Cambodia 2020 - 13. Lazy Lounging is a way of life here

13.  Lazy Lounging is a way of life here.

Cushions and Umbrellas Have Been Replaced

There is something to be learned wherever I go; Even if I have to learn to do nothing. I don’t know if it is the heat, but we took a few days to just lounge, swim in the pool and put our feet up and do nothing.

A lot of tuk-tuk drivers have a way of sleeping between trips, stretching a hammock diagonally across their cart and just taking a nap. Or they just stare into space, waiting for a ride. It’s not that they are lazy, but

Only 2 Feet of the Sleeper Are Visible

it’s a way of waiting for customers. I saw the same with people on the side of the road, many have a hammock stretched between trees and just swing in the hammock… waiting.

I am not sure if some people live like this, just a tuk-tuk and a hammock, no house needed. I saw a few who were fast asleep during daylight, do they work night shifts?

Sometimes the Hammocks Were Filled with Sleeping People

 I made it a point to explore the hotel a bit more, climbed to the roof to see what is around the neighborhood.

Looking around, even though we are on the outskirts of Siem Reap, it’s evidently densely populated. The house across the street was for rent, so I asked Phalla, Chanda’s wife, how much it would rent for. She did not know but said it would be expensive. We started to just talk.

House Across From Hotel at Top of Picture

Housing in Siem Reap is not so cheap. She showed me a picture of her house, a 2 story, modern, European kind of place that she said they paid $ 200 thousand dollars for. It’s a newer house, maybe 5 years old?  They are still paying off the mortgage; monthly, it is a drain on their income of course, but I told her we all had to do that.

Price of Lots in US Dollars

Housing in the countryside is much, much cheaper. But there is no running water in some areas in the country side.  ‘Maybe’ there is electricity for the well or a pump, but electricity is expensive, too. Electric is fairly new to the very rural Cambodia.

The housing I saw in the country side while riding in a tuk-tuk was very basic. Most were built on stilts and had just one large room, divided into living spaces. Traditionally, Cambodians like sleeping together. They do everything together as a family, cooking and eating all in one space. Privacy is not the same as in the West. 

Only 3 Out of 5 Meters Hooked Up

One takes off one’s shoes before entering the house. The rooms I peeked into were very clean, almost empty of furniture; stuff was neatly placed along the walls or arranged in groups of use. The ‘kitchen’ was part of this one room; but all huddled together were the sink, stove, and fridge, etc.

Everybody of course is dreaming of a western place, like Chanda and Phalla have now. They are the envy of their family.

Country House Likely for the 3 Families on the Meter Above

Family is a big thing in Cambodia. Their whole way of living is family. Ideally, everybody wants to live on the same street, the same neighborhood, for sure. Cambodians like to be close to each other. The neighborhood is important, too.

Most people in Cambodia are under 30 years old – A result of the Khmer Rouge?

Open Concept With Kitchen Separate But in Same Room

I did not see that many ‘old’ people during my month long visit. Cambodia still lives with the aftermath of Khmer Rouge, if not physically, for sure they live it emotionally.

The shock felt between 1970 and 1993 still has small tremors here and there; emotional tremors that bring back memories to the older folks.

Chilling Facts

Really, only since 1999 has there been ‘peace’ in Cambodia.

In 2014 a UN court found 2 head guys of the Khmer Rouge guilty and sentenced them to prison for life. 

Ah, when I sit and do ‘nothing’ my mind spins like that, my thinking goes from doing nothing to housing, to older people, to Khmer Rouge.

But it’s interesting stuff, right?

Pol Pot Died In Prison