The sun hasn’t risen yet, but several teenagers have got up and left their beds, bound for nearby rice fields. It takes at about 15 minutes for them to walk the one kilometre down a narrow path to some holes they have dug near the edge of the paddy.
Carrying a plastic container, Meas Seiha, 17, a young boy with muddy trousers, takes the thatched cover off one of the holes at the corner of a rice field. Meas Seiha sticks his hand in recess hoping to find trei ros, or Snakehead fish, that might have crawled in during the night.
Snakeheads are a strange evolutionary phenomenon. They are one of the few species of fish that can breathe in and out of water. A small cavity allows for air intake, so they can survive for hours out of water, and can even move on land.
During the cooler months of October, November and December, the people of Kampong Preah commune, Sangke district, Battambang province, dig holes at the edges of their rice fields to catch these fish. “The fish look for the holes because they don’t like the cold paddy water during the cool season,” Meas Seiha explained.
Seiha says that the fish crawl out of the cold water and seek the holes too keep warm.
“Last month, it was not too cool like this, but some fish were lying on the levees in the rice field. My father and I got up early and collected the fish.”
As soon as the sun sets, the temperature in Battambang province drops quickly, and the people, like the fish, try to keep warm. People wear jackets and sweaters to protect themselves from the cool air from Tibet.
“I cannot even put my leg in the water, and I sometimes don’t take a bath for the whole day,” commented Seiha.
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