Getting Around Phnom Penh

“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.” Joel 3:14, NIV.

As a Westerner in Cambodia, you stand out like a cash register to the people. You step onto the street and are immediately greeted with multiple requests for charity, a wide range of goods for sale, and many offers of transportation. Getting around Phnom Penh is not difficult; it’s just different. The main forms of taxis are motos (a motorcycle with an extended seat behind the driver) or tuk-tuks (a motorcycle attached to a cart with bench seats). The tuk-tuks are actually a new phenomenon in Phnom Penh imported from Thailand. There are also cycloes (pronounced see-kloos; bicycles with a seat in front for a passenger to ride in). It is always wise to communicate your destination and to negotiate a price before you start.

Then the adventure begins. Road’s in Phnom Penh, as in many large Asian cities, are more like rivers – you just go with the flow. Traffic lights, road markings, sidewalks and the like are merely suggestions that are followed when it is convenient. Motorcycles overloaded to the point of defying gravity, large overloaded trucks (called lorries), pony drawn carts, rickshaws, people pushing carts, pedestrians, and an occasional chicken or dog make up the flow of traffic in any given section of town. It seems to be a national pastime to see how many people you can put on a small moped – seven Cambodians was the most I saw.

The taxi drivers like to have foreign clients because we can afford to pay twice what a local person pays and still feel like we are getting a good deal. The normal price to a destination within 5 miles of your starting point is $1 to $2 U.S. depending on the time of day. You have to be careful that you know where you are, because taxi drivers will offer you a ride, even when you are in site of your destination for the incredible bargain of $1 to $2 U.S.!

Elephants are also available to ride, that is more of a photo opportunity and entertainment than form of transport. If you are traveling between cities in Cambodia, there are small and large buses. On the small buses, it is not unusual to see several Cambodians riding on the roof along with a variety of packages. The cost for bus transport to most cities is, you guessed it $1 to $2 U.S. I actually paid $2.50 for a 3 hour bus ride.

It struck me as I saw people going to various places by varied modes of transportation that ultimately the overwhelming majority are doomed to the same eternal destination unless someone shows them a different path. There are many ways to get around Phnom Penh, but there is only one way to have peace with God and a future hope in heaven. As I rode around the city I found myself praying. I asked God to call out believers to share the way to the straight and narrow road that leads to the cross. The sad thing is that many Cambodians are willing to enter this Way; they just need someone to show them how to get there.

Pray that:

God will give boldness to Cambodian believers so that more will share the gospel with their friends and family.

Intercessors and foreign believers will answer God’s call to strive for the souls of the many lost peoples of Cambodia.

Pacific Rim is a region of the International Mission Board, SBC.