Tuk Tuks, Motos and Hummers? Oh my!!!

The traffic situation here is ridiculous. There are no apparent traffic laws except try not to get hit. It’s pretty fascinating how the lack of road rules is actually pretty efficient here. I haven’t seen a single accident, they do happen, but when you first witness the traffic here you’d think there would be an accident every 5 seconds. It was kind of scary at first, but I’m used to it now. I’ve learned that when you want to cross the street, you just have to go for it and don’t look back. I always envision the grandma from Mulan when she puts the blindfold on and walks through traffic. That’s pretty much what it feels like.

Anyway, there are five basic modes of transportation here: walking, bicycles, motos, tuk tuks and cars. Motos are sort of a cross between a dirt bike and a moped. Most people ride around on these and you can’t walk five feet without someone asking, “moto?” It’s sort of like a freelance taxi service. Usually it costs about a dollar, you hop on the moto and they drive you wherever you want to go. It’s actually pretty fun and really convenient. Oh yeah, and seeing three or four people on a moto is pretty common. Sometimes you’ll see a whole family on one: mom, dad, kids and the dog.

Tuk tuks are essentially rickshaws pulled by motos. So if you’re going somewhere with a bunch of people you get a tuk tuk. At first I was like, wtf? You expect me to ride around in that? But after two weeks of riding in one at least twice a day, it feels like a very normal way to get around. So imagine streets filled with motos and tuk tuks (eventually there will be pictures so you won’t have to just imagine it) and then a few older model cars and trucks, sometimes with license plates from the States. And then there are the random really nice cars and the one guy in Phnom Penh who drives a Hummer. I think Hummers are a bit extravagant at home; so seeing one here sort of caught me off guard. I mean, I saw a moto with two people and 4 dogs on it the other day and I didn’t think that was weird. But a hummer…really? If that’s not a blatant sign of higher-level corruption, I don’t know what is. I mean, when most people are riding around on motos offering their services for a dollar and someone can afford to drive a hummer around, there’s a problem with that.