On the go

There are many possibilities for transportation here in the Kingdom of Cambodia. Some people walk, others prefer to ride bicycles if they are fortunate enough to have access to them, while motos are the most common personal and family vehicles here. Public transportation has many faces. In the city, cyclos, a bicycle pushing or pulling a cart for someone or something to be transported in, seem to hold the bottom tier. Moto dopes, people who take people on the back of their moto like a personal taxi, belong to the next rung to the public transport ladder. Then there are kombeys. Kombeys (or tuk-tuks as adopted from Thailand) consist of a motorbike attached to a type of carriage with seats for passengers. There are many more trucks and cars on the streets now than there were the first time I came to Cambodia. Trucks are mostly used for work vehicles. Some families have cars, but that is much less common here than in the U.S. You can usually find cars for rent as a mode of transportation from city to city. This is a faster way to go, but considered less safe than the bus system which is only set up as an inter-city rather than an intra-city service. Cyclos, motos, and buses are the cheapest options for transportation if you do not own your own vehicle…but my favorite is still the average bike. You have the freedom to fly and not go too fast to miss the novelty and beauty of things around you.