Some Observations about Cambodia 2– Transport!!
on So Now It's Cambodia (Cambodia), 20/Mar/2010 09:17, 34 days ago
One of the first things anyone would notice about Cambodia (apart from the extreme heat (and maybe humidity according to which time of year you arrive) is the transport.It is even referred to by the locals as Cambodian transport. It’s hard not to have mixed feelings about it!On the one hand it’s appalling in many ways and like many other aspects of the country would break health and safety rules galore or just be plane illegal in the UK. On the other hand there’s an incredible “can do” approach. In fact, it’s one the things first written about on other volunteers’ blogs.For example, motos. No crash helmets in most cases though this is really starting to change due to a police crack down and roadside fines. This combines with no wing mirrors. On the moto can be any number of people. Women usually ride side saddle but there will be tiny children balanced precariously (no helmets). The number of people/children on a moto has to be seen to be believed but 4 or 5 would not be exceptional.Motos are used to carry things. I’ve seen men steering one handed whilst balancing a big TV or fridge on the back. Then there’s the mattresses. Yes – full double sized mattress. How many? Well how many do you need to shift? Maybe 6? No problem! There may be so many plastic bowls you can hardly see the moto! Or it could be baskets or chickens dangling from the side or balloons……….There can also be livestock. Pigs are carried in a wicker basket on the back. Sometime there might be 4 pigs in a basket– still alive (just!).The tractors are something else. Considered Cambodia’s most dangerous form of transport (no we don’t use it!!) it’s like a large lawn mower steering system with a long wooden trailer which can just be filled with people (think there called gondals or dongle or something!!) One problem with these is that they are very hard to steer and go very slowly and have no lights. They might have some CD’s stuck on the back to act as reflectors.They can pull onto a fast road from a field and may have to manoeuvre across the road in order to straighten up– it can be a bit scary if you’re in a taxi doing 60mph! This is worse at night because they have no proper lights. It’s one of the reasons VSO virtually ban night time travel for volunteers here. Sadly, there was a tragic accident in the last couple of weeks when one of these careered out ofcontrol down a hill. Many died or had severe head injuries. The people travelling on these will probably be the poorest and most likely be farm (rice field) workers.Strangely, the Khmer medical staff here are used to this and volunteers are not allowed to help because they can cause more confusion partly due to language problems. Another accident in Sisophon only last week involved one of these when two young lads on a moto crashed into the trailor and were killed. Some Khmer VSO staff were keen to see the result but not everyone is so bloodthirsty!What amazes us is that there aren’t more accidents! I may have mentioned the traffic rules out here in one of my earlier blogs. When asked what the rules were (there didn’t appeared not to be any!) I was advised that the largest and/or oldest have priority. It’s quite weird when we’re in our regular taxi and we’re joiningthe main road from a V junction - there are motos coming along the main road. In England we would stop and wait for the traffic to pass but the taxi just pulls out and the motos give way. In Phnom Penh it’s particularly hard to work it out. There are motos everywhere. They drive on the wrong sideof the road and cut across corners. You can look every which way – go to cross and a moto will be cutting across the pavement towards you or will be on the wrong side when you’re not expecting it.The art of walking (or cycling) around is to expect the unexpected as it happens most of the time and constantly be looking in every direction (bit like being a teacher really!!)! As I was taught many years ago (maybe by a police talk) about motorway driving in UK– don’t make any sudden movements or change of direction. Make your intent clear and stick to it and they will drive round you!This can be really unnerving when crossing some big roads as vehicles just seems to be coming from everywhere. But after a while you get a feel for that angles they drive at!This angles thing is something I’ve noticed ever since first visiting Asia a few years ago. The overtaking system would appear to be suicidal or murderous and would cause a huge upset back home – I’m (we’re) frequently terrified by it. Here they do what I call “bendy driving”! It seems that the person overtaking knowsyou will move across the road a bit as they start to pull in. They end up going along side each other across the road but somehow not quite hitting. Nothing sudden happens they just seem to bend the road to their direction somehow – it happens all the time – and mostly works!Generally, they don’t get cross but we have known our taxi driver (Cheourk) comment on some driving being “rude”. In spite of getting used to all this I’m still amazed by the 3 to 4 way overtaking that goes on at times. EG. A car overtakes a slower car or lorry that might be overtaking a farm vehicle or slow moto and as someone overtakes coming towards you there seems to be little margin for error – then at the last minute – some youngsters on a moto wizzes past all of you in the gap you didn’t think existed! Quite breathtaking!Unfortunately, some of these young men do end up in Alison’s hospital with terrible injuries.Trucks come in various forms and are usually extremely overladen. They can be piled high with rice bags or similar or scaffolding or plastic chairs or all of these. Again, just when you think there’s no more room there will be a number of people (usually men) scattered over the cargo. The vehicles are often in a parlous state of repair and I doubt many would pass an MOT in England.There are often chunks