amputee band

We were walking through the middle of the jungle. Angkor ruins, Siem Reap, Peoples Republic of Cambodia. The cicadas are screaming like syrens. Its near deafening.

Up ahead is a group of men, filthy and playing old brass instruments and make shift drums.

Theyre all missing either a leg, an arm, or there eyes are sunken into there heads and non existant.

The sign in front of them reads: Cambodian Victims of Landmines Band.

And you know you're in the shit.

These were taken in Cambodia, at the Preah Khan jungle temple at the Angkor ruins in Cambodia... Its curious what nature can do to man made intrusions. Its almost like an overzealous decorator. It makes for beautiful pictures:

some signage

asia is a funny place. it is so extremely diverse and large (understatement). weve now spent a bit of time on this continent and the one thing that continues to make me laugh is the double edged sword that has become the 'backpacker' community. it has created an entire economy of its own in so many asian countries, because asia is so comparably cheap for westerners to squat around in. heres some examples of the battle between maintaining cultural identity and keep the 'backpacker' machine in motion.

teh edzamples:

this kid.

i remember taking this picture and feeling a small bit of sadness. this tribe has been marginalized by the thai and laos government. similar to the native americans in the US, they have small plots of land left over for these people and its like an implied cage.

they were so beautiful. the whole tribe.