Kinyom Chi Kong!

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This evening, I had dinner planned with Adono and Rika, before Rika flys back to Indonesia tomorrow. The destination - Jars of Clay Cafe (where else?). Jars of Clay really not too far from my house. Probably less than a kilometre. Up till now I would have walked there since it was still daylight, and get a moto or tuk tuk home rather than walk in the dark. Today however, as I walked out the front door, a thought occurred to me. "the kong!" (yes, my thought was half in Khmer). The bike! Maybe I should ride. I stood there for a good few moments pondering this option. At 5.55pm it was still the peak hour. And I would need to cross one busy intersection, and make a left turn onto another busy road just to get there. Would it all end in tears? I figured I might as well give it a go. Actually, it started out more easily than I expected - my street was free of traffic for a few moments so I was able to hop on and be on my way quickly. A few moments later a man went past me on a moto, and gave me funny look. And then a second moto passed, also giving me a funny look. At this point, I realised that I was actually riding on the wrong side of the road. Whoops. Maybe a little bit of traffic is helpful to at least keep me oriented correctly. At least when driving in America I had someone next to me to helpfully remind me when I was lingering too long in the left lane after overtaking. Here, I'm on my own to figure it out.

Ok, so I was on the wrong side of the road - no major drama, I moved to the correct side of the street and continued along until I came to the intersection. This actually made me a bit nervous. If you have ever been to a developing Asian country you will probably understand what I mean. This is one of the main roads to the Russian Market, so it is quite busy, especially at this time of night. Getting across on foot can be interesting, but on a bicycle... actually I think it would be easier on a moto. It's hard to start, pause, ride slowly, get the pedals in the right place, take off. But I made it safely across and with a big grin continued on to my next challenge. The left hand turn. Actually this is a bit less scary. I have taken enough motos now to understand how it works. Approaching the intersection, you move over to the left hand side of the road (even if there is some oncoming traffic). Then you make a left turn as though momentarily you were living in Australia, ending up on the left hand side of the road still. Finally, you continue riding into the oncoming traffic, weave a bit and then make your way to the correct side of the road when there is a suitable gap. Ok, it seemed easy on the approach and in theory. I must confess I did lose my nerve a little at the point where I was riding into the path of numerous oncoming motorbikes and a large jeep, however I eventually returned to the right side of the road.

Now it was time for my final road rules lesson of the day. Riding on the main road, I had quickly fallen into the trap of thinking that I had right of way and began to pick up speed. Not so. I am a mere bicyle, and the large black jeep coming for a small side street certainly does not need to pause just because I am about to enter the intersection. At this point I discovered my brakes were slightly less reactive than I might have hoped, however since I did not plough into the drivers door I guess they work well enough. I did arrive safely at Jars of Clay in the end, laughing at the comedy of errors and wondring how I ever managed mountain biking at home without killing myself. Thankfully the ride back to my house was a little easier - two right turns, and a very well executed left turn if with far less traffic this time. Feeling very confident, I considered riding to work in the morning. It's actually not very far, though the traffic would be even worse than on the way to Jars. However, tomorrow we have a company photoshoot - so perhaps it is not the day to arrive sweaty and possibly covered in either road rash or a car door!

Instead, I do have another challenge lined up for myself tomorrow. Today in my langauge class my teacher, Dee, coached me on how to buy breakfast from one of the roadside sellers. I'd asked him about this cos I noticed there is one right outside my house. He said that the one near me is 'hygienic' and should be ok. I figure rice and chicken or pork for breakfast is better than trying to eat crackers for breakfast while on the back of the moto (I never have time to eat at home and I've learned my lesson about skipping breakfast while taking doxy - since I want to visit some of the rural areas I've continued taking it this week). I will report back tomorrow with results of this attempt..

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