Tuesday 21 July
Thought I'd give you just a soupcon of the Psar (market) culture in Cambodia. The first picture was taken on Saturday when I visited the Russian market to buy some paper - writing paper.
Cambodians are inadvertently environmentally sound. At LSCW, we are virtually exclusively "e". Sadly this is because paper is prohibitively expensive, an A5 notebook costing more than a meal. You will note that one of the women depicted is at her sewing machine. If you take along your design, she will measure you, and create the garment in front of you for a fraction of what that service would cost in the UK. The quality is excellent.
At the "Global Financial Crisis" workshop (run by UNIAP) which took place last week at the 5* Cambodiana Hotel, we addressed how the economic downturn has hit Cambodia and S.E Asia. Cambodia's garment industry, usually one of the more better faring trades, has been cruelly hit, meaning that factories have closed and women have been forced to open other less savoury doors to earn a living - namely massage parlours and karaoke bars, which as you can probably imagine offer a variety of different services.
The only thing missing from my second picture today is the look of terror on the moto passenger's face. That'll be because he's Khmer.
Us "barang" (foreigners to those of you not fluent in Khmer) tend to be a bit less relaxed for the first few journeys. It's fine though, because you can buy 100 valium over the counter here for a smattering of dollars!
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