At the ice factory


I rented a mountain bike and went on a trip north to the city when suddenly i crossed a site that i could hardly ignore. I was watching out for someone who saws an ice block at the Angkor area, so it sparked my attention immediately. The local ice factory.

It is hard to describe. But let me try to explain the basic principles first. They burn wood. The fire heats water, which as it becomes steam powers a turbine. Which then operates a generator. This generator then produces electricity to power a giant freezer. The water is frozen in huge metal cases in what seems to be a giant ice cube maker. When frozen, the guys use a hall crane to lift the blocks and some of the warm water to release the ice from the encasing. The blocks then are cut into the necessary parts. Full blocks go to a truck, half blocks to a pick up, quarter cubes to motorbikes and square blocks of approximately 30x30cm to individual households.

A crusher rattles out crushed ice which then is stored in giant cooling boxed waiting for sale.

The heat generated by the huge stove is only shielded by a thin metal wall. The water for the freezing seems to be pumped right from the river. A large filter cartridge is in place, so the water is somehow “purified”.

A toddler is crawling through the scene where men are lifting the ice blocks using metal hooks. Preparing to split them using large machetes using a circular saw.

Unfortunately i made some basic mistakes in taking the pictures. First i should have chosen a shorter time like 1250 for the action to really freeze. Adding the small inbuilt flash would probably helped as well for this pictures to be taken. I tried to get as close as possible to the action without actually disturbing the processes. That should not hold me back next time. I’d want to try to really be part of the action.