On the road again with Buddhist Monks.
Cambodia November-December 2016 (19 photos)
Following my previous post about the busy Siem Reap Street Market, let’s head out on the road again. There’s much to see on and from Cambodia’s roads. Many of these photos were taken through the windscreen of my guide’s 4WD.
Driving into Sisophon (also known as Svay or Serei Saophoan) my guide headed down some side roads, not because they offered a shortcut but to provide me with a greater variety of scenes of Cambodian life. Down this particular road we came across some Buddhist Monks (above).
Continuing down this same road and to my guide’s complete surprise, we drove straight into a street market. With a bit of luck we were able to negotiate a path through the markets, without hitting anyone or anything.
Yes, we drove into and through there… eventually.
One of the many shops you see along the road. The bottles under the umbrella contain motorbike fuel.
…
This time, we find ourselves in the northern town of Anlong Veng, perhaps the Khmer Rouge’s last urban stronghold to fall and the place where Pol Pot’s ashes are scattered. No, we didn’t bother to visit that site. It was early morning and I took some photos walking the street, whilst my guide ate breakfast.
That rider is clearly still of school age, but he is entrusted with two other lives, including a younger sibling squashed in the middle.
The most people I saw on one motorbike was 5, but 3 of them were children. At least this child has something to sit on.
On the road again with a Buddhist Monk.
If you’re wondering, he was excitedly running to tell his friends he’d just seen a dragon.
…
And now, just some random views from the road, somewhere lost inside Cambodia.
Evening road markets have a habit of just popping up and patrons will stop/park anywhere, even on the wrong side of the road.
On the road again.
Just can’t wait to get on the road again.
The life I love is making music with my friends
And I can’t wait to get on the road again.
On the road again.
Goin’ places that I’ve never been.
Seein’ things that I may never see again
And I can’t wait to get on the road again.
On the road again.
Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway.
We’re the best of friends
Insisting that the world keep turning our way
And our way…
Is on the road again.
Just can’t wait to get on the road again.
The life I love is makin’ music with my friends
And I can’t wait to get on the road again
And with that, I will now be heading on the road again, or more precisely catching a plane overseas at the end of this week.
I’ll return with my next post in a couple of weeks.
Etcetera Etcetera Etcetera 
That trafic is awesome, everybody is going somewhere with very many different vehicles! For European drives quite impossible to drive there. Fantastic photos, and again a really different world to see.
The traffic in Cambodia was fascinating. All different vehicles and farm machinery, often overcrowded. Much of what I saw seemed a bit dangerous to me and would be against the Law in Australia. Traffic inside the city of Siem Reap was a real adventure, but all part of the fun/experience. It was amazing to see how many people could fit on a motorbike and how much they could carry on it as well.
Well, you saw life at a different pace, and some amazing sights, quite a few rather worrying from a safety point of view!
The sights I saw on the road in Cambodia! You’d be arrested in Australia and elsewhere, and my guide laughed at that fact. Yet, I didn’t see any accidents at all in my time there. Just lucky I guess.
I would think you were lucky….
Indeed.
I’m so old that I remember when cars didn’t have any seat belts and when we drove overnight on a vacation, my mom slept on a cot set up in the back of the station wagon while the two of us children slept crosswise with our feet under the cot. 🙂
Safe travels through your last week and on the trip home.
janet
I guess coming from a land and time with so many road rules, it’s easy to forget it wasn’t always so. Still, some of what I saw was rather mind-boggling. 🙂
I’m sure. I always use my seat belt these days, but I also recognize that there’s a balance between sensible safety precautions and being ridiculous. In the States, there are lots of cities that have removed or scaled back playgrounds because if a child falls and gets hurt, the parents sue the city. Manageable risks are a necessary part of life.
Agree. Common sense is an undervalued commodity.
And thank you. Looking forward to this trip very much.
Did you get to try the Angkor beer?
I tried each of the 3 main local beers. Cambodia Beer, Angkor Beer, and Anchor Beer. Got to support the local brands. 🙂
Why do you ask?
Saw Angkor in the photos. Didn’t notice the other beers. Agree; got to support the local brands.
It took me a while to realise that Angkor Beer and Anchor Beer weren’t the same. 🙂 Regardless, all refreshing on a 35C humid day.
The monk on the motorcycle is priceless. Thank you for the peek into their road culture–traveling in modes other than cars. Do they have less pollution or as much from the motorcycles? Hope that your travels bring more treasured moments.
Thank you very much, Sally. I believe air pollution is a problem across South East Asia. I don’t know if the motorbikes assist or worsen the problem, but I suspect the problem would be worse if people started to trade their bikes for cars. There are so many of them.
I remember the kids perched precariously on motorcycles when I was in Thailand so long ago. Seems so reckless to us, but they always seem to escape unscathed. Have a fabulous trip!
The first ride in a tuk-tuk seemed reckless and chaotic enough to me but I got used to it quickly. It’s what they’re used to and it works. Australian standard road rules would bring Cambodian traffic to a standstill.
Thank you very much, Julie. Packing the wet weather gear now. 🙂
I really enjoy this series. Your photos tell the stories of the culture and how people are connected, the pace of daily live, and and the way of live there. It reminds me some of the travel stories that I have read through NG. 🙂
Have a great trip, Dragon!
Thank you very much, Amy. I’m happy to bring you the “big picture”. People in Cambodia are very dependent on 2-wheeled transport. Those tuk-tuk rides seemed very chaotic and exciting at the same time. Different cultures and street life are interesting to observe.
Colourful life.
