How Cambodians earn a buck

These are just some of the ways the people of Cambodia earn their living.

Fisherman

Fish is a staple in the diet of the average Cambodian. Much of the population lives near water, whether it’s the mighty Mekong river, Tonle Sap – the largest freshwater lake in southeast Asia, or one of the smaller rivers that crisscross the countryside. Surprisingly, though, the average Cambodian doesn’t have to live close to a large waterway to eat fish regularly, as they have dug shallow ponds, large and small, almost everywhere. Both planned aquaculture and the floods of the rainy season help spread fish into these small ponds, where they survive into the height of the dry season and provide much needed protein to impoverished locals. Most fishing is done by simply throwing a net into the water.

Fishseller

This woman was one of many locals selling a huge variety of fish at the large and rather smelly local market in Kampot, a seaside town on the Gulf of Thailand where fishing forms a large part of the local economy. An estimated 5000 motorised wooden longboats fish the marine waters along Cambodia’s coastline, which extends from Thailand in the north to Vietnam in the south (FAO, 2004), and the majority of the fish caught are mackerel and anchovies.

Farmer’s wife

Life is hard for the average Cambodian, who lives in impoverished conditions in the countryside. Cambodia is one of the world’s poorest countries, with a current ranking of 139 out of the 187 countries listed on the United Nations Human Development Index. An estimated 36% of the population lives below the poverty line, and rural households, especially those whose income is primarily based on subsistence agriculture, make up over 90% of the poor. It is still common for women and children to scavenge for frogs, snails, rats and various insects to supplement their daily intake of rice. More about the life of this particular woman can be read here.

Fruitseller

As well as rice, fish and vegetables, fruit forms an important part of the local diet. Staples like bananas are available year round, with a huge variety of other fruit for sale on a seasonal basis, including mangoes, papayas, rambutan, jackfruit, pineapple, lychee, watermelon, mangosteen, longan, durian and palm fruit. This elderly woman was selling her fruit on the entrance causeway to Angkor Wat when I visited last weekend.

Lotus pod seller

Another, rather unusual food to be found in Cambodia is the seed of the lotus plant. These can be eaten raw – you simply break open the pods that this young woman is selling, and eat the small oval seed inside, though it is best to remove the tiny shoot in the middle as it can be quite bitter. These seeds are crunchy, a little like eating raw peas, though not as sweet, and are very nutritious, being low in saturated fat and cholesterol but high in protein, manganese and various other minerals. The seeds can also be dried and shelled, to be eaten as snacks or used to make a variety of dessert dishes.

Iceblock man

What kid doesn’t love a cold iceblock on a hot day? And, while there are many many hot days in Cambodia, there is not so much refrigeration equipment. So, commercially made iceblocks like we find available in most western countries only exist in the large cities here. The majority of kids get their iceblocks from small vendors like this man, who was doing a roaring trade selling flavoured ice to the local primary school kids from his specially adapted bicycle.

Confectioner

As one of my great-grandfathers was a confectioner, I was particularly fascinated to watch the making of this local delicacy, palm sugar fudge. Slits are cut into the stem of the Palmyra or Date palm to collect the sap, which is then boiled in big metal bowls over an outdoor stove (made of clay and fired with bits of wood). The mixture is stirred as it gradually thickens to become fudge, then poured into small circular palm-leaf moulds to dry and harden. It is delicious, though extremely sweet.

Stone carver

Anyone who has visited the World Heritage site of the Angkor temples can see that stone carving is a centuries-old tradition in Cambodia and, though a whole generation of artists was annihilated during the Khmer Rouge years, stone carving is once again a flourishing profession in this country. This is partly thanks to organisations like Artisans Angkor, which are working to revive and transmit vocational skills like stone carving to the rural poor.  My photo, however, shows a man who has his own workshop, near the Roulos group of temples, and sells his masterpieces mostly to passing tourists, though carvings like this aren’t exactly the lightest of souvenirs to pack in your suitcase.

Stupa maker

I’m not sure who first said ‘there is money in death’ but it’s a truism the world over. I met this man, whose speciality is constructing the burial stupas to be found in huge numbers at every pagoda in Cambodia, while wandering around Wat Polangka here in Siem Reap. His English was good and he was happy to explain a little of the building technique and proud to be photographed in front of his latest construction. The basis of the stupa is bricks which are mortared together to form the rough shape, then a variety of concrete moulded shapes are cemented on, before the decorative mouldings are added at the end.

The Shadow Puppeteers

I was lucky enough to be invited to a rehearsal recently of the world-renowned Wat Bo shadow puppeteers and it was superb. A storyteller narrates the story, musicians play on traditional instruments, and the puppeteers perform a kind of slow-motion traditional dance as they also move their puppets in front of a backlit screen.

The Wat Bo shadow puppeteers are world class! As our guide Vireak– himself a highly talented puppeteer – explained, the Wat Bo troupe recently performed in New York at the 'Season of Cambodia', a celebration of this country’s visual and performing arts.

