Motorbike taxis and border crossings

Me: Helmetless, teeth clenched, holding on to the back of the motorbike so tightly that my knuckles are surely white, and trying to squeeze every part of my body in so as not to knock hit the cars we are swerving in and out of.
The Motor Bike Taxi Driver: Casually taking one or both his hands off the handle bars of the motor bike to scratch various body parts/adjust various pieces of clothing/answer his phone while driving at least 50 kilometres per hour in between cars and other motorbikes and people etc…
As we drive I slowly start to accept the fact that I will die on the back of this motorbike. Thats it for me, goodbye world, it was nice knowing you! I regret not putting a little note in my passport telling people who to contact. Why did I get on this thing? What was I thinking??
….but, as you can probably tell from this entry, I survived and reached my destination.

The positive side to hopping on the back of one of the millions of orange vested army of motorcyle taxis (and yes, if you had asked me the positive side while I was riding on the back of that death trap I would have shrieked that there IS NOTHING POSITIVE…but now, safe on the ground I can tell you there is in fact some positive aspects to it..):
1. You will (assuming you dont die) reach your destination much quicker then in a taxi or a bus. With a taxi, if there is a traffic jam, you can sit in traffic for hours…waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and…waiting. But, with a motorcycle taxi you can zip between everyone, ride up on the side walk, go through hidden areas and parks, etc and reach your destination with almost no waiting.
2. Its generally cheaper. Usually they will quote an outrageous price, you (it helps to use a little Thai) quote something outrageously low, they quote something else, and you find a happy medium.
3. Its exciting. This coming from a person who has no desire for dangerous things (I went on one roller coaster in my life and promptly decided NEVER to go on one again…further more I dont even like to ride my bike down hill very fast) But there is something exhilarating about zipping around Bangkok with all its horrible smog and loud noises. Providing the ride is short and you arent carrying too many things, it can be great.

And..since I listed the Postive aspects of taking a motor taxi…why not touch on the Negative?
1. You may die. Now this seems a little morbid, but seriously you will feel as though you are about to die about a million times before you jump off at your destination, wobbly kneed and shaking all over.
2. The no-helmet thing. Only once have I been offered a helmet to use while riding on the back of one of these death machines. Every other time the driver has been safely protected and I have been left with the looming potential of a smashed skull.
3. The chance you might loose a limb. These drivers swerve in and out of the narrowest traffic lines, sometimes (the lucky times) you just knock an elbow or a knee. But be perfectly aware that if you forget to pull those limbs in close to you at ALL times, you risk loosing them.

So for some reason I decided to take this taxi on my way home from picking up my Indian Visa. Maybe I was excited about the visa, about the prospect of India, so excited that I didnt feel like sitting cramped in a taxi, but instead like riding around bangkok, the wind in my hair and smog in my lungs….but I am well aware that it was a stupid idea.

And now I am in Cambodia. After a few days in Bangkok I got on a bus and came across the border.
When I reached the border the first thing I noticed was a strong smell of fish. Walking across the Friendship Bridge (Bridge leading from Thailand to Cambodia) I glanced around for the source of this strong, almost nauseating smell. Aha! There, sneaking under the bridge was something that maybe at one time resembled a river. Now, it was a black, thick, gooey beast, slithering its way under the bridge and stinking up the whole are. Mmmmm just what you need after a long bus ride and confusing, cramped, border crossing.

Anyway I met a couple of guys from California who were also going to Siem Reap. I suggested we share a Tuk Tuk (a motorbike with a carriage) to this guesthouse. The guy pretended to know what I was talking about when I asked him to take us to Garden Village, then proceeded to ride around for a while asking people where it was. But he was nice and although we stopped at many wrong guesthouses before reaching the right one, he didnt get angry or seem hostile.
The place I am staying has 1$ dorm beds, .50 cent beer, and 1 dollar food. Yogi stayed here last year, and it was on his recommendation that I found it.

So, another country, another adventure!