Monk

I took this picture during a service station stop on the road between Kampong Cham and Siem Reap.It shows a monk enjoying his meal.There are many beautiful photos of monks available over Cambodia - they certainly seem to appeal to photographers and this is by no means a particularly good photograph but I like it because it shows a monk eating which is an unusual sight to see.Monks here are held in very high esteem. They start their day at around 4 am and we usually hear chanting of some sort from that time on. It used to wake me up when I first came to Cambodia but I now miss it if it isn't there!By the time I get up to go to work at 7 30 the monks are busy. They walk around the town in groups of 2 or 3 often in bare feet on the boiling hot roads and wait silently outside the shops for the owners to bring food to them which they then carry back to the pagoda The owners always get on to their knees and prayers are said. Monks are only allowed to eat once a day and that has to be before 11 o clock. I do wonder if that's why everything goes so quiet at about that time in Cambodia because once the monks are fed everyone else eats as well. All men are supposed to be a monk for at least 2 years of their life though that tradition is not so strongly upheld these days.Boys from very poor families can go to be a monk and get a free education and it is not unusual to see boys looking as young as 5 or 6 walking around with monks in the mornings carrying the bowls of food.I could write a lot about monks. Maybe one day I'll get a really good picture and then I'll add some more. I do like the monks for a number of reasons.They were 1 of the many groups hated and massacred by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s but they have made a courageous comeback which I admire. Historically they go back a long way and they provide a feeling of constancy for many Cambodian people. I like the Buddhist philosophy (what I know of it!)on life and seeing them in their bright orange robes always cheers me up . However I also feel there is a mysterious side to them which intrigues me!