getting around: cambodia

transportation in cambodia is...

different.

few people own cars.

nearly every single family has a motorcycle or large scooter, called a

moto.

getting from your homeland (that is, where you live) to a large city or the country's capital of phnom penh is...

an experience.

here's an assorted collection of photos, an homage if you will, to the transportation options most available to me, given my budget...

plus some moto pics thrown in for fun, even though i've never ridden one here, as we have a 

chbawp klung

or

strong rule

against it in peace corps.

(it's the leading killer of people on the streets, i tell you.  dozens, if not hundreds, die in moto accidents each year.  and thousands are injured.)

(i didn't look the stats up to confirm those numbers but their mostly maybe true, i tell you, true!)

the bicycle. my main mode of transportation.  the cheapest form of transportation, used mostly be children going to school and poorer people.

 a van. always, ALWAYS, filled to the brim.  full of humans, objects, rice, fruit, whatever. just full.

pictured below, a not-so-crowded van. i think we only had 22 people in there. 

you can grab a seat in a van by heading to the place in the town that they congregate- if you know it- or just stand by the side of the road and flag them down. easy as pie.

no A/C. no seat of your own. only $2 to $5 dollars to get most anywhere!

tuk tuks! they sit by the side of the road in phnom penh, or near large monuments or statues in our town, and wait for people to walk by. if you're foreign, you're also lucky enough to usually get graced with "hey lady! tuk tuk?! lady?" or "need tuk tuk, sir? sir?!"

 ahh. and now, my favorite, the bus.  our bus to our town is itty bitty, without storage space below for bags- only large boxes of fruit, if dare- as well as the low price of just $3 to get from Phnom Penh to our town in around three hours, on a road that usually takes a car one hour.

chock full of load televisions that blare khmer music videos, whether you want them to or not.

 and often full of people who struggle with car sickness, as detailed here.

in all seriousness though, the bus is my favorite mode of transportation in cambodia. fairly reliable, most likely to lead to a seat all your own, and low cost.

and the illustrious moto.  

seen below is the topher's favorite sight- "five on a moto!" and the common "carpool" to pick up kids after school.  usually driven by a man or woman not wearing a helmet, the image below is actually rather positive, if you can look past that whole four-kids-without-any-sort-of-protection-at-all sort of thing.

you know.

how do we get around in america again?

i think i've forgotten.

at least, my wallet and sweat glands have.

man, i can't wait to drive a car again.

you know, in fourteen months.