Man Cuts Down Tree With Housewares

Saturday, while I was waiting to get a couple orders of Sow's favorite soup for lunch, I spotted a man across the street standing on a tin roof cutting down a tree. I was amazed at how quickly the limbs were falling. I watched him hold onto the tree while he swung his other arm in a flurry, but it was hard to tell just what he was holding.

After a while I realized he was using a common butcher knife. Who knew how many animals had been spliced and diced using that very knife. Now it was being used for deforesting. Just a couple good whacks and he'd take off a large limb. A single whack would clear off a few of the smaller branches. I kept waiting to see one his limbs drop to the ground but my soup came too soon and I left.

Last year I saw a similar thing in Phnom Phen. The four story building next door to our hotel was being razed by a couple guys with their bare hands and the use of a hammer. I watched over a few days as they demolished the entire thing. Finally down to the last arch which one of the guys teetered atop and pounded away at the cement and rebar.