Our drive back to Phnom Pen was an adventure in itself! On the way to the island we had a friend's private driver and car, which was nice, but on the way back we got a regular ol' taxi. It was a beat-up van, who knows how old, with lacey seat covers.
The road is a 2-way highway for 2-hours, full of trucks and motos pulling wide and/or tall loads, and cows and dogs and monkeys and water buffalo going from pond to pond. The scenery is village after village with roadside stands, clothing factories, homes on stilts and naked children running free. We passed a car with a goose and chickens hanging, upside down, alive. Those sights are hard to see and common.
Our driver aggressively wove in and out of his lane, passing cars, honking for dominion. The larger the car, the more right of way they have. He would get a few inches from a big truck, trailing close, until he saw his moment. He would brush by motos loaded with multiple people, honking to move out of the way or...or what? Then brakes would slam and he would swerve around them and hit the gas hard, staring them down. Sometimes in the madness he would be scrolling through his phone, slowing a bit from distraction, but still giving an occasional honk. He was young and as abrasive as his driving!
We stopped at a gas station to use the restroom and our driver was washing his car with a hose at the pump, waving us off when we said we were ready to go. He seemed annoyed to be driving us.
We saw school get out and the kids load into "buses", some trucks like the photo below, some pulling the same load by moto. Our movement pictures are blurry, not only because we're pulling them out fast, but also we have been warned that if we stick our phone out the window (or a taxi or tuk tuk), a passing moto will grab it.
When we were finally about an hour away his P.O.J. car broke down; the clutch was out. He drove in 1st gear for about 10 minutes and pulled over. He said someone was coming in 15 minutes. 45 minutes later a van showed up. Instead of loading our things into the van and getting us to our destination, they tied our van behind the newcomer van for a tow, with us in the back! We asked for the van to take us and come back for the dead car. That wasn't understood or agreed upon, we're not sure.
After a six and a half hour drive we arrived, tired, very hungry and counting our lucky stars we were alive! Our driver demanded full fare. Geoff tried to give a good argument about how to run a business, how the service was poor and we should get a discount, etc., but this driver said his job was to get us to the hotel and that is what he did. It wasn't his fault his car broke down. Finally, we handed over the money and went to dinner!
For the most part we spent our time at the yummy, fresh restaurant eating good food, doing school and trying to plan out what our next steps will be.
One afternoon we went to the LDS church offices to get our passports (they helped figure our visas out while we were on the island), and we met the valiant men running the Self-Reliance program here in Cambodia. We were on our way to the orphanage we visited before, and they helped us buy 100kilos of rice from a man who started a rice business during his How to Start and Grow My Business course, as well as arrange for an LDS tuk tuk driver to take us, since it is hard to find.
The men running the Self-Reliance program.
The rice business owner.
The tuk tuk driver, whose tuk tuk was decked out in BYU stickers on one side and U of U stickers on the other, was a great guy! We had read about him in the BYU alumni magazine!
The traffic in Phnom Penh is terrible, and waiting in all of the exhaust is toxic. Many locals where masks, and I created my own makeshift filter on the 45-minute tuk tuk drive.
Here is a typical red light lineup...
The orphanage had reserved a soccer field a short distance away where we played soccer, barefoot, for an hour and a half. It was a lot of fun with a lot of good, friendly competition. Geoff walked away with two broken (or severely damaged) toes, Ceci with a sore foot we thought might be a pulled ligament, and we all had bruises and sore muscles!
We went back to the orphanage for ice cream and snacks. We feel such a strong connection to these beautiful kids. They are remarkable.
We will miss this great city! Next stop, Siem Reap. After that, Phuket, Thailand for a few days, then to New Zealand for a month!
The road is a 2-way highway for 2-hours, full of trucks and motos pulling wide and/or tall loads, and cows and dogs and monkeys and water buffalo going from pond to pond. The scenery is village after village with roadside stands, clothing factories, homes on stilts and naked children running free. We passed a car with a goose and chickens hanging, upside down, alive. Those sights are hard to see and common.
Our driver aggressively wove in and out of his lane, passing cars, honking for dominion. The larger the car, the more right of way they have. He would get a few inches from a big truck, trailing close, until he saw his moment. He would brush by motos loaded with multiple people, honking to move out of the way or...or what? Then brakes would slam and he would swerve around them and hit the gas hard, staring them down. Sometimes in the madness he would be scrolling through his phone, slowing a bit from distraction, but still giving an occasional honk. He was young and as abrasive as his driving!
We stopped at a gas station to use the restroom and our driver was washing his car with a hose at the pump, waving us off when we said we were ready to go. He seemed annoyed to be driving us.
We saw school get out and the kids load into "buses", some trucks like the photo below, some pulling the same load by moto. Our movement pictures are blurry, not only because we're pulling them out fast, but also we have been warned that if we stick our phone out the window (or a taxi or tuk tuk), a passing moto will grab it.
When we were finally about an hour away his P.O.J. car broke down; the clutch was out. He drove in 1st gear for about 10 minutes and pulled over. He said someone was coming in 15 minutes. 45 minutes later a van showed up. Instead of loading our things into the van and getting us to our destination, they tied our van behind the newcomer van for a tow, with us in the back! We asked for the van to take us and come back for the dead car. That wasn't understood or agreed upon, we're not sure.
After a six and a half hour drive we arrived, tired, very hungry and counting our lucky stars we were alive! Our driver demanded full fare. Geoff tried to give a good argument about how to run a business, how the service was poor and we should get a discount, etc., but this driver said his job was to get us to the hotel and that is what he did. It wasn't his fault his car broke down. Finally, we handed over the money and went to dinner!
For the most part we spent our time at the yummy, fresh restaurant eating good food, doing school and trying to plan out what our next steps will be.
One afternoon we went to the LDS church offices to get our passports (they helped figure our visas out while we were on the island), and we met the valiant men running the Self-Reliance program here in Cambodia. We were on our way to the orphanage we visited before, and they helped us buy 100kilos of rice from a man who started a rice business during his How to Start and Grow My Business course, as well as arrange for an LDS tuk tuk driver to take us, since it is hard to find.
The men running the Self-Reliance program.
The rice business owner.
The tuk tuk driver, whose tuk tuk was decked out in BYU stickers on one side and U of U stickers on the other, was a great guy! We had read about him in the BYU alumni magazine!
The traffic in Phnom Penh is terrible, and waiting in all of the exhaust is toxic. Many locals where masks, and I created my own makeshift filter on the 45-minute tuk tuk drive.
Here is a typical red light lineup...
The orphanage had reserved a soccer field a short distance away where we played soccer, barefoot, for an hour and a half. It was a lot of fun with a lot of good, friendly competition. Geoff walked away with two broken (or severely damaged) toes, Ceci with a sore foot we thought might be a pulled ligament, and we all had bruises and sore muscles!
We went back to the orphanage for ice cream and snacks. We feel such a strong connection to these beautiful kids. They are remarkable.
We will miss this great city! Next stop, Siem Reap. After that, Phuket, Thailand for a few days, then to New Zealand for a month!
Hey there- when did New Zealand enter the plans?? My Michael gets on a plane to fly to Auckland tomorrow night- he'll be there for a few days and we are still trying to figure out getting him to Dunedin by the 22!
ReplyDelete