Sihanoukville, Cambodia - I hop on the back of the little motor scooter without an ounce of trepidation. After two days in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's rapidly bustling little capital, I now view my regular trips on this country's taxis with two parts adventure and one part economic relief.
A moto is a cheap way to see Cambodia and cool in more ways than one. There's nothing like beating the heat of a hot Southeast Asian night by flying through traffic on the back of a scooter - even going the wrong way down a one-way street.
But this is different. I'm not in the city anymore. I'm far from it, far from any sense of what people view as Cambodia. Pounding along a bumpy dirt road, we pass a tiny village of six wooden structures where a man sleeps in a hammock and a child pulls a crude, wooden wagon.
A little boy and his brother wave and smile at me. We swerve to avoid a goat.
This road into the real Cambodia ends at a spectacular beach. I hop off the back and forget to pay the driver as I stare open- mouthed at an expansive stretch of fine, white sand, nary a single hotel, souvenir stand or bar in sight. The only signs of civilization are two small, wooden shelters, serving only as protection from a rainstorm.
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