The Fast Bus

Friday morning we packed up and hopped on the "fast bus" to Phnom Phen. Our plane flight to Siem Reap cost about $85 each. The fast bus, actually a 15 passenger van, cost $10 each. They told us that it would take 4 hours, compared to the 50 minute plane ride, but we wanted to see the land between the cities, so that sounded good to us.

Upon boarding, we were given a pantomime "lecture" about seat belt safety, and asked to put on lap belts. It's been a long time since someone lectured ME about wearing seat belts!

The guide book told about the beautiful new road between Siem Reap and Phnom Phen. I think I was expecting a bit more than we got. This major thouroughfair is a 2 lane highway with 2-3 foot median sandy median strips, overhung by trees and vines. It's shared by every type of transportation you can imagine: people walking, biking, motoscooters, motorbikes, tuk tuks, cars, vans, trucks and big buses. There must have been some rules to this madness, but I'm not quite sure what they are. They seemed to involve quite a bit of honking on our part, as we were the fastest thing around. So basically, we spent 5 1/2 hours (not 4!) weaving around traffic.

On the bright side, we did get to see the countryside. I found it really interesting. Most villages seemed to have the same sort of traditional house we'd seen before: simple wooden house on stilts with the area below set up for use during the dry season with hammocks, bed frames for sitting and sleeping, and space to store bikes, motorbikes, etc. It does appear that most people in Cambodia still live in a village, some more remote than others.

Arriving in Phnom Phen was a shock. Once we got into town, the traffic got thick, still composed of all sorts of vehicles. I liked this one with all the bananas!

The French colonized this city, leaving in 1953, and it's still possible to see their influence. There are some French restaurants, but mostly I was surprised at how charming a city this is at times. Saturday night we took a tuk tuk around town and felt really elegant. People were all over the place, and there were several delightful multi-colored fountains. To the left, see the Independence Monument, all lit up.