Shadow-puppet theatre is a centuries-old tradition here in Cambodia, probably because the materials needed are readily available and inexpensive. The puppets are made of tanned cow hide, 2 or 3mm thick, from which the unwanted pieces of leather have been cut or chiselled to create something resembling a stencil. The puppets we saw were large, perhaps a metre tall, and heavy to carry. No wonder then that when we arrived at the rehearsal, the puppeteers were doing a series of warm-up exercises. You have to be fit to be a puppet performer.

Another factor that no doubt contributes to the ongoing popularity of puppet theatre is the flexibility of the venue. The puppets work in silhouette, so with a strong back light and a large light-coloured screen – a bedsheet would do the job – a performance could be held almost anywhere; it could as easily be set up between palm trees in a rural village as in a modern theatre.

The story depicted is usually the Reamker, Cambodia’s interpretation of the Ramayana, an ancient Hindu love story. This epic tale is well known to all Cambodians, young and old alike, so they can easily identify the various characters and anticipate the narrative. 

Smaller puppets are also made for other types of performance, with long sticks being used to move their partially flexible limbs, and these now form part of the souvenir trade for visiting tourists. All the puppets are handmade and obviously required a high degree of skill to create. Luckily, these creative skills are still being passed down to young Cambodians, generating an income for talented artists and preserving one of Cambodia’s traditional art forms. 

When I was wandering around one of the local wats a few days after seeing the Wat Bo rehearsal, I encountered a local woman who runs a small NGO, the House of Peace Association, where the children are being taught puppet-making skills. I had a wonderful chat to the woman and, of course, purchased one of the smaller puppets, as a souvenir of my time here in Cambodia and as a way to support the continuation of this traditional art form.

A wat or six

I think I am rapidly gaining a reputation as the Mad Wat Woman of Siem Reap, at least in the opinion of my friendly neighbourhood tuktuk drivers and their associates. I doubt if any white person ever in the history of tourism in this city has visited as many of the wats as I have. It’s a very good thing I’m leaving Cambodia soon as this could turn into an addiction.

I can’t help myself. These places have the most incredible architecture, and are often extremely colourful. They are almost invariably empty of tourists. They’re inhabited by friendly monks who are only too happy to practise their English by answering my questions and who seem to appreciate my interest in their sacred places. And, although these are all living monasteries where poorer members of the public can seek shelter in times of crisis and so are never entirely deserted, they are invariably tranquil places to wander around. They offer a fascinating insight into many aspects of the local culture, not just religion. And I love the tuktuk rides I have to take to get to most of them.

So, here are some photos of my recent explorations. All six wats are within 15 kilometres of the city centre, and situated close to the main road than runs from Siem Reap city to Tonle Sap, the largest lake in southeast Asia. I’ve drawn a rough map for anyone visiting the area who also wants to check these out.

Wat Svay

I walked to this wat, a hot sweaty walk there and back alongside the river with no shade. But it was worth every bead of perspiration. There are two temples here, an old one that is in a very sorry state of repair and, judging by the amount of bird poop all around it, is now more of an aviary than a place of worship.

In comparison, the new temple is a shining light of Buddhism, all golds and oranges, with the bright blue highlights of the garudas, the ornamental roof supporters. There are many other buildings, including an old meeting hall built on high stilts, perhaps an indication of how high the river waters can rise and threaten this place.

Wat Kong Mouch

Not much further down the river, this place is quite a contrast to Wat Svay. It looks much older and the grounds are quite unkempt, but the temple itself is no less elaborately decorated, with particularly beautiful windows and doors, and a ton of burial stupas lined up around it in neat, repetitive rows.

Wat Atwea

The next wat down the road is Wat Atwea but I’ll say little about that here so I’ve already blogged about my visit to this place. It has the added attraction of ancient Angkorian temples in its backyard so is worth a visit for those alone.

Wat Po Banteaychey

This wat was a wonderful surprise. The main temple is a colourful many-splendoured construction but there is so much more: an equally splendid meeting hall and lovely office buildings, many vibrantly coloured statues, a large pond with its own small temple sitting in it, and behind the main complex, an extra revelation – a square structure with peaked towers at each of the four corners and a huge tower in the centre.

Wat Aragn Sakor

The architecture of this temple is remarkably different from any other I’ve seen in Cambodia. Although its wooden window shutters are painted in bright reds, blues and golds, the rest of the temple is quite plain and painted a simple dirty white. And its columns are most unusual, with spiral fluting more reminiscent of an ancient Greek temple than something found in southeast Asia.

The rear of the wat backs on to farm land, and that was also like stepping back in time, as I watched a farmer ploughing his rice paddies with an old wooden plough and two large white cows.

Wat in Phnom Krom village

Last but by no means least in this little jaunt along Tonle Sap Road is the wat in the village at the bottom of Phnom Krom (phnom means hill in Khmer), where I had my very own little group of local girls as tour guides. This temple is a very tall structure, with wonderful multi-coloured bands around its base, garuda statues and mint-green-painted nagas guarding its entrance stairways, and an abundance of burial stupas filling its grounds. From the cremation chamber at the rear of the enclosure, you can look out across the fields or back towards the hilltop, where yet another pagoda sits, beckoning the explorer. But that, as they say, is another story.