Pramaoy doesn't really have a functioning garbage disposal system, so it's either burn it or throw it out your front door like all of our neighbors do.
️🛺 Pramaoy Trash-Run 🗑
Plastic trash moves easily with wind, so our lazy neighbors' garbage is usually scattered by dogs and weather in front of our room each day. I've lived here on and off for over 12 years, and I hate to admit I've given up trying to inform Cambodians about the dangers of dioxin and/or living among garbage.
University graduates and uneducated working folk both happily toss their trash just about anywhere you go in Cambodia, something that makes Cambodia a not so visually appealing country, and surely a factor in why most tourists spend a month in Thailand and Vietnam, but rarely spend more than 5 days in Cambodia.
We recycle as much as we can and discard our organic rubbish on vacant land, but we still produce a small shopping bag of trash every now and then, and I feel a obligation to dispose of it as responsibly as possible. This place is too small for a proper garbage truck and landfill service, so for now we take our trash to Elephant Roundabout where there are 4 public trash bins with NGO logos on them.
After living in Pramaoy for a few months I began to notice that not only are the bins at the roundabout now all full, but they haven't been emptied since we've lived here. Time will tell what will happen, but I assume a gust of wind will eventually blow the bins over and scatter the trash all around the roundabout. We create as little waste as possible, and even refuse plastic bags at the market, something that causes the veg and fruit sellers to think we are absolute whackos, but that's also why Cambodia is a bizarre, interesting, and often times a very fun and funny place to live.
Take everything you know as normal and then flip it 180 degrees, and that is Cambodia, so watching people zinging trash out their window is just one of the things you just have to learn to watch and accept. Even funnier is when Cambodians drink something while riding their motos, because more often than not, when the cup is empty they just let go of it, often not even bothering to throw it on the side of the road.
Okay, it's 2:00am and I haven't mentioned anything about this quick tour of Pramaoy. Lucky for me I didn't post this in HaveYouBeenHere, cause a Pramaoy Trash Run doesn't jive well with posts about where to find the best white sand beaches in Bali. Cambodia is a little rough around the edges, and so is Pramaoy, and that is actually one of the reasons I've grown to love Cambodia. I have failed to tell you a bit about Pramaoy so I guess I should just give up now and hope the video is entertaining enough without my babble.
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▶️ 3Speak
Best trash run video ever! Thanks for taking us on a ride.
Looking forward to your future adventures on the road
that's what the Portugese man from the veggie and fruit cart, that stopped in Monte Frio ( where I used to live ) once a week, probably thought of me. In fact, as soon as I told him I didn't want him to use plastic bags and had brought my own bag, he lost patience with me and let his wife take over. And that after greeting me, in a friendly way, at the start, haha! It happened several times.
I can't wait to take a proper trip around the country, just need to get confident again with my cameras and audio equipment before setting off. I understand your situation totally, but sometimes it's good to be weird. I love the look on the face of the locals here when put all of our produce in one shoulder bag. The other day a lady almost flat out refused to allow us to put onions and cucumbers together in one bag, so she tied the onions in a plastic bag and forced it on us, letting us we can keep them separate from the cucumbers like this, but still put everything in one bag. They obviously don't understand our reasoning even though you can't go five seconds in Cambodia without seeing a plastic bag fly by in the wind.
Haha.. Justin.. a really interesting trip.. =) Wow.. people just throw rubbish everywhere.. that's something hard to look at but if everyone does that, then I guess, accepting it is the only way forward. I watched your video tour and it is quite interesting to read the subtitles that you've written on it. =) 50% of Pramaoy is seen. Can't wait to see the other 50%.
Wow.. the rubbish has been at the roundabout for that long. No wonder no one even bothers to make any effort throwing garbage properly. =)
Like Dave mentioned, I hope to eventually be able to do some kind of narration if I can manage to keep the engine noise from overtaking my voice. Not much left of Pramaoy to show you now, you've seen the roundabout and the mud 😁. There are lots of little businesses here, but I have never lived in a place that was basically a long narrow strip.
Tomorrow we head to a mountain nearby, and it looks like we can swim there. The positives definitely outweigh the negatives when it comes to living here.
