Driving Games

Now that I have been driving more in Cambodia, and actually have a commute to work (15 minutes) I think I can call myself an Asian Driver! I know how the system works now, even though it may seem that there is no system. I know how to maneuver my way to the front of the traffic light, and honk at every intersection; I even have my poncho ready for when it rains. So now that I find driving a little boring again, there are a few games I play to stay entertained on the road.

The first, is an activity I see in movies when a policeman is being trained and all these cardboard criminals pop out that he has to shoot. This is me driving down the street when people come at me from all directions except I have to avoid them all at the last minute without crashing. People drive frontwards and backwards, on either side of the street and at all speeds, popping out of places I didn't know existed.... coconut carts in the middle of the road, ladders on all types of vehicles and motos with whole families swerve between Lexus SUVs. This game relies a lot on peripheral vision! 

The other game takes place during heavy traffic. Since there is rarely a stop sign or lights at an intersection, there is no right of way and everybody just goes at once until there is a deadlock. From this point, I imagine that block game where you have to get the coloured block from one end to the other, only moving one block into the vacant space at a time. This is what happens at every intersection and my objective is to be that one moving block, predicting the next opening and squeezing into the new space. Its really a lose lose game for everyone as it can take a long time to get to the other side of the street!

Here are a few more things that I caught going through my head while driving that I would (hopefully) never encounter in Canada;

1. When I get cut off by another moto driver (every 10 seconds) and I get instant road rage and

try to pass him, only to see his baby sitting on his lap - he isn't trying to be an asshole, he is just taking is kid to school and I can't stay mad at him anymore.

2. When I turn onto a new street and all the traffic coming at me, I think "oh no, I am going the wrong way on a one way, I hope I don't have to bribe a cop" but then I get further away from the intersection and realize that its a two way street and everyone was just driving on both sides.

3. When a cop walks out onto the road in front of me and wants us to stop (in this case I was on the back while my friend was driving), and I tell my friend "don't stop, keep going, he can't catch us!" And he didn't he just went back to his chair in the shade when he realized we sped past him.

4. When I get to my street and there is a huge tent taking up the entire road, blocking the entrance to my house and I think "uuugghhh not another wedding"