flagallery/Cambodia snap backup/thumbs/thumbs_the-clams-oh-the-clams-rs.jpg]The Clams
We ordered hugely of course, to the amusement of the staff. One of the best dishes was 'oysters in garlic', which turned out to be tiny and very succulent clams in a sauce that certainly contained garlic, but many other things besides. I think this has become of my all-time favorite dishes, right up there with the chilli crab at Make Mee Fat in KL's Ampang - yep that's how good it is. The snap is really here to remind me that I must urgently return to PP and get outside some more of this stuff.


 

 

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2 Responses to Cambodian Images

  1. Carol Holloway says:
    September 23, 2011 at 4:33 pm

    Helo David – I am getting a large black square where I assume a photo should be. Would love to see the pics. Hope you are all well. Cx