I put off writing anything about renting the motorcycle until I returned it safely this afternoon. Flashback to arrival in Pnom Penh:
First order of business was renting a bike. After ignorning the most persistent group of jostlers yet (tuk tuks, motos, cabs) outside the PP bus terminal, I walked down Monivong Blvd, the main North-South thoroughfare, to find "Lucky Lucky" bike rental, as per my guide book. In response to the question of whether I wanted a "big bike" or a little one, I had no choice but to say "big one." They ushered me over to a grown-up-sized Honda Degree, a real live motorcycle with a clutch, footbrake, and everything. Despite having never ridden a motorcycle, I was not one to back down. After a quick tutorial (and more than a couple embarassing stallouts), I was humming down Monivong in first gear, desperately looking for a side street to turn down so I didn't die. A few more stallouts in the alleys later, I was back in front of "Lucky Lucky," feeling the intensity of the irony dripping from its name.
"Ready?" was all the guy said to me when I got back - and I'm sure it was with a chuckle, cause I had to be visibly shaken. But I told myself, in the immortal words of Jim Morrison (by way of Lucas from Empire Records), "The time to hesitate is through."
After a quick run-in with the cops, I was on my way (see separate post).
The rest of the day was harrowing. I thought i was going to rent a moped and have a leisurely bike ride around town to find a place to stay. Not so. I was literally holding on for dear life; each intersection was an epic battle for survival. My first major issue was idling without stalling out (after short trial and error, I realized this was accomplished by holding the clutch down in first gear - but those first few "trials" were at busy intersections, so I was desperately trying to restart my stalled bike either at the start of, or smack in the middle of, violently restarting traffic). After this was mastered, the next important steps were being able to make left turns (flat-out terrifying), and down shifting quickly enough to slow down/idle, without stalling out. I'd been bouncing around in 1st or 2nd gear, making only right turns ~toward the river that marks the Eastern border of the city proper (where I'd read there were good hotel deals) long enough. Time to make some hay and find a hotel.
Oddly enough, I did manage to see a bunch of the major monuments/points of interest. The national museum, the royal palace, the largest temple Wat Phnom, etc. are all on the east side of the city, along the river, so I came across them in my quest for accomodation. The traditional Cambodian architecture is possibly my favorite style, at least by way of religious buildings. I settled upon a cheap and dcent hotel, Corzyna, along the river for around US18/day. Tomorrow's agenda: riding the bike ~20km outside the city to the Killing Fields.
First order of business was renting a bike. After ignorning the most persistent group of jostlers yet (tuk tuks, motos, cabs) outside the PP bus terminal, I walked down Monivong Blvd, the main North-South thoroughfare, to find "Lucky Lucky" bike rental, as per my guide book. In response to the question of whether I wanted a "big bike" or a little one, I had no choice but to say "big one." They ushered me over to a grown-up-sized Honda Degree, a real live motorcycle with a clutch, footbrake, and everything. Despite having never ridden a motorcycle, I was not one to back down. After a quick tutorial (and more than a couple embarassing stallouts), I was humming down Monivong in first gear, desperately looking for a side street to turn down so I didn't die. A few more stallouts in the alleys later, I was back in front of "Lucky Lucky," feeling the intensity of the irony dripping from its name.
"Ready?" was all the guy said to me when I got back - and I'm sure it was with a chuckle, cause I had to be visibly shaken. But I told myself, in the immortal words of Jim Morrison (by way of Lucas from Empire Records), "The time to hesitate is through."
After a quick run-in with the cops, I was on my way (see separate post).
The rest of the day was harrowing. I thought i was going to rent a moped and have a leisurely bike ride around town to find a place to stay. Not so. I was literally holding on for dear life; each intersection was an epic battle for survival. My first major issue was idling without stalling out (after short trial and error, I realized this was accomplished by holding the clutch down in first gear - but those first few "trials" were at busy intersections, so I was desperately trying to restart my stalled bike either at the start of, or smack in the middle of, violently restarting traffic). After this was mastered, the next important steps were being able to make left turns (flat-out terrifying), and down shifting quickly enough to slow down/idle, without stalling out. I'd been bouncing around in 1st or 2nd gear, making only right turns ~toward the river that marks the Eastern border of the city proper (where I'd read there were good hotel deals) long enough. Time to make some hay and find a hotel.
I was too frazzled to even learn what place I was photographing here - but it's in Phnom Penh!
Oddly enough, I did manage to see a bunch of the major monuments/points of interest. The national museum, the royal palace, the largest temple Wat Phnom, etc. are all on the east side of the city, along the river, so I came across them in my quest for accomodation. The traditional Cambodian architecture is possibly my favorite style, at least by way of religious buildings. I settled upon a cheap and dcent hotel, Corzyna, along the river for around US18/day. Tomorrow's agenda: riding the bike ~20km outside the city to the Killing Fields.
listen - i don't know what the deal is with all of these posts from foreign countries, but if you don't LOVE AMERICA, then you can just GET OUT and stop TAKING MY JOB.
ReplyDeletejust fyi in case you missed anything: villanova beat georgetown 271-15 to win the ncca tournament, donald trump is president, aliens landed on the white house lawn (which caused ma$e to renounce his faith and re-enter the rap game), miz is still wwe champion, and i attended ~30 rangers games this season, which is bragable.
fast five comes out on april 29th. i'll wait for you to get back before going to see it. you have until april 30th at 12:01am est.
-z