Punting refers to boating in a flat-bottom boat (punt) on shallow water. The Cam of England is full of punts on any day when it is not too freezing to be out and about on the water. In the picture was my punter when I was in Cambridge: a young good looking well-educated man. Elegantly, he lifted the pole up to push it against the river bed. He took us along the river telling stories about the prestigious Cambridge university which have homed some greatest thinkers…and more. There, I could admire some magnificently and solemnly standing architectures which must have seen the world change for the better. Such a privilege!
Here is my punter in a floating village in rural Cambodia. She punts on a shallow part of the great Tonlé Sap. She moved her pole so very quietly, just like when she spoke. I was brought deeper and deeper into a tranquil world after each push. An isolated world of which history is written more likely with poverty and illiteracy. There, I could hear my heart beat. It is the privilege.
nightcactus 