The Insider | Inside Cambodia

APAD 121: 6-Eleven store

Posted by The Insider on Jul 14, 2011 in A Photo a Day, Addicted to Meme, All things Khmer, Cambodia life, Phnom Penh, sights, Signs | 7 comments

We may not have the international franchise 7- Eleven store but we have its local equivalent in Phnom Penh. It is called the 6-Eleven. Like all convenience stores elsewhere, it is usually open 24hrs a day and has stocks of all sorts of canned juices and sodas, bottled water, snacks, and other everyday sundries.

It has almost everything that a 7-11 store has. Except that the 6-Eleven store probably opens an hour earlier than a 7-Eleven store. LOL.

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APAD 120: Special delivery by cyclo

Posted by The Insider on Jul 13, 2011 in A Photo a Day, Addicted to Meme, All things Khmer, Cambodia life, cyclo, transportation, Wordful Wednesday, Wordless Wednesday | 1 comment

This is a common sight everywhere in the city. The lowly cyclo, a local three-wheeled rickshaw, is one of the most enduring means of local transportation here in Cambodia. It is human-powered and equipped with seat to carry passengers. And cargoes, all sorts, such as above. It is estimated that there are around 2,000 cyclos plying the streets of Phnom Penh.

I like riding on a cyclo. It is slow, yes, but I like it because it gives me the opportunity to savour the sights and sounds of Phnom Penh. But these days, when the number of vehicles have quadrupled since the day I arrived in the Kingdom (11 years ago!), I rarely take the cyclo anymore. The once pleasurable cyclo ride has turned into a terrifying one, at least for me. Drivers don’t use the correct lanes, don’t observe traffic rules, and they have made the cyclo driver’s job harder and riskier. I just pray that the cyclo drivers go about their daily route safe and sound each day.

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APAD 119: Pink temple

Posted by The Insider on Jul 12, 2011 in A Photo a Day, Addicted to Meme, All things Khmer, Cambodia life, Kep, sights, That's My World | 6 comments

Photo taken in one of my field interviews in Kep. If I am not mistaken, we found this wat (temple) in a village in Ou Krasang commune in Kep. Apparently, monks like pink colour, too, as evidenced by this pink wat. The colour stands out in the middle of all the greens around it.

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