Cambodia - Threading a Bus Through the Eye of a Needle

The bus ride from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh (Cambodias Capital) was some what of a white knuckle ride thanks to a lead-footed 'Giant Ibis' bus driver. It seems in both Cambodia and Vietnam that the bigger you are, the more right of way you have. It seems the only rule, but an important one. A person must give way to everything, where as a bike must give way to buses, cars and lorries. The shiny new Giant Ibis tourist bus seems to be at the top of this food chain, bullying, honking and pushing everything else out the way, making cars and motorbikes pull to the dirt on the side of the road and I figured we spend 50% of our time on the wrong side of the road. Sat in the front seat, Maki and I had a, well, front seat to this motorway-madness and there were so many times I thought “He can't seriously be over taking, can he?!?” But lorries coming the other way were no hinderance for this driver. The closest call actually came thanks to a cow! As we over took a lorry, a wondering cow and its calf decided this was a good time to cross. The brakes slammed on and the cows stood like a deer in the headlights only at the last second a look of terror filled their faces and bolted out the way, barely missing the bus by the hide of ones arse. And we have to board our bus back to Ho Chi Minh tomorrow. Wish us luck!