Photo by: Roth Meas
A tapper uses a bamboo ladder to scale a palm tree near the village of Dorkrong in Kampong Chhang province.
Every morning Long Lonh wakes in the predawn darkness, washes his face and loads his bicycle with plastic containers. With his trusty knife hanging from his belt, he pedals slowly along the paved road from his house to a rice field where thousands of palm trees grow.
Despite the early hour, Long Lonh isn’t alone in the field. Other men have arrived before him, some climbing to the tops of the swaying trees, others walking from one trunk to the next carrying containers of sap they have already collected from the palms’ highest reaches.
Long Lonh parks his bicycle near one of the trees. He ties a plastic container to his belt and starts climbing, using a bamboo ladder that he has permanently tied to the trunk.
Once at the top of the tree, he removes a plastic container filled with sap that has collected overnight, and replaces it with the empty container he has brought with him. Then he descends to the safety of the ground. (Please read more )
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