Fish to the Market

They come every morning at daybreak bringing the fish to sell in the market. They tie up behind the ship and stay until 10:00 or so. They are the families that live on these boats. The crew says that they are of Vietnamese descent and are a community of several hundred here. It would be similar to the Hispanic community in America. They work hard but not all Khmer appreciate them being in their country. Instead of “across the tracks” this would be “across the water”. The ship is situated between the east side of the river and an island. The fishermen boats stay near this island and on it they have planted a field and the children play. If you can tell in the picture, the man has a phone and the glare from inside the cover is a television. The TV runs off a car battery and antennae are attached to long poles. There is a cooking area in the back where food is prepared. It is home and work together. At night you can see the boats out fishing using lanterns made from candles. It makes me think that maybe most of us don’t need as big of a house as we think we do. gail