How to Road Trip Khmer Style

So many tasty delights

Cambodian road tripping is one of the many particularities of life here. I wish I could appropriately calculate the hours spent road tripping.

Most Cambodians do not have a car. Many (possibly most) have moto-scooters. However, driving several hundred kilometers on a moto which top out at around 80 KPH is not ideal on two-lane roads along with the trucks transporting goods, is just not ideal. Cambodia has a very functional bus and van system. The buses are secondhand from China, Japan, and Korea and the system is fairly efficient, though slow. Fares are always low, even if you want to pay for extra space and AC. The vans which would normally seat 12 in a developed country seat closer to 24 people. With a bus, you are guaranteed your individual seat. Karaoke music videos are non-negotiable for any trip. Most bus services will offer individual pick-ups and drop-offs. This is nice when you're being picked up from your hotel and dropped at your office. It's not so nice when everyone else (and the rice cooker bought by the bus driver for his auntie) gets the same service. Alas, it is what it is!

What you must always expect on a Khmer bus is that you will stop many times. There is little premium placed on efficiency. For one, the roads are in such a condition that you can't go much faster than 60mph to begin with. It's only downhill from there [ex: a trip from Phnom Penh to Sihnoukville is 185 kilometers yet takes five hours]. Expect to stop every 1.5 hours. The rest stops will vary from a simple toilet stop (20 minutes) to a full on meal break (30 minutes).

Khmer rest stops offer something so unique that I'll remember them for a long time. An obvious feature is the restrooms which vary from two to 20 stalls. These are always "squatty potty," rarely sanitary or well lit. Soap is rarely provided. Tissue is never provided.

The second memorable thing is a the food offered. You can purchase from two options.

• "Inorganics:" Crisps, various biscuits, various Asian processed snack items (the majority of which are shrimp flavored and with Chinese script), soft drinks, energy drinks, various Asian canned drinks ("glass jelly drink," winter-melon justice, birds-nest drink, etc.), and the like.
• "Organics:" Fried crickets, fried spiders, hard boiled eggs, duck embryo, charcoal roasted bananas, green mango, pamelo, pineapple, boiled peanuts, coconut jelly, rice in a bamboo stick with beans and the like.

Occasionally, you will need to eat at larger meal at rest stop. Larger rest stops will have a menu you can order from. They will serve a standard array of Khmer dishes; fried rice, fried noodles, chicken soup, spicy soup, etc. Smaller rest stops offer a Khmer variation on "fast food;" pots of prepared Khmer soups and sauces which come with a plate of rice and a side of bacteria. These pots are normally sitting out for some time. I have a phobia of "pots stops" but I have eaten from them at least once.

In the end, Cambodia is certainly underdeveloped, but in terms of public transport, the systems do exist. You just have to accept that it will take a while. Accidents are fairly rare, which makes no sense but I'm not complaining. At the end of the day, I will miss the ability to hop on a bus and go anywhere. In this regard, Cambodia has provided me huge freedom.