Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Thatched Huts, Tonle Sap

On our way to Tonle Sap lake, we came across and passed by several temporary thatched huts or straw huts on both sides of the muddy path road.

The Tonle Sap region is one of the poorest part of Cambodia. All the photos in this post were taken through the side window of our fast moving tour bus. Hence, u can see a "dark triangle" like thingy at the bottom of the left hand corner of each photo.

Nothing wrong with your eyesight. This is one of the distorted-looking thatched huts along the Tonle Sap tributary.

With the Cambodian girl standing next to the straw hut, u can roughly speculate the size of the hut. The entire families will perch and cramp inside these small huts.

The "bigger" thatched huts with several "compartments" and kids playing in the hut compound.

Cambodians resting at the entrance to the straw huts. Where are the doors? I didn't see any doors :(

Hut with mini garden ~ the flower pots

This straw hut has a "special" door.

After seeing the above photos, do you consider yourself lucky and blessed? Can you imagine yourself living and growing up in such an environment? We are indeed much more fortunate than many others out there.

24 comments:

rainbow angeles said...

Chup!

We are indeed very much luckier compared to alotta other countries..

L B said...

Summore complain no Roast Duck lah, no Lap Cheong lah, no Teh Tarik lah, no Starbucks lah, no KFC lah, no See Ghost lah, hor? Yeah, we gotta look at the bright side of how fortunate we are, rather than bitch about long queues, no cooking oil, cannot find DVDs, not enough salt... :-)

Ehon said...

yeah lor. summore we also third world. ppl never stop complaining. we should be like me always say i am super duper lucky. :P

Chen said...

angeles,
We are very very very lucky indeed.
And we don't have to worry about nothing to eat, huh?

*thinking of durian egg tart*

LB,
Yeah loh, can start counting our blessings. I told Ah Boy he is a very lucky doggy too, don't have to worry about food and got so many people sayang him :P

pssss... btw, u still have how many sachets of aik cheong teh tarik leftover ah? :P

ehon,
Great minds think alike, huh? Hehehhee... Cos we dun complain, or we hardly/seldom complaints. ;)

_butt said...

I'm pretty amazed that those huts could actually stand quite firm on its own. and yes, we should count our blessings indeed. :)

mistipurple said...

wonder how they survive without fresh water supply. i think they are also happier than some of us (not meaning bloggers, i mean general 'us'). because some pictures of poor children and adults show their smile so much bigger than 'us' in developed countries.

Chen said...

butt,
I wonder how long can the thatched hut last before they need to build another new one. Few years? or.. It would be scary to stay inside those huts during heavy rain or thunderstorm time. Aiyh...

misti,
i think they use the dirty and muddy lake water for their water supply. They must have very good immunity level hoh? in order to survive in such an unhygienic environment.

I ditto with u. Even though they lead a simple life, but most of them are still happy, and feel contented. Simple is still good :)

day-dreamer said...

Mana itu tasik? Hahaha~

Anonymous said...

at least they don't need to worry about tax, mortgage, insurance & all things they requires $$$ LOLz

i hope they still have healthy forest & rivers that provides them with their daily necessities.

nyonyapenang said...

Ya....after coming back from visiting places and seeing how people live simple lives with bare creature comforts, I always tell myself, "I AM SO FORTUNATE."

kyh said...

so cramp and small. i wonder how the adults *ahem ahem* when everyone (esp the kids) gets to hear or see it. :P

Anonymous said...

Yes we are indeed veri lucky sum more sum time dun realize and keep complaining.

Anonymous said...

Wow, looks pretty tough... You must have felt lucky ;)

stay-at-home mum said...

Yes, it visits to places like this that make us not forget to count our blessings!

Anonymous said...

Definitely a glimpse of reality. Thanks for the post and the pictures, Chen.

Chen said...

day dreamer,
Itu tasik ah? coming up soon..
Cos cannot cramp so many photos into one post mah.

Actually hoh, the tasik is still lying peacefully in Cambodia, actually hoh, not so peacefully lah, since so many tourists visiting :P

slurp,
Yeah, I didn't see any insurance company over there. I don't think there is such thing as insurance over there. Bribery and Corruption rate is very high over there. Parents can bribe the examiner to get good marks and certificate can be bought with $$$. How irony :(

I don't think they have clean water supply.

Chen said...

nyonya pg,
Yeah, we Malaysians are still much more lucky and fortunate than many others in our neighbour countries (not counting Singapore lah).

kyh,
Aiseh.. I presume at night time it will be dark lah, hence the little kids won't be able to see anything.
Btw, most of the families there have many children despite their poor living conditions. Pity the small kids..

kopi soh,
And not forgetting the war, land mines and bomb explosion victims over there. The devastation still continue long after the war and the innocent victims are still suffering up to this day :(

Chen said...

zhu,
There are many small kids who begs for money over there. Some will work for money such as selling postcards, souvenirs, drinks etc. And many of them can speak good English.

stay at home mum,
Yeah, it is hard for many of them even to have a decent or proper meal, or the basic necessities in life.

giddy tiger,
You are mostly welcomed.
We Malaysians are much more fortunate than many others out there in our neighbour countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia etc..

Anonymous said...

Sometimes living like that is less stressful..dun have to mengejar kekayaan..but then when u live like that, serba kekurangan, you wont be satisfied also..aih..

Doreen said...

Very "kelian" :( And how lucky we all are, can sit here blogging. We all must be thankful.

eastcoastlife said...

I'm always thankful for what I have. I don't anyhow spend my money.

I know I will die if I were to live in such conditions.

When I was in the rural villages in China, Indonesia and Thailand, I broke down several times because cannot sleep, dare not eat and go toilet. It's really horrible.

Chen said...

eve,
That's true. If lacking of all those basic necessities, then really very cham loh. Very jialat :(

doreen,
Can lie down on the comfy sofa in the air conditioned room while taking a sip of the iced lemon tea and watching tv.. we are indeed very lucky hoh? :)

ECL,
Yeah, u are a person who spend your money wisely. It will be hard for most of us to survive in such condition.

Up to this day, there are still several rural areas and villages in Sarawak without proper pipe water or electric supply. Most of these folks use the river water for drinking, cooking, bathing, washing etc :(

mistipurple said...

i think when grow up there, the body somewhat immune lah hor? it's one way or the other. means those who can't make it, terok sure die. sad.
about singapore being more fortunate than er.. malaysia, not really lah. i really like being in malaysia. there are valuess that we have lost kaw kaw over here.

Chen said...

misti,
Only the fittest will survive. Kkkkkk.. reminds me of Darwin's Theory of Evolution :P

Singaporeans are more fortunate in certain way, but not in everything lah.. Kkkkk.. And definitely not those kiasu value nor the hectic lifestyle etc. There are pros and cons in everything. Hehehehhehe