If I had to choose one image to associate with Southeast Asia, it would have to be the motorbike.

They’re everywhere. The streets Hanoi, Phnom Penh, and Ho Chi Minh are constantly filled with swarms of pint size motorbikes buzzing around like a mad hive defying the written rules of society. In other words, drivers don’t particularly obey traffic laws.

But after some time navigating the streets either by foot, in a tuk tuk (small carriage pulled by a motorbike), or on a motorcycle myself, I discovered there is actually some order in this chaos.

Below are some tips Jeff suggested on how to navigate the streets of Southeast Asia.

On foot.

-There is never a perfect time to cross the street, so you just have to step out into the road and pretend it’s a game of Frogger. However, you cannot make like a deer in headlights; you cannot hesitate. Suddening stopping is more dangerous than moving thru the traffic.

On motorcycle.

- Act indifferent towards other drivers on the road. If you are courteous, no one will be courteous to you.

- Do not check blind spots. For if they see that you see them, they won’t feel they need to stop.

-When passing via oncoming traffic, flashing your lights is essentially an invitation for a game of chicken, for if you flash your lights, you’re essentially communicating to the oncoming driver that won’t be the one that’s moving out of the way.

- When turning left, you do not cross the street then redirect in your own lane. Instead, turn left into oncoming traffic, staying off the side of the road until you have an opening to merge right into the correct direction of traffic.

- A horn is often used to let other motorists know where you are, so it’s used everytime you pass anything–car, kids, water buffalo. Also, there are lots of other horns you’re competing with, so the louder the better.

All of this was too much for me to take on my own, so I spent most of the time riding on the back of Jeff’s rental bike.

I did, however, finally get my own on our second-to-last day in the small beach town Mui Ne.

Other than a little bit of carbon monoxide poisoning, I’m still alive.

Here’s Jeff in Phnom Penh…

Disclaimer: There has been no editing on this post, nor any other posts between November 14 to November 29. If you see a typo or misplaced word, deal with it.

Cambodia. Wow. I wasn’t expecting I’d really like this place. First, the weather has been quite nice–not the sticky humidity I was preparing myself for. Granted, it’s the winter season, but the current weather is definitely increasing my affinity for the place.

For the last two days, Jeff and I have been visiting the various temples in the northwest-ish region of the country. Angkor Wat, the most famous of these temples, is considered one the world’s seven ancient wonders (Can someone actually fact check that, please? Not sure if it is, but sounds good in my post.). It’s a source of large national pride for Cambodians, and although it’s filled with tourists, you still feel like you’re experiencing the real Cambodia.

At each of the temple and ruins sites, you are immediately approached by a battallion of vendors to buy their scarves, bracelets, or meals. These vendors are often little kids who robotically repeat English phrases such as “Want a cold drink? Best price for you” until it feels like a natural sound like a bird in the trees. I express no interest in buying any trickets from them, but they all try their best to sell their products. My favorite has been a little boy who ran up and broke thru the crowd of kids around us jumping and shouting, “Buy something from me! Buy something from me!” and he didn’t even have anything to sell.

But they sure are cute kids, and with Jeff who speaks Cambodian, we can have a little more fun with them.

I would, however, love to buy something from them and send them away with a smile instead of defeat, but I don’t know if that’s the best way to do it.

While driving along a country road, passing little wooden homes with dirt floors and tin roofs, Jeff turned to me and asked, “Is it hard for you to see all this poverty?”

I said yes and no. Yes for obvious reasons–I hate seeing sickness and poor sanitary conditions. That can be hard to see. But for the most part, a lot of these kids seem very happy, and I don’t know if I want them to know a life of video games, SUVs and designer clothes. As long as they have good health, living conditions and education, they can have a meaningful life. Am I totally out of place saying this?

Anyway, I’m still trying to figure out the best way to solve the world’s problems, and the more I think thru this, the more I realize how important schools ate in these developing countries. The next day we were eating breakfast when another cute little girl of about 8 yesrs came up to us with a basket of postcards, wooden flutes, and what looked like the friendship bracelets I made as a kid. I was expecting the same mantras I had heard before, but I was delightfully surprised when she said “I’ll tell you the capital of Madagascar if you buy something from me.” It made us laugh!

The girl then asked where I was from, to which I responded America, and she told me how much she likes our new president. She then asked me what state I lived in, to which I responded Utah, and she told me the capital of Utah is Salt Lake City. Impressed, we then quizzed her on other state capitals, and she answered each one correctly (for the most part) with a big, toothy grin.

I asked her if she had made any of the items in her basket, and she shook her head. Good, I thought, the items were crap, and this girl showed a lot more potential than making cheesy souvenirs. I politely declined her last offer to buy something, and I wished her luck on her way.

But now I kind of regret not buying anything from her. For one, I don’t actually know the capital of Madagascar; and two, I like how she tried to use her education to get ahead. Maybe a purchase would have reinforced the importance of education in her mind, or maybe it would have just reinforced that tourists are just suckers for a puppy-dog face. Either way, she was pretty cute.