We Get Around

About a month ago we purchased our current transportation, bicycles. We went with our director and teammate Jake to a couple of bicycle shops that were on the same street. One woman kept asking us if we wanted “religious bikes” and he kept pointing to a certain kind of bike. We were confused at first. Why did she think we needed a religious bike and what makes a bike religious? All of a sudden our director burst out laughing. “She thinks you’re Mormons,” he said.

After asking all the shop owners to show us the biggest bikes they had we found bikes appropriate for Ryan and Jake; both of them are much taller than the average Cambodian. We also got the standard baskets put on which included a sticker of a little kitty on the front. Ryan and Jake admitted they wouldn’t have bought a bike with a basket like that in the states, but practicality and the fact that almost all the bikes here have cute baskets won out.

It is funny the sense of freedom the bikes give to us. We no longer have to pay motodop drivers or tuk tuks to get around. We no longer have people running towards us from yards away saying “tuk tuk Madam, tuk tuk?”  Now we use our bikes to go to work (about 30 minutes away), to go to the grocery store and market, or out to eat. We might eventually progress to a moto, but for now let the bicycle adventures begin!

-Melissa

Games I play on my bicycle

I Spy Angry Birds—Keep a running tally of sightings of Angry Bird paraphernalia during the course of a ride.

Storm Chasers—Outrun monsoon rains that are chasing from behind.

Rain, Man—Survive oncoming rain and oncoming traffic.

Shielding—Count how many times you use another vehicle as a shield while crossing an intersection. Points are canceled out whenever another vehicle manages to use you as a shield for itself. An automatic win occurs when you manage to use a shield and be used as a shield simultaneously.

The Mobile Monk—With a camera, capture unique facial and bodily expressions of monks as they travel on the back of motos.

-Ryan