Indeed,
It’s a good way to be 🙂 🙂 Safe trip!
Thank you, Jo.
Gorgeous photos Draco, catching the slow tropical essence of Cambodia……
have a safe and wondrous trip!
Thank you very much, Debbie. Cambodia is more than the temples and I’m happy to show that. I just wish I could have seen more of the country.
Great to go on the road again through these wonderful captures. Enjoy your travels!!
It wasn’t until about my third day there that I decided to keep my camera with me in the car. I was seeing some pretty crazy things on the road.
Thank you. Back soon enough with more Dragon tales.
Life is the way it is there how the locals get around. They seem to have no fear with three, four people on a bike like that. Your presence excited locals again…maybe you should start thinking about getting security 🤔😏 Happy travels.
They certainly know how to make use of every spare inch of a motorcycle; any motor vehicle for that matter. Australian standard road laws would bring a country like that to a standstill. That’s why I deliberately rode in the open tray of the 4WD ute up the mountain to the temple of Preah Vihear. Just for the fun of doing something that would be illegal here. 🙂
Thank you. I hope the locals at my next destination have seen dragons before, and leave me alone. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Enjoy your trip and look forward to your pictures of it when you get back.
Thank you very much. Looking forward to being there soon.
All asians country looks the same…
Yes, if I’d crossed the border into Thailand or Vietnam, the traffic style would have been the same.
I love the variety of transport methods.:-) A very interesting post once again Mr Dragon!
Thank you very much. If it has wheels, they use it for transport regardless of the machinery’s primary purpose.
thank you lignumdraco
Great Photo
Good luck to you
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Cheers.
Great post and pictures!!
Thank you very much. 🙂
and now I’m singing “on the road again” in my7 head and I imagine it won’t go away!
Ooops 🙂 🙂 🙂
I love how anywhere in Asia, motorbike riders carry anything especially if the cargo is ten times the size of the bike…ha ha –
It’s quite a sight isn’t it. They know how to just pile it on. 🙂
I can see you’ve made an impact even in Cambodia 😆 Thank you for the laugh, Draco and for the colourful walk. Hope you had a nice Easter 🙂
Thank you very much, Paula. It’s a universal response to seeing a dragon. 🙂 Cambodia is a colourful and friendly place. I enjoyed wandering around.
I hope you you had a relaxing Easter break as well.
P.S. I know you are a dragon and all, but be safe 🙂
Thanks. I’ll be flying friendly skies. And dragons aren’t unexpected at my destination. 🙂
Eeesh – I started a comment a minute ago, was distracted and now it’s gone. So yes, if you see some random Elisa somewhere – that’s what happened. 🙂 What I was saying was that I could actually hear the cacophony through your photos which is how amazing you are! I enjoyed these street scenes so much, the colors, the people…the sounds….
Thank you very much, Elisa. It was wonderful to experience it all. Street markets are a way of life there.
I’ll keep an eye out on the ether for that lost comment. They can be like boomerangs. 🙂
wonderful pictures! eventhough the place looks old, means everything are still untouched by men. They are still living with the aspects of the past and that is a good thing. We don’t get to see it in the modern developed world!
It is poor country and they make do with what they have which is an important skill.
Thank you very much.
On the road again … wonderful photos Mr Draco! I love your photography adventures 😃
Thank you very much, Julie. Not sure what I’m going to find on the road next week. 🙂
Lots I bet 😃
Hoping so 🙂 🙂 🙂
What an amazing experience!
Absolutely it was.
Fascinating and very enjoyable post – looks like quite a hairy experience in parts! Enjoy your next trip – looking forward to seeing the posts 😄
Thank you very much. Some fascinating sights on the road, for sure. Thank you. The trip is going well.
Amazing Pictures …
Thank you very much.
Love all the colors and I think I even saw a few things I wouldn’t mind picking up! I’m afraid my first thoughts for those monks in your first photo was for their poor bare feet. Ouch. Yes, I am totally spoiled. So much so, that I would probably just freeze up or freak out at that kind of traffic! LOL! But what a wonderful experience for you.
Thank you. I must agree about the thought of being barefoot. I couldn’t do it. Not there.
Riding in that traffic in a tuk-tuk (motorcycle carriage) was an exhilarating experience after a while, particularly at night.
Probably not for the faint of heart! LOL!
All part of the adventure 🙂
Dearest Draco, I had so much fun on the road again. Your photos and brief descriptions had me animated with laughter and awe. This is such a pure picture of Cambodia, like none I have ever seen, and I enjoyed it so. And on a personal level, the last time I sat with my mother before she passed, I played her this song, a Willie Nelson rendition, because she loved it so. But I haven’t been able to listen to it since, from sadness, and now I have a new memory of it, here, and I am grateful. May your new travels be filled with warmth.
Thank you very much, Jet. It was a fun post to write. I have so many photos taken through the windscreen on the road.
Music can have such a strong effect on our emotions. I’m glad this song reminds you of your mother’s love for life, even though it also hard for you to listen to now.
Aww thank you for sharing, I’ve been to Cambodia too for humanitarian work few years ago. Let the Nostalgia kick in already…
Glad you enjoyed it.
Loved the back roads and markets of Cambodia and you have captured them perfectly.
Thank you very much.
very nice experience, thank you for sharing with us
Thank you very much.
Hihi, the kid who saw the dragon made me laugh. Do you have a dragon tattoo so visible that everybody knows at a glance? 😉
No tattoo. Maybe it’s just my aura? Or perhaps it’s just my big nose and pointy ears? 🙂 🙂 🙂