The basic rules of traffic here in Battambang are…well, there are no rules. Don’t be silly. Traffic zips and zooms about. No stop signs. No traffic lights. Only the vaguest concept of lanes. In other words, it’s 100% defensive driving.
Battambang is a pretty small city (even a town by some standards) divided in half by a river. I live and work on one side of the river, but most of the activities (bars, restaurants, etc) are on the other side. You can cross the river on one of 4 bridges (one is foot or bike traffic only though). The middle bridge, closest to my house, is the most convenient for getting around in the city center–it’s also the busiest and most chaotic. You share the road with all manner of vehicles. By all manner, I mean all manner–cars, trucks, tuk tuks, motorcycles, other cyclers–some of whom have entire stores attached them, carts pulled by donkeys or water buffaloes, flat tractors with long beds filled with 20 people, small vendor carts with motos attached and really anything with at least two wheels.
We bought bikes our first week in the city because it’s an easy, fast and cheap way to get around. My first night out on the bike was a complete disaster. I managed to not fall off or hit any cars or land in a large pile of monks, but just barely. After purchasing my new-to-me-bike, one of the other interns from Columbia and I decided to meet a few folks for dinner on the other side of the river. Well, for starters it was rush hour and to top it all off, it was getting dark and I realized my bike light was merely for decoration. So there I am, trying to figure out how to turn left on to the busiest bridge in the city during the busiest traffic hour with no pause in traffic, no street lights, and no bike light (to alert other cars to my presence). Needless to say, I was panicking. By sheer dumb luck (with a partial walking of the bike), I managed to maneuver into the flow crossing the bridge. I soon realized that my cautious pace was not fast enough for the residents of Battambang–all manner of vehicles (see above) and people began honking at me and telling me to go faster. At one point a moto pulled in so close to me on my left, I was sure he would hit me. I was considering dodging off my bike to the side but I noticed a large group of orange-clad monks passing on my right. I’ve learned, since being in Southeast Asia, that monks aren’t allowed to touch women and it’s a sign of the greatest disrespect to touch or bump into them. Play dominos with a group of monks or fall off into the rushing moto? Well, neither sounded appealing. I managed to keep going–barely. It was one of the most frightening trips of my life. Way too many close calls for comfort. This was all a few weeks ago now…
I’ve never been much of a biker (understatement of the century) and I’ve always been petrified of city biking. In fact, my lonely bike has sat in my NYC apartment all year waiting for the opportunity to get out on the town. In 10 months I took it out to the park once and it was not an altogether enjoyable experience.
Nevertheless, getting confident and feeling ready for biking in the big city was one of my goals for this summer and it seems to be working!
Last weekend I biked with a group of interns from work to Phnom Sampeau (site of a few Buddhist temples and the killing caves under the Khmer Rouge). It’s about 26 miles round trip from the caves to my house and it’s a pretty nice hike up a steep hill to the top. All together the trip took us around 4 hours–including the hike up to the top, touring the temples and the caves, a little fruit picnic and enjoying a fresh, cold coconut water. I felt exhausted afterward, but extremely pleased in my improved biking and endurance on the trip.
Now I’m getting more and more used to the flow of traffic. I know (or at least know better) when and how to cut through the intersections. I’ve actually really started to enjoy the freedom of biking around the city and the 360 degree view provided (though it’s very similar on a moto). Last night I even discovered the joys of tipsy bike riding back home after a few drinks at the bar. Don’t worry, there are no cars on the road in Battambang after 9 pm. The whole city goes to sleep by then–except the crazy barangs.
First stop Battambang. Next stop NYC? I think so!
PS-I promise to post some more pictures this week!
Adventures & Misadventures of a Twentysomething Traveler 