After a week long sojourn in Thailand Crossing Cambodia is back. Back to the basic question when starting this blog.What makes Cambodia different?
Coming from the airport one realizes that there are relatively many motorcycles with quite a few persons per motorcycle. Little consensus on where they should be riding on the road, on the right, middle or left? And what are they transporting. They are often carrying heavy loads or 5m long water pipes, or steel rods.
What's more there is total disregard for rules. Crossing Cambodia's taxi driver twice could not resist the temptation to cut a corner by speeding through a service station. And he wasn't the only one!
So was Chiang Mai so different? It was more relaxed, more polite. Still motorcycles drove on the wrong side of the road, but no cutting corners. Not many helmets but early morning (=misty)many motorcycles were driving with the lights on. In Cambodia this is a possible fine.
Coming from the airport one realizes that there are relatively many motorcycles with quite a few persons per motorcycle. Little consensus on where they should be riding on the road, on the right, middle or left? And what are they transporting. They are often carrying heavy loads or 5m long water pipes, or steel rods.
What's more there is total disregard for rules. Crossing Cambodia's taxi driver twice could not resist the temptation to cut a corner by speeding through a service station. And he wasn't the only one!
So was Chiang Mai so different? It was more relaxed, more polite. Still motorcycles drove on the wrong side of the road, but no cutting corners. Not many helmets but early morning (=misty)many motorcycles were driving with the lights on. In Cambodia this is a possible fine.
