Exploring Kampong Chhnang

We took the day off from work and drove from Phnom Penh up North to Kampong Chhnang, a small town on the Tonle Sap river. The town is known for its floating villages – small groupings of houses that float on the banks of the river, and rise and fall with the unpredictable river movements during the monsoon season. The best part of the trip was spending a couple hours with a bunch of kids we met along the riverside. We all played with origami animals and paper airplanes, and it was a blast.

I had read that many kids in Cambodia love to see themselves in photographs and movies. So we shot a few pictures and short videos on our iPhones and cameras, and as soon as the kids saw them, they just wanted to pose and then see their pictures and videos afterwards. Here are a few of the highlights:


They even had some pretty impressive zombie moves:

And he was very carefully protecting a bird’s nest containing a bunch of eggs:

Afterwards, we were pretty thirsty, and got some fresh sugarcane juice from a street vendor, who has a motor powered cane press that squeezes the juice out of the long canes in a matter of seconds:

It was only 12.5 cents, and was delicious.

I shot quite a few photos, which I’ll post as soon as I have access to a real computer. I’ve also got a couple other anecdotes from the day that I’m hoping to post when time allows. But for now, back to work.