One of the benefits of running is that you get to explore a city and go places you may not necessarily visit when doing the normal tourist trips. I have been able to find some interesting places on my early morning runs and it is always a great time of day. Plus in the early morning you get to see a side of the day to day life of the locals who tend to get up with the sun.
 |
| Sunrise on my way out of town |
 |
| Morning light on the river house |
 |
| Houses on the river |
The mornings are the best time to run over here as it's not too hot and it means my run is done for the day. I have run a few times back from the school, with Jazz riding the bike on her own but it is much hotter in the afternoons. However the afternoon run does make the swim very refreshing.
In Cambodia there is morning school (7.00am to 11.00am) and afternoon school (1.00pm to 5.00pm). Most of the kids ride bikes to school and are usually in groups happily chatting away. School life is very strict and each morning / afternoon the kids line up for 5-10 minutes to go through the school rules.
 |
Bookshop opposite the school at 6.40am!
 |
| Lining up for school - always part of the start of school |
|
There are plenty of street-side shops and it is amazing to think this how some of the locals make a living. A pair of jeans costs $3-$5 depending on your haggling skills. Being a westerner I reckon the locals pay less! Anyway, here are just a few of the shops that I've come across on my 'almost' daily run the locals use.
|
Brings a new meaning to drive by shopping
|
The hairdresser - Clarissa not so keen to work here!
|
The morning cafe - busy every morning though not sure about their coffee and bacon & egg roll |
|
As you can imagine when a place has lots of bikes, there are lots of bike shops around. There are also a few entrepreneurs who have set up mobile workshops. |
|
The mobile bike shop - pulls in his cart by a moped though had only seen him 2 or 3 times
 |
| Bike shop - there are plenty of them like there are plenty of bikes |
|
Running is not so popular in Cambodia so you do get a few strange looks from the locals. However, I must almost be a local as the dogs have stopped chasing me on my usual route.
|
My new friend Rex who now just looks at me!
|
I guess like any developing country there is a noticeable contrast in lifestyles from one side of the road to the other. There are shacks over the river that you wonder how they haven't collapsed in the wet season and on the other side is a house as big as you get in the nice suburbs of Sydney.
 |
| The nice side |
A lot of the things we take for granted in the western world are a bit harder to come by in Cambodia and it is always interesting to see how this plays out. Sometimes its best if you don't always see it though, especially when it comes to food!
 |
Is this where my duck curry came from the other night?
|
Are those 3 ducks at the front still alive and just awaiting their inevitable fate?
ReplyDeleteYep, they were looking around and you could almost sense they were thinking, 'hang on a minute, what happened to that duck next to me'! I didn't hang around for too long.
ReplyDeleteIs that Enda's bike you have over there? you look like 'Driving Miss Daisy'
ReplyDeleteLove the Shirt rack as well, now we know where Tommy H goes for his fitouts :)
Hope all going well mate
Timmy
ps, Get your young lad back on blog duties - far more exciting then your trash :)