Out and About

One thing I love about being at my parents is the greenery.....Phnom Penh, especially where we live, is a typical city and has very few trees or green areas. I love mountains and trees, finding them restful, and just sitting and looking or taking a walk can be so relaxing. Ok- not in the middle of the day when the sun is beating down on you but evening or early morning is great. The sign above marks the road where my parents live.

These are some of the things I see around the village where I grew up. It is a lot more developed than when I was a child, with a mixture of Thai and Pow Karen (tribal group). Still many things are the same. The houses are made of wood, bamboo and tin. the Pow Karen houses are mostly riased off the ground and the Thai houses often have a ground floor. There are a lot more cars and motorbikes around than there used to be and less people seem to walk.

The village is quite quiet at the moment as most people are out planting their fields. Sometimes they get a tractor to plow and seed but the traditional method is to announce the day you are planting and other people turn up to help you. You then provide food and in return go and help each of the other people in their fields. It is a good system but sometimes you get no-one and other times loads which means you have to spend loads of time helping them!

This girl is wearing a traditional hand woven top but im not sure if  it is Burmese Karen or Pow Karen design as the girls normally wear white and pink and the boys wear colours.

A strange sight....lots of foreign (falaang) children out for a walk!!!

Raining very hard!!!

I love these mountains covered in cloud!