Cambodian Style

This Cambodian woman is wearing a turban made from a checkered cotton scarf about the weave of a tea towel at home. They're about two feet wide and about six to eight feet long and the typical color is red or blue check.
I saw this humble cloth used in so many ways. I saw men wearing them as a short sarong. I saw them tied and wrapped in a million styles around the head. I saw them wound into a ring and placed on top of the head to support and steady a large basket or platter full of food on street vendors.
Most men wear them wrapped around the neck as a scarf . They are wrapped so that there is no part hanging. They are used to cover the face to prevent breathing dust or fumes. This means that ordinary folks looked like bandits when walking on dusty streets or riding their motorbikes. That was a bit off putting at first!
Many women use them as a sling to cary babies and I even saw a child with each end tied into a bundle and slung over his as shoulder like a saddle bag. I have never seen so many uses for a piece of simple cotton. I have been totally enamoured with the elegant ways the women tied them on their heads and as hard as I've tried I haven't been able to replicate it!