Things to love/hate about Cambodian buses
Corey and I decided that one day in Battambang was more than enough. And so we caught a bus to to Phnom Penh. The buses here are weird in that you never quite know what quality of bus you’ll be getting. And that you never quite know if the bus you’re on is the final bus you’ll be on. And you travel for hours on what seem to be backroads.
My favorite thing about Cambodian buses is that they play karaoke. Of course, it’s all in Khmer so I can’t understand it. So I just make up my own songs that correspond with the plots going on behind the words. Which are surprisingly complicated for karaoke backgrounds. One even said “to be continued” at the end but we never saw part two. Maybe when I get back home I’ll have to scour the Lincoln Karaoke library to find out how it ended…
My second favorite thing about the buses is that they will pull over to the side of a field and call it a bathroom break.
When they do pull over to a restaurant or food stand you never quite know how long you have. And the food stalls are covered with flies but you can’t really complain because all the food stalls everywhere are covered with flies. And so you just order up a $1.50 plate of noodles.
And because of the backroads with bumps and inconsistencies and potholes and dirt you don’t always get the smoothest of rides. Which can make you sick. Like Corey was on our first night in Phnom Penh.
And so, after what felt like the first time in forever, I was on my own for a meal. I searched down the block until I found a place that looked like it had lots of locals. And the menu had mostly weird things on it so I just ordered the noodles just to be safe. And I wasn’t sure what I’d get because after I looked around a bit more I noticed it was a hot pot restaurant so I started getting convinced that they were just going to bring me a plate of raw noodles. But then a plate of noodles and beef and gravy came and it was delicious.
And you so needed to know that.
And you also need to read the list of rules that was in our hotel room…
