Another memory of the Kingdom of Cambodia......
Buses? nahhhhhh
At first coming to a foreign country and hopping on a Tuk Tuk was a cool experience. Of course we overpaid for the first week or so then it was time to master the art of negotiation. I have watched quite a bit of True Tv's smash hit "Hardcore Pawn," and that is how I approach Tuk Tuks and Cambodian shopping in general. Transportation is probably one the largest expense for me in Cambodia. A place where necessities like food and housing are dirt cheap, transportation felt grossly overpriced.
Steps to every Tuk Tuk ride
1. Flag down a Tuk Tuk - It's funny if you decide to do some walking around Phnom Penh you will be hounded the calls of 'Tuk Tuk?" constantly. One after another will proposition you with offers for rides. It's funny that even after you turn down a driver in front of another driver the other driver will still ask you. They are a persistent bunch.
2. Location, Location, Location - You think with the large number of foreigners that inhabit the city the drivers would recognize certain high profile places. There was really own a handful of places that we would go constantly (definite foreign inhabited places) and getting there was always an adventure. Usually a Tuk Tuk driver will just agree that they know the place and drive around aimlessly asking for directions.
3. Let's make a deal - Here is the fun part. There are different tactics to getting a price that you are comfortable with. I could pass for Cambodian so I feel I had some extra bargaining power, but my lack of knowledge of the Khmer language put the stops on that most of the time. So here's how most negotiations went after the destination was agreed upon:
Driver: (counts the number of people in our party) "6 dollars"
Us: (say there is 5 of us, knowing no destination in Phnom Penh is worth 6 dollars) "No, 2 dollars" (we're really aiming for 3 dollars)
Driver: (laughs like were joking) "There's 5 of you, 5 dollars"
Us: (as a Tuk Tuk with 15 Cambodians drives by) "That's not how it works, 2 dollars"
Driver: "Ok Ok 4 dollars"
Us: (Now we go to close the deal) "Ok, 3 dollars"
Driver: "Noooooo, it's so far, it's busy, etc"
Here is where an impasse has been reached and you have to hit them with the walkaway.
Us: "Ok, never mind" (start walking away slowly and wait for it....)
Driver: "Ok Ok Ok 3 dollars"
Us: (We get in and talk amongst each other) "You know we're still not getting the local price." "Yeah."
Us: (We get in and talk amongst each other) "You know we're still not getting the local price." "Yeah."
The walkaway when you know the driver is about to give in
4. Actually getting there - More often than not drivers have no idea where they have agreed to take you. Mostly because of the language barriers, but as a driver who biggest paydays are when driving around non locals, it would be nice to recognize a couple key places in English, but I digress. Normally it's no big deal you just assume it will take longer than it should to get from point A to point B, but sometimes you get that asshole driver. Once in awhile a driver will pull some sketchy maneuvers.
For example, they will stop at the destination not where you've agreed upon (usually at night) and ask for the money to drop you off wherever he stopped or ask for more to take you the rest of the way.
Real dickhead move Cambodia
Small anecdote: One time after a night out 2 other companions and I grabbed a Tuk Tuk to head back to the hotel. Seemed like an ordinary driver but we soon found it he was not. He had frequent this route home many time so it was weird that the driver was taking all these different side streets. After we recognized that he was clearly going in the wrong direction something didn't feel right. The driver was going real slow and looking around very suspiciously almost like he was looking for someone rather than somewhere. We had been warned about robberies, so we started to suspect the worse. Then it happened. Two moto drivers going towards us, passed then did u-turns to get behind us. We began prepare for who knows what as they got closer, but ultimately they just passed. That was enough for us to get out and abandon this driver.
We see a restaurant and tell him to stop. We had agreed on 3 dollars, but clearly we were not there. We gave the driver a dollar and explained that we are not close to where we are suppose to be. He is not reasoning with us and wants the full amount. This goes back and forth for awhile and before it escalates we decide to give him $2 dollars for his shitty effort. That was more than fair and we decide to just walk away. Unable to get another ride we just start walking down unfamiliar dark streets of Cambodia after midnight. Then we see the lights of the Tuk Tuk driver that we just abandoned coming right for us. He is trying to run us down. We quickly get out of the way otherwise he would have most certainly hit us.
We change directions as he speeds down the street. Thinking its over we get on the main road and try to trek back to something we recognize. With nothing in sight it's easy to hear anything especially the fucking Tuk Tuk driver that just try to run us over coming down again on the side street to cut us off. He stops perpendicular to us and points at us while miming a gun and shooting it. After a dramatic stare down he drives off and continue to walk. After about another 5 minutes walking here come's our favorite driver one more time this time he is going fairly fast, but he drives past us with a new customer or maybe victim. Who knows what that driver's deal was that night, but Cambodia lost a little bit more of my trust that night and it was an interesting 45 minute walk in the dark back to the hotel.
Getting around Cambodia can be really fun. The lack of rules regarding flow of traffic combined with a lack of sense of direction, sprinkled with a handful of rogue drivers makes going around an adventure for sure. Just remember to enjoy the ride.
Omg that was scary!
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