Cambodian traffic is fascinating. There seem to only be suggestions of rules, but none are enforced and few are heeded at all. We have seen all manner of vehicles on the streets and mopeds carrying up to 5 people. I saw 4 adults and a baby once on a single moped which is the record so far. Small children stand up on the seat or in the center of the moped. Mopeds with food carts welded to them go by with hot grills and chopped vegetables blowing in the wind.
Driving is mostly done on the right, but it is common to see people drive on the left if that is the side they need to be on. Trucks go by loaded with materials and people sitting on the roof, hanging onto the side or sitting on top of whatever material is being carried.It is absolutely amazing to watch! However, it is terrifying to be part of. We left Siem Reap to head to Phnom Penh, the capitol of Cambodia and since there are no regional trains, we ended up taking the 6 hour drive to Phnom Penh in a minivan bus.
It is not just a smoothie stand, it’s also a moped!
We were packed into the bus with a guy from Barcelona and one from Germany and the other 5 people in the car were Cambodian. Though we got a late start, everything seemed to be going fine. Until a few kilometers out of Siem Reap that is, and the trouble started. We got pulled over at a police checkpoint. Though the driver and the other two men with him (support or emergency drivers maybe?) were laughing, they had to get out of the car and they stopped and talked to the police for a long time before we were allowed to proceed again. As we were pulling out, there was a lot of shouting and everyone in our van turned around to see what was happening. A moped had just been hit by a truck and the driver was stuck under the truck. We had witnessed a lot of crazy traffic in Siem Reap, but part of what made it so fascinating was the fact that no one ever got hit, everyone seemed to look out for everyone else, no matter what direction they were going. We had seen some close calls, but everyone managed to get out of the way in time. So, this was very sad news. As we pulled away an ambulance was barreling down the highway.
We wove in and our of traffic, sometimes driving on the left, sometimes on the right side of the road. Sometimes the road was paved and sometimes it wasn’t. It didn’t seem to affect our drivers speed in anyway. Since it is the dry season here, the dust is terrible. The dust was so thick that even in the van with the AC on we ended up covered in a fine layer of grit. The dust clouds were almost impossible to see into and there were times that we could barely see the car in front of us, and yet our driver just kept swerving in and out, passing people almost blindly. It was a very long drive, but we finally made it to Phnom Penh safe and sound an so happy to have our feet back on solid ground. We were excited to get to Phnom Pehn as we had recently booked some swanky accommodations there- at the Intercontinental. A five star hotel. For Free. Way back in November we started an IHG hotel chain promotion. If we stayed so many nights, booked on their app and stayed at certain hotels we would receive something like 25,000 points to spend on other hotel stays. Well, during our Christmas Market tour and trip through the Baltic states way back in December we were able to both get the 25,000 point bonus. Then, once every 3 months IHG hotels release a list of hotels that are on sale for 5,000 points a night. Guess what showed up- the Intercontinental Phnom Penh. So here we are, in the lap of luxury!
Pulling up in a Tuk-Tuk
When our van pulled up to the station in Phnom Penh we were not sure how to get to our hotel, but there were plenty of tuk-tuk drivers offering to take us. We told our driver where we wanted to go and he stopped short and told us he had never taken anyone there before. So we rolled up to a fancy hotel in a tuk-tuk where we checked in on Friday the 13th and got a room on the 13th floor! Dun, dun, dun!! Interestingly, there is no 4th floor, but there is a 13th, maybe there is a superstition about the 4th floor in Cambodia?
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