Log in
Join travelers community
Your Profile
Logout
After a week in smaller Cambodia towns, it was a relief to arrive in the capital. Pnom Penh (the capital) is a mixture of smaller cambodian towns and Bangkok.
AK-47's & Cockfights
Tim Rea2006-03-27 15:04:30
Displayed times (last time: )
After a week in smaller Cambodia towns, it was a relief to arrive in the capital. Pnom Penh (the capital) is a mixture of smaller cambodian towns and Bangkok.
The smaller Cambodian towns were quite a shocker. Garbage was everywhere. Most people lived in shacks with tin roofs, bamboo walls, and muddy floors. 95% of transportation is by foot, bicycle, scooter, or animals. People everywhere were missing limbs. Every 5-10 seconds we were harrassed by someone wanting our money.
Pnom Penh still shows this cambodian culture, but it also adds in a mix of a typical metropolis city.
As we arrived by bus in Pnom Penh, as usual, we were greeted by the local gang of Tuk Tuk drivers. I stepped off the of the bus, looked at the exit to the bus terminal where I could see a swarm of cambodia men jumping up and down waving and screaming like children. Once we agreed on a price about 10 times lower than the asking price, 5 of us jumped into a tiny little Tuk Tuk and raced through the streets of Pnom Penh looking for a guesthouse.
There are no traffic laws in Pnom Penh, but about 2 millions scooters racing and weaving like I decided to have a beer with my Ak-47maniacs. In some places there are traffic lights, but they only serve as a guide. Most of the veihcles are motorbikes, carrying up to 6 people, bundles of live chickens or pigs, gigantic bags of rice, or 30 foor bars of rebar! If someone wants to do a left turn, they cut to the left side of the road, make their turn, and then weave through oncoming traffic to get to the right side of the road. It is customary to honk your horn anytime someone is your path. They dont use their horn out of anger like we do, but just to let you know that they are coming and can see you. Often you will see a large truck barrelling down the street laying down on the horn every 3-4 seconds telling everyone to move. It is absolutley hillarious.
Back to the Tuk Tuk in Pnom Penh-- Tuk Tuk driver took
...
See photographs from:
Cambodia Gallery
