CAMBODIA: SMILES THROUGH ADVERSITY | France 5 | Les Routes de l'Impossible

In Cambodia, people have learned to keep moving forward, no matter what. Despite torrential rains, roads swallowed up by the monsoon and the scars of the Khmer Rouge years that are still visible, everyone is finding increasingly resourceful ways to make a living.

In Ratanakiri Province, Sok Veht transports tons of latex along tracks turned into quagmires. Behind the wheel of makeshift trucks with no cab or windscreen, drivers worry about both their safety and breakdowns. “I’ve already broken down, but luckily I can repair my truck myself, right there on the spot.”
On the Tonlé Sap, the largest lake in Southeast Asia, Samat is watching the fish gradually disappear. Like millions of Cambodians, he depends on this vast freshwater ecosystem, which is now under threat from deforestation, overfishing and dams built along the Mekong, including several by China.
As some fishermen struggle to survive, others refuse to give up. One of them wants to give his daughter her dream wedding, but first he has to tow a huge 45-metre-long floating wedding hall all the way to the village — using a boat that is far from reliable!
Back on dry land, Mr. Wai hunts scorpions and tarantulas with his young son. It is a spectacular tradition inherited from the years of famine that followed the Khmer Rouge dictatorship. “The scorpion tastes like grilled shrimp.” Even giant spiders end up in the frying pan — a symbol of the extraordinary ability of Cambodians to turn hardship into opportunity