Rural Cambodia: Interesting Observations

On Wednesday afternoon I visited two temples that were about 30-40km away from Siem Reap and I got to see a different side of Cambodian living. Many houses were on stilts to avoid the hazards of seasonal flooding and there was very little in the way of retail (food, stores, etc.) It was great fun feeling the wind in my hair riding on the back of my moto taxi at much higher speeds than we were used to around the main Angkor temple complex.

1. There was a lot of dust and roads were not paved/sealed for most of the trip. There was a ton of road work going on with "Caterpillar" rollers, dump trucks etc. Which was a good sign for the future.

2. Houses on stilts. Why did I not get a picture of this. So sad, it's very different from the houses on mounds in flood areas of California.

3. An old, gray, cannon under one of the stilt houses I saw. Nuff Said. Very odd.

4. Several kids playing pool on a perfect pool table, green felt and polished wood. Again wish I'd taken a pic of this. They call it snooker or pool. They were playing in front of a stilt house, it was super interesting to see that in the middle of nowhere on a dirt road, in cambodia.

5. Rural Gas stations are nothing more than johnny walker and 2 liter soda bottles on racks. They're filled with gasoline acquired from legitimate stations in town and supply motorbikes.