Cambodia’s northeast is home to more than twenty ethnic groups or Indigenous People.
They each have their own story and particular customs, from death cults to love huts, and they have specific languages, although nowadays rarely used.
Should these ethnic traditions be protected as cultural heritage or is this a lost battle against ‘the course of nations’?
“What on earth are you going to do in Tropeang Krohom?” The driver of the minivan turns his head and gives me a puzzled look. Few passengers want to be dropped off in a settlement between two provincial towns.
Tropeang Krohom or ‘Red Pond’ is located at a junction of the main road. The name refers to the typical blood-red earth in this province of Ratanakiri.
From this point, a motorcyclist will take me to his village. It is a ride of more than two hours, along bumpy and unpaved roads, with large trails of dust behind passing trucks. The leaves of the grayish-green trees are covered with a thick layer of the same red sand.
