On my way out of Siem Reap I was stopped by a Frenchman on a motorcycle who, after telling me his unpronounceable name, said I should just call him 'G'. We talked for a little while at the side of the road as motorcycles whizzed past in all directions. G was a nice guy who had been living in South East Asia for a while now and before too long conversation turned to the dire traffic situation, at which point G told me a horrific story, in frankly too much detail, about a fatal accident he had witnessed.

Heart

1

Comment

0

Link

Log in to comment or reply

I think the trouble that Cambodia has is that it has only been in recent years that the country has discovered asphalt, and that the people have all been able to afford motorcycles. So there are inexperienced motorists suddenly given proper roads with no idea how to use them. The main road that I followed the rest of the way to the Thai border at Poi Pet was not especially busy, but it felt so very dangerous because of this, and I honestly couldn't wait to get back to Thailand.

But before I made it out of Cambodia there was one more accident for me to personally witness. The road had a shoulder which of course I was cycling in, and I advanced towards a junction where a big road joined from the right. There was a line of stalls at the junction which partially obstructed the view of this side road, so I didn't see the motorcycle that was turning left out of this road until late. The motorcycle suddenly appeared, traveling quite fast with no intention to stop at the junction, something that was made worse by the fact that it was on completely the wrong side of the road. This is not unusual in Cambodia. Often times motorcycles would join on the wrong side of the road and go the wrong way up the shoulder until the road was clear for them to cross. As a cyclist I found this annoying, but I understood the etiquette that I should move outwards to let the motorcyclist have the side of the shoulder furthest from the road.

Well as this motorcyclist suddenly appeared I had very little time to react, but I glanced quickly in my mirror and saw that there was another motorcyclist about to pass me on the main road. I had just enough space to move out a bit to let the motorcyclist that had appeared from our right go up the inside of the shoulder. But this idiot decided that he didn't want to do that. No, what he wanted to do was fly right out in front of me and go straight across the main road without stopping. This worked out okay for me, because he got out in time to pass me, but it did not work out so well for the motorcyclist that was overtaking me. I saw the whites of the idiot's eyes as he suddenly saw the other bike, time seemed to go in slow motion at this point and there was a yelp from both men as they realised what was about to happen and then SMACK, they collided.

It happened not more than two or three metres from me. Sensing what was going to happen I turned my head and saw the whole thing. I saw the idiot that had pulled out fall and bang his head on the tarmac as both bikes clattered to the ground. 'Oh no not again!' I thought as I wheeled over to the side of the road, coming to a stop at the stalls from which stall-owners were gasping and shrieking. I wanted to lean my bike down to go back and try and help, and I went to try and lean it against one of the big coolers that they had outside the stalls. I glanced up to try and get permission from the stall-owner. He stepped forward and, not missing an opportunity even under the worst of circumstances, he said "cola, sir?" and opened up the cooler to reveal a bevy of cold drinks.

But I need not have worried, as my assistance at the accident scene was not required. Both of the men had been wearing helmets and the fact that both of them were now fully conscious, including the one that I had seen banging his head, was as good of an advert as I could have wished to see for wearing one. I think in this moment I decided I'd start wearing one again myself. One of the men, I'd lost track of which was which as other people crowded round to help, was even well enough to get back on his bike and ride off again. The other had a badly injured foot that was bleeding and looked bent out of shape. He was scooped up and put on the back of another motorcycle that was doubling as an ambulance and driven off almost as quickly. It was all over and everyone was gone faster than I could say "No I don't want a cola, there's been a serious accident you fool!"

CAMBODIA SUMMARY:

Time: 18 days

Distance: 703 kilometres

Best bits: I'm not sure I really gave Cambodia the time it deserved but I must admit I enjoyed my time out from Asia being a backpacker in Ban Lung very much. For the most part, however, the people of Cambodia are the best bit of the country. They are wonderful.

Worst bits: Cambodia has a terrible, terrible recent history and a great many ongoing problems, but it is the emerging one of dangerous traffic that is most likely to concern bicycle tourists.

Top tip: Wear a helmet!

Heart

3

Comment

0

Link

Log in to comment or reply

17/02/15 - 61km

18/02/15 - 106km (95km in Cambodia)