Tuk Tuks are the
only way to get around Siam Reap.
For the uninitiated,
"Tuk Tuk" is the colloquial term for a small fiberglass carriage
attached to a motorbike, and they basically dominate the cities of Southeast
Asia. Tuk Tuk drivers are some of the most fast talking, aggressive, charming,
and utterly amoral people you'll ever meet, and unless you possess truly Bodhisattva
levels of calm, they are likely to drive you insane. They're also some of the
best drivers I've ever seen, and if I ever have the need to rob a bank, I'm
importing Hos as the getaway driver.
"Hos"
(pronounced huh-oh-ssss) is our personal Tuk Tuk driver. We met him after
climbing off the bus in Siam Reap, realizing we were lost, and deciding that,
hell with it, we might as well catch a ride to our hostel instead of walking
like we do every time.
Hos and his army
of other Tuk Tuk drivers swarm the bus stops, looking for people exactly like
us. But unlike his buddies, Hos walked up to us, asked, in pretty good English,
if we were all right and then waited patiently while we worked out what we
wanted to do. More than anything else, his courtesy and respect of our space
won us over. So, take note, any blog-reading, English-speaking, Cambodian Tuk
Tuk drivers that read travel blogs.
I also have no
idea why I've been capitalizing Tuk Tuk this entire time. Huh.
-
Doug
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