Cambodia traffic

The streets of Phenom Penh, Cambodia are ecclectic to say the least! Here's a description of some of the various vehicles... and other things... I've seen share the road.

Mopeds are the most common form of transportation. I've seen anywhere from one to six people on a single moped. Monks, business men, women carting their goods to sell at market while holding their one-year-old, and entire families hanging on to each other utilize this relatively cheap form of transportation. The craziest thing I've seen toted on a moped has to be a rack with about thirty live chickens tied to it by their feet! We dubbed these as "Cambodian KFC." Many mopeds attatch passenger cars to make money by serving as taxis. These are called tuk-tuks, and riding in one is kinda like lake tubing behind a boat... only on the highway.

Cars also have their place on the streets here, anywhere from beat up pick-up trucks to shiny blue Porsches. A Lexus toting one or two people may be bumper-to-bumper with a ten passenger van stuffed with twelve people and three on top. This is the only country I've been to where I've seen a passenger sitting between the driver-side door and the driver! I constantly find myself thinking, "Huh, I've never thought of that."

Utility vehicles have open-air beds filled with anything from bricks to beer to pigs. At least a couple people will inevitably be catching a ride on top of whatever mound is moved. This is one of the cheapest ways to get around from town to town.

Also sharing a lane are manual vehicles such as rickshaws and bicycles. Many adults puruse the streets while pulling oversized wheelbarrows looking for cans or bottles to sell in order to make a living. Brahma bulls, brown cows, and dogs also weave in and out of the street at their own risk. Brahmas and water buffalo hang out on many streets of the more rural parts of Phenom Penh.

And the most recent addition to my list of Cambodia's wide gamut of transportation just walked down the busy street outside my hotel. No joke: a real live, ears-flapping elephant. Ha! My Cambodian friends who work in the lobby- many whom have become believers in Jesus Christ!!- didn't understand why I jumped up from my computer and ran outside with a dropped jaw.

Praise the Lord for our driver, because we are still alive!!