Cooling Things Off In a country without refrigeration--only 17% of Cambodia has electricity and where it is available, it is very expensive--ice becomes a visible part of life. Not for the average family, because their lifestyle, based on daily trips to the market, does not require refrigeration for the fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, and fish they buy and eat the same day. But the commercial sector--the restaurants, bars, coffee houses, rice shops--depends on ice and a vast distribution network has developed to meet the demand. Every day--several times a day--the ice carts and wagons and people on foot can be seen with their rapidly melting load destined for the next customers. For more ice pictures, see Part 2!

On the edges of town and in the rural areas where there is only one delivery a day, ice is delivered by the truckload and stored in open wooden stalls, buried in piles of sawdust for insulation In the city limits, large trucks of ice from the ice plants meet small vendors at designated points and load up the smaller carts and wagons like this motorcycle cart which then distribute the ice throughout the city Two loaded carts begin their distribution runs Arriving at a small shop, the ice man cuts the large blocks of ice to specification. Some shops want it crushed for drinks; some want it in smaller blocks for families to buy This man is using a special ice saw to make dividing cuts in a large block. When a customer comes, a quick whack with a hatchet measures out the right amount These two shops are resellers for the neighborhood. After a delivery early in the morning, the ice waits to be cut into smaller blocks to be put into the orange ice chests where it will await for customers. This man has a good-sized load of ice for his restaurant or business Some ice vendors sell directly to the people on the street

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