It’s Kind of Like a River

Hello, friends!

The title of this blog is how someone explained traffic in Phnom Penh to us during our orientation time.  What he meant was that there was a stream of folk all moving in the same general direction and at the same general speed but that there wasn’t any real rhyme or reason to the movements. All you had to do was just keep moving and avoid all the other “fish.” It was a perfect description of what we experienced.

Megan riding Steph's Moto

Instead of cars, most Khmer have a motorcycle, or moto, which means they can move in and out of lanes more easily. We traveled mostly by tuk tuk, which was a moto with a carriage attached to the back of it. Like the moto, they are smaller than cars and can weave through traffic better than cars, although not as well as the moto.

Driving in Phnom Penh probably would have given me a heart attack. The lane lines are more like suggestions than laws. If you want to swerve across a double yellow so you can make a pass, then go for it. Make the left turn when you need to make a left turn, oncoming traffic or not! Red lights don’t mean “stop” as much as them meant, “check for cops who are watching then go ahead if you don’t see any.” I learned that it was better to sit facing backwards when riding in a tuk tuk because then you see what your tuk tuk driver JUST DID instead of seeing what he is ABOUT TO DO.

Tuk Tuk Away!

Speaking of tuk tuk drivers, these guys are tenacious and tons of fun. All prices in Cambodia are negotiable so step one to finding a ride is haggling over a price. After that, you sit back and enjoy the ride. One bother was that there were a lot of tuk tuk drivers waiting for clients. Any time we walked anywhere we heard, over and over again, “Sir! Madam! Tuk tuk?” even if we had just turned down the guy right in front of him. Thankfully, because we were able to build some relationships with different tuk tuk drivers who had their turf around our place and knew us. That lessened the stress considerably.

If Megan and I ever moved to Cambodia, I’m not sure what we’d do about getting around. Motos are the most dangerous but the most economical. If we had a family we’d probably get a car because all those tuk tuk rides would add up in terms of cost (although we did see as many as 5 people on a moto at one point). Either way, the river or Phnom Penh traffic was an experience for sure.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

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