A Time Of Firsts - Motorbike Ride!

Being in Cambodia brings with it a whole array of new experiences. Experiences that one might not necessarily experience living in a place like New Zealand, or Australia. For reasons of convenience, or culture, or cats (hahaha I just wanted to carry on the alliteration but didn't actually have any words...there's your mention, Eros!)

So I'll share a few firsts over the next few days. Some will be entertaining, some hard to get your head around...

First Motorbike Ride

Motorbikes are so common here, that it is almost laughable that someone in the country hasn't been on one. But I hadn't. As a few people would know, I have seriously been considering buying one to use next year to zip between uni campuses, as I'll be studying at both the City and Epsom campuses. Thankfully, my timetable allows enough time to get to each campus without such extreme measures. 

Anyway, back to motorbiking in Cambodia. You have to know something about the driving in Cambodia. To the foreign eye, it looks like chaos; motorbikes, bicycles, mopeds, tuk-tuks (motorbike driven rickshaws), people pulling carts, and rubbish trucks...not to mention the CRVs, Lexus', Range Rovers, etc...are all sharing the road. And by sharing the road I mean everyone's trying to get to their destination in the least amount of time, so motorbikes are weaving in and out, over the curbs, wedging between cars and trucks; cars are beeping for bikes to move; trucks are zooming past like there aren't people crossing the road; and there isn't really a three second rule...you indicate, but if you need to turn, you turn...and the people going ahead just need to respect that lol.

So, to the foreigner it looks like chaos, but when you know what's going on, it all kind of makes sense. Adam (Kiwibodian Dad of the family) puts it like this: "Everything everyone is doing on the road is expected. So when you do something unexpected, like slow down to give way, it messes things up and people can actually get seriously hurt." So drivers expect motorbike drivers to weave in front of them suddenly, cars expect kids to be crossing the main, busy road, truck drivers expect tuk-tuks to pull out in front of them while they're going full steam ahead. So with that in mind, it kind of makes sense.

That said, you can imagine that I was a tad nervous when Adam told me that to get to the prisons, the teachers are taken out on Motorbike. I'd never been on a Motorbike before, and these roads weren't exactly what I had in mind for my first Motorbike ride. But maybe they were actually the best! We took one of the work Motorbikes home after being at the office, and you know what? It was actually very liberating and enjoyable! You don't feel the heat because of course you're in the wind, you get to places way faster, and you can fit places that cars can't fit! I thought at first that I was going to die, but after maybe 2 minutes, I got used to it. All you have to do is not jerk, otherwise the driver is affected. So, I tried my hardest not to break out in dance whilst sitting on the back of the bike (haha, dry joke! Jerking...it's a dance...no, ok...:/) 

And I have made the decision, that today I will take a Mototaxi. Which is pretty much a motorbike...taxi! Well, it's exactly that! Adam and Colleen have given me, I think, sufficient time as to getting my bearings and knowing my way around, so I do hope (and pray, oh dear Lord) that I will not disappear into oblivion today. 

It's going to be fun :-)

God is good, and I am learning so much! Which I do not intend to keep to myself, don't you worry...because that is not what the life of a Christ Follower is about. Christ constantly GAVE OUT to OTHERS, so we must constantly GIVE OUT to OTHERS. Keen!

Hope all is well in NewZealaan, Ostraria, etc...

Traveleina :-)