The Moto-Planet

We've been in Siem Reap for more than a week, with lots of side trips to various spots, all by motor bike or tuk tuks - which are little carriages pulled by a moto. The cost of renting a tuk tuk is between 10 and 15 dollars a day - depending on how far you want to go. You can't rent a moto, but moto drivers will let you hop on for about 50 cents. But you have to remember to mount and dismount on the left, or you end up with a "moto tattoo" on your leg: a nasty burn from the tail pipe.



The moto serves as every form of transportation in Siem Reap- including the family car, personal truck, portable snack stand, and delivery vehicle. We've seen as many as five people on a single moto: two adults and three children cradled between arms of parents or hanging off the back. Of course helmets are unusual. Sometimes you'll see three or more scooting along on a single bike, frantically texting on their cell phones. Last week we say a man bringing ten pigs - belly up in the sun - tied to a platform on the back seat. Tobias said they were drugged, which kept them quiet. Another time we witnessed a boy carrying a full length mirror, four feet by four feet, some how balanced on the back seat. It was disconcerting because the mirror was not covered, so it appeared the driver was going in two directions simultaneously.

Then there is also the crazy way moto drivers zoom at intersections: a sort of dance by which any semblance of left-hand or right-hand right of way is completely optional.

Hard to believe, but after a week of being here, one loses all fear of motos. We've yet to see a single accident, and we've never heard anyone raise their voice in anger. Road rage does not seem to exist. People merely toot twice and pass you; on the left or the right or anyway they can, three or four or five at a time. It's a ballet, crazy and beautiful to watch.

That's the way it is on the Moto Planet of Siem Reap. Phnom Penh, by comparison, is a mad house.