The first thing that you notice arriving in Phnom Penh is his huge traffic jams. Scooters all over, tuk tuk driving in the middle of the road and huge luxury vehicles.
If you choose to go around with a tuk tuk (definitely the nicest way to move in town), and you take a look around, you will find since the very beginning the dichotomy of this country : huge villas with people sleeping on the road right in front of them, old scooters and brand new Lexus, lounge bars and street-made aperitifs, huge malls and small markets It is a strange mix of occidental and asian cultures. Something like an asiatization of the western culture.
But people here don't seem stressed at all. Especially if you are a gringo - and, trust me, you are easily recognizable - the first reaction of the khmers will be to smile at you. Most of them don't speak a word in english, but they use the universal language of the body to communicate with you.
Maybe it is because of their politeness, or maybe just because tourists are a huge economical resource, but they will always try to help you, even if they don't have any idea of what you are talking about. It is nice, as long as you are not in a hurry. But going around for hours on a tuk tuk before you realize that the driver has absolutely no idea of where to go, even if might be an unique experience, is not exactly what you are looking for. [You'd better have a map on you and show where you want to go in that case...]
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| Tuk tuk and scooters rule the town |
Life is on the street here. Everything seems coordinated by chaos. An harmonic chaos. You will have the impression that in this huge mess, everything is in the right place.