of body work missing or no doors at all and look as if they should have gone on the scrap heap long ago. Mind you, if you have no air con maybe having no door is a good idea. So generally, the principle is- if it’s possible to pile more stuff on – then do! Even if you get stopped by the police a fine or bribe will usually sort it out.Shared taxis are par for the course here. Alison had to use one once (one of the passengers was very drunk– which she found entertaining!) but I try to avoid them. They are old Toyota Camrys and the idea is you each pay a cheap fare – maybe $3 but you share the car with as many people as they can fit it. So maybe 4/5 in the back and 4 in the front! The front arrangement is that 2 sit on the front seat, one sits in between the seats (gear lever/handbrake area) – plus the driver! Don’t ask about seat belts – they’re just for decoration!!You may remember our trip to our placement was like this with the 2 motos, 2 bikes, lamp stand and loads of stuff plus a Cambodian helper on top– we did get stopped and fined by police about 8 times. This is so normal that the Cambodian staff gave fine money to the driver at the outset! The problems started when this ran out!Quite an attractive sight are the pot trucks. These carry a variety of clay pots like from a garden centre or metal pots for the kitchen etc. or there may be lots of plastic storage stuff– even feather dusters! They are neatly piled around the truck so there is a display along the side and back.Coach or bus travel is interesting too. They’re not bad in some ways. They get you there, they don’t race. Your luggage goes in a hold and they write your seat number on it and we haven’t lost any yet. You can even reserve specific seats in advance. You have a seat to yourself (unlike in a shared taxi) but it can be very noisy if they have a karaoke or pop DVD in or a DVD of a slapstick show which is basically a pantomime (oh no it isn’t - I hear you cry!!). Unfortunately, I think there is a deafness problem in Cambodia as they have it so loud you can’t hear your ipod, let alone doze.Also, on the long journeys they only stop at“service stations” or cafes with uneatable food – various greasy pots of some sort of stew/curry or fried insects etc. On the up side is they’re pretty reliable and very cheap by English standards – eg. a few pounds to go for about 7 hours so they are popular with Khmers and “barangs”(westerners).Can’t leave this without mentioning the moto dops and tuk tuks. These are what many people associate with Asia. We’ve not tried the moto dops which are moto taxis. VSO do require volunteers to wear helmets even for these. We do like the tuk tuiks though. They’re generally not as out to fleece youas in some other countries. We feel safe but it’s sensible to negotiate a price first or exactly what they would expect for the fare.They are so useful for short journeys and will carry a wide range of luggage (even bicycles) if needed. They are usually helpful and will dart in and around the traffic (especially in Phnom Penh) in an ever interesting way! Some will know a few words of English but it’s often a good time to practise our Khmer with such fluent expressions as “stop now or go straight!” The main irritation is when they say they know where to go when they don’t!This happens a fair bit so it’s best to have clear idea of where you want to go before hand or show them. However, literacy levels vary and be non existent – including being unable to read maps (though they will say that they can!).We had this experience when Matt and Challin were with us. We never did find the restaurant we wanted to try out and the main reason was he misunderstood the road number we asked for– he kept saying I gave him the wrong information! We ended up down all sorts of side streets but gave up and went to somewhere we knew instead.This can be irritating but it’s a chance you take. At the end of the day most rides in Phnom Penh cost about $1 to $2 which is hardly expensive!There’s a tuk tuk driver in Sisophon who sometimes takes me/us home for $2.5. He has quite good English and he approached me in the bus station soon after we arrived – I wasn’t sure about him at first - seemed like a jack the lad - but after he showed his support for Liverpool FC I warmed to him!!He turns up almost instantly to take us back to Mongkul Borei when we phone him from the Golden Crown Guest House. He drives quite slowly and says not to worry - he will look after us! This gives us time to take in the passing scenery a bit more.Once he took a while to turn up– this was because he’d been in bed - but he still got up and came to give us the ride. I hope it was worth his while! Imagine this in England!!!!!Finally, there are the cyclos. These are push bikes with a pram like chair with cover to sit in. We only used these on the VSO cyclo tour but they help add colour to the scheme of things in Phnom Penh. I think the cylco drivers are bottom of the pile in the scheme of things and are often to be seen sleeping in them on the pavements (especially outside VSO house).Final anecdote: Today we took our usual taxi to Siem Reap. It took an hour to get away as he collected someone else from our village then went to Sisophon for gas, then out of town to a house to collect medicine for someone. This gave us an interesting and bumpy tour of parts of the area we hadn’t seen as before. Once again he informed us of a bit of history when he pointed out a place where “Pol Pot” - as they put it here – did a lot of killing. He said that at that time he was working in Mongul Borei repairing tractors which were used to transport people there to be killed. Chilling!The detour added an hour to our trip to Siem Reap so it took 2 hours 20 mins. instead of 1 hr. 20. Even so, we arrived very early at the Golden Banana Hotel but were shown to our room without hesitation and with no extra charge. They were even prepared to gives us a choice of rooms before deciding– so hospitable and flexible – just like England!!