From Siem Reap it's a claimed six hour bus journey to the capital Phomn Penh, but the reality is more like nine. Not to worry I like local bus journeys, looking out at the scenery, watching life happening at the roadside, looking out the front window and watching the truck approaching head on in the other direction and wondering if one of us is going to pull in in time - certainly never boring. Driving in Cambodia initially appears really anarchic, but once you watch for awhile you realize there is quite a sophisticated system working around you. Rule one is only ever worry about what's in front of you, rule two blow your horn everytime you overtake to let those concentrating on rule one know you're there, rule three always let the overtaking vehicle back in - no road rage here despite the massively overcrowded roads and vast disparity in vehicle speeds, and it all seems to work remarkably well. It's also noteworthy we saw no accidents whilst we were here, and virtually no vehicles with signs of accident damage.
The journey itself went well, with only one unexplained stop whilst they did something to the engine but like everywhere there are quirks; in Cambodia the buses need to be thoroughly washed off all their road grime immediately before entering Phnom Penh - never discovered why, but it made a nice half hour interlude on the journey and a place to buy our (late) lunch.
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