To quote ‘Good morning Vietnam’ the weather is hot and shitty, it was hot and shitty yesterday and it will be hot and shitty tomorrow’ when we arrived it was around 30°C to 34°C this week it has creep up to around 37°C and not a breeze in sight.
One of the first things that you notice about Phnom Penh is the traffic. Virtually everyone in the city has a moto, - a small moped of 50cc or 80cc – although cars are becoming very popular, despite a 250% import tax on them.
There are hundreds of moto-dopes – motorcycle taxis – in the city; you can not walk 25 yards in the city without 10 people shouting ‘moto moto moto’ at you.
These moto-dopes are, by far, the quickest and cheapest way of getting around the city.
However, travelling in traffic in Phnom Penh is not for the faint of heart.
Nominally the Khmers drive on the right, in fact, they drive on the side of the road that is nearest, or with the least potholes, or that is in the shade; the real rule is 'drive on the right, eventually'
At junctions, and there are many because (thanks to the French) the city is built on a grid formation, there are no traffic lights and no give way signs.
But it is not quite the free-for-all one thinks at first, there are rules:
- Whomever’s vehicle is biggest has right of way
- Blue license plates (government) have right of way over green licence plates (NGO’s) and green have right of way over white (the general populous)
- If you make eye-contact, you lose your right of way
- If you sound your horn loudly as you approach the junction and are doing more than 30 mph you have right of way
- Barang – foreigners – are always in the wrong
What makes this chaos even more perilous is the fact that out of the 10,000 moto drivers in the city, about 12 of them own crash helmets.
When an accident does take place all the local in the vicinity rush over to the scene and form what we ex-pats colloquially call ‘the Khmer circle of death’ they all stand around the injured person laying on the floor and stare at them talking loudly to each other.
None of them will actually lend assistance, but the longer it goes on, the larger the circle becomes, as passing motorists stop, get of their bikes and join the crowd.
Well, this is a Country without MTV…….
