It's a Tuk Tuk Tuk Tuk Tuk Tuk World

Location: Language Corps Hotel, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Adventure of the Day Night: Going the wrong direction on a highway

I really was planning on getting a good night's sleep last night. Not staying in until noon, but just passing out and getting up around 10ish. But here I am, standing my the windows of my corner room (top floor, Mom and Dad) watching the speedy traffic outside at 6 A.M. Oops. I blame it on that last leg of the flight and having three whole seats to pass out on, curled around the spot where I spilled some water. It's OK though. I'll be fine until I finally zonk out, probably at the most inopportune time — the welcome dinner tonight when I'm trying to listen and get to know people. Just like when we watched Das Kabinet des Dr Caligari in Film A&A and the moment I realized I liked it I started falling asleep.

The view's typical city sprawl — houses, some ramshackled ones, multi-story buildings, a pretty temple-looking-thing off to the left, an unnaturally frothy river — but what's fascinating to me is National Highway 5 below me. Not like any I've ever seen. First, it's 5 lanes. Two and a half in either direction. The breakdown of traffic flow in the next four minutes explains it. My scientific (on opposite day) breakdown:
10 cars
1 van
1 truck
1,000* motorized bikes, tuk tuks, and the like.

And as the rain just appeared, all the people on their bikes and un-covered tuk tuks just pulled into the half-lane to put on their ponchos.



Speaking of Tuk tuks — I got my first ride in one last night! I could seriously get used to them. I love having the wind in my face, probably because it hearkens back to summers in Maine driving through the dirt roads on the Gator. Me and one of the other Language Corps girls who was on the Seoul Incheon/Phnom Penh flight were driven to the hotel via tuk tuk by Dara. He's the sweetest. He's not local to the city, but has been working at the hotel/with Language Corps for four years. His cousin also helped us bring in our bags.

I think it was nice getting my first ride at night when the roads weren't so holy-God-we're-going-to-crash hectic. And it certainly helped getting to the hotel. See, it's on one side of a divided lane highway. Now, in America the typical procedure when your destination is on the opposite side is (1) go past the location, (2) turn left/take a U-ie at the next possible intersection, and (3) safely take a right into your destination.

Not so in Phnom Penh. Dara came to an intersection after about 20 minutes...and turned into lefthand (i.e. WRONG) lane. I don't know how common it is to do this, and I'm certainly hoping it isn't in peak traffic times. Here's where the 2.5 lanes come in handy. He just drove in the half-lane that hugs the curb and in 500 feet we were at the parking lot.

Also, my room has three beds. So if anyone wants to shill out $1500 on a round-trip flight to Phnom Penh, I can hook you up with a place to stay!


* This is a rough and exaggerated estimate.**
** Though thinking about it, it might not be. At any given 5 second interval there's about 20 of the things on the area visible from my window.