Jungle Juice

It seems that gas stations are not that available in areas around Cambodia; easier for people to buy it by the liter from stands in the jungle at a premium.  I can’t imagine the relief when you are about to run out of gas in the sweltering heat and find one these stands. They could easily be mistaken for a strange jungle concoction.  In some ways they are.

Gas is contained in recycled bottles; Jack Daniels bottles, water or soda bottles.  I cannot help but think about the layer of violence in the images, just below the beauty and the sheer bizarreness of it; Molotov cocktails, explosives. 

Most sit in the blazing hot sun though out the day.  I wonder how many have actually exploded.

Gas is more expensive in Cambodia than anywhere else in Southeast Asia because most of it is imported.  We (in the United States), are so spoiled by availability and prices.  Here in the jungle, the gas costs about 50% more than your corner gas station.  And, it seems that most of the gas at these roadside stops is smuggled in from Vietnam.  Most of it also includes additives; cooking oil, water and I am sure, many other things.

All of the images were taken around Siem Riep, Cambodia.