Hi hi Justin... I really got entertained by looking at your narration . Wahaha... Take ur time to develop a way to fit all those in. Wahaha . Can't wait to read bout ur mountain trip. Great to know that your out exploring. My favourite thing to do with my wife.. exploring hahah. Have a great day..
This reminds me of the Suriname 4 hours bicycle ride. Difference is, Suriname road looks way more nicer than here, but super sketchy with big trucks and trailers zooming past.
On the side note, I'd like to see one time when you start shouting and narrating behind the camera, where is here or what was the story about that 😁 I'm not sure about others, easing subtitle isn't really a good way to video explore a scene 😁
I think Suriname definitely has more paved roads, but also more potholes too. The traffic there was 98% cars, and that's much more intimidating, especially when cycling or riding a moto. Funny you mention narration, I have been wondering how to solve this problem. Because we are open-air, there is a lot of wind noise, and also the engine is fairly loud. I recently bought a lapel mic that I could record myself with while driving, but I'm not sure how much of the sound would be and how much would be engine noise.
There is also the option to record myself narrating the video during the editing process, but that wouldn't catch the natural and sometimes funny conversations we have. Soon I'll experiment with recording audio from inside the interior to see if it's possible, and if it works I definitely have some content ideas. I also didn't like the way the wide angle curved the edges of the video. I'm gonna opt for a narrow shot next time.
whoaa..all that journey for a trash run 😱😱
I always whine whenever I need to throw the garbage. Solely because the main garbage bin is located 100 meters from my house. After looking at your video, I won't whine again
Yeah, you are right, this is the beauty of HIVE. You can monetize a routine garbage run 🤣🤣
We could easily burn our trash or toss it on the side of the road like many folks do, but I can't accept that kind of behavior from myself. Living here in such a remote place further reminds us how mindful we must be about our plastic intake, but like you said, the upside to all of this is I can earn some money taking out the trash and testing out some Go-Pro settings.
Man, I'm glad you are back where you want to be, even if the conditions aren't perfect. I do feel a bit spoiled being that my trash run is about 20 seconds from my door, but then again, you got trees and space. :-D I hope I can visit one day
Not ideal, but this particular town is the most common-sense place to settle while we explore the surrounding areas. Now we have prospects of buying land on a freshwater mountain creek, so we're pretty excited. If we can get the land we want, we'll have bungalows to host you when you come.
Garbage is a complicated problem with people's thinking that is still narrow, as if trash that is thrown carelessly, especially plastic waste, can be decomposed or lost in swallowing somewhere.
Yes, a huge problem here just like in Indonesia. I'm not sure I will ever understand how some people live among garbage happily, especially when they don't have to. It only costs 75 cents a month to have a motorbike with trailer come and haul the trash away (not sure where it goes), but people would rather spend that on a can of beer or a street snack.
Talking about the garbage problem in our place, Indonesia is also like that, throwing away at will without thinking about it, maybe only some countries impose fines for people who litter.
I think fines would make a huge impact, I totally agree. Even if the fine was only 25 cents, it would have a great impact. I have even taught lessons about the environment, recycling, etc., and then got on the road after school and watched my students throw their sugarcane juice cups on the side of the road, making me wonder if the lesson in class mattered at all.
it's true as you say , littering has become a habit even very It's hard to get used to throwing trash in its place.to change one's ideology has become a habit this is a very not easy job.
🤣 Maybe you should make a video about the importance of handling trash properly - for your neighbors I mean 😂
It does sound like a fun and different lifestyle :)
Haha, that would be instant comedy gold. I should've filmed the conversation with my neighbor the other day when I was telling his wife to try and keep the baby away from the plastic smoke when they burn trash, explaining that it creates dioxin, a carcinogen, etc. I honestly think they don't believe me because I'm a foreigner, and often the nationalistic propaganda causes many Khmers to think foreigners are helpless souls that are scared of the world.
Hopefully they'll begin to know that you are a pretty smart guy, and listen!
Now that was fun! :)
When you come visit you can join me on trash runs.
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STOPCheck out the last post from @hivebuzz:
I feel you pain in the way people discard rubbish. It's one thing my hubby and I have noticed throughout Asia. Even here in Australia where we are blessed with free rubbish removal services and rubbish bins everywhere, we still have a littering problem.
Our tuk-tuk is the family transport these days, but many years ago I had a motorbike here that we all rode together when the kids were smaller. Thanks for stopping by.