This stock image of mine from 2012 got sold recently by an agency I’ve been with. Brilliant memories come flooding back when I view it. These days it’s the number 1 attraction in Battambang, but it’s still off the beaten track the moment you get past the section of rail reserved for tourists. I posted a few years back here about this very topic.
Finally got back out into the plains east of Siem Reap yesterday morning. They are working daily on the rice crop now. Below are two images I captured of a couple removing their rice transplants to plant elsewhere until harvest in a few more months. The sun was blazing down – this is very hot work.
I always feel comfortable in Bangkok. I don’t need to fill my days with sight-seeing. I rise late, and I wonder about almost aimlessly. The mixture of wealth and poverty is interesting here. Some new skyscrapers seem to be pushing boundaries. Some communities still live on and around the rail tracks.
The storms were on their way out. The air was clear. The fields vibrant. East of town we said farewell to this year’s wet season.
A Cambodian market is the ideal spot for a family of cats. A nice supply of mice and rats, with a scattering of fish bones and chicken leftovers. Yesterday evening in Siem Reap this tabby peeping out a Thai cardboard box was afraid of something – may have had some young in there. Thought it was under the radar, but I caught it!
in Cambodia, the water level of the Tonle Sap is at its lowest in living history this year. The town of Kompong Khleang still brings home a lot of fish daily, however word about town is that the stocks seem very low. Each visit, the landing point seems to be different. This time it was at the foot of the town’s most central pagoda. Most of the catch is destined for Siem Reap, but a small amount will remain in Kompong Khleang. Fish and rice make up most of the local diet.
Hammocks are for daytime relaxation in Cambodia. Nice to get a bit of a swing in it to cool you down…
Had been right down to the Tonle Sap, and coming back up Kompong Phluk looked awesome in the afternoon light. I couldn’t resist stopping to capture this scene.
141km from Siem Reap and 171km from Phnom Penh, Kompong Thom is a small town on the River Sen. It is a place of little excitement but ticks all the sights of a Cambodian provincial capital: The Honda dealership, the big ACLEDA bank, and the quiet Ministry of Industry, Mining and Energy. Like many towns in Cambodia, Kompong Thom feels like it should be on the up but is not, or was on the up and then stopped.
The following images were taken within 24 hours of each other.
A young girl helps her father load their small boat, ready for an afternoon of fishing on the swollen River Sen.
An unfinished pagoda building stands in front of the main structure, on the flood plain.
A group of farmers from a distant province rest in their truck full of bananas to be sold at Kompong Thom market.
Afternoon activity on one of the many backstreets coming off Route 6.
A shop owner, still in his home attire, braves the mid-day heat.
One of many vendors selling fresh sugar cane juice in front of the market, for 500 Riel a bag.
Food vendors set up stall in front of the market for most of the night.
Two mannequins stand silently in a clothes store opposite Kompong Thom market.
A row of shop-fronts in the centre of town, indistinguishable from any other town in Cambodia.
The old and new crossings into Kompong Thom.
Well known among the locals, she runs this ferry every morning without fail, for 500 Riel a crossing.
A woman takes the local ferry home from the market with provisions for the next day or two.
To escape the heat of the afternoon, a boy braves the drop from the old bridge, into the River Sen.
I first took the route from Bangkok to Aranyaprathet in 2009. I couldn’t resist a 6 hour journey through the breezy countryside of eastern Thailand, for just 48 Baht. In the heat of mid-day the journey comes to its end, 10 minutes tuk-tuk drive from the border checkpoint with Cambodia. I have heard of nightmare […]
Dominic Stafford Photography 