Shared Taxi

Hello all again,
When in rural Cambodia is a shared taxi a taxi cab or van with multiple unrelated passengers or is it a pick-up truck with wooden seats in the rear or could it be both? Thanks, Paul Sarno

It can be all of the above although the pick-up trucks are now in a minority. By the way many of them used to have NO benches.

Expect a second hand 13 seat Korean minibus with 21 people inside and 2 motos strapped on the back, 6 people on the roof and various sacks containing who knows what. Oh! I nearly forgot the cracked windscreen bald tyres and the fog horn that is blasted every few seconds. If you are a garment worker expect a open backed truck with standing room only that frequently overturns after the brakes fail with the driver fleeing the scene

As said, it can be all. However, we encountered few trucks with boards as seats, usually only out in very rural areas. Most shared taxis are somewhat to greatly battered smallish Toyota sedans in which they will cram 6 people (2 in front, 4 in back, not including driver) with no consideration to passenger size. On top of this they most likely will add 2-4 small children sitting/sleeping in a parent's lap and be assured they will be sleeping partly in your lap too. The driver will most likely honk a lot and pass other vehicles/ox carts/cows/people on every blind curve as if that is the preferred place to pass. Be prepared for the possibility of a "Mr. Toad's Will Ride".

Avoid mini-vans if you can, they will cram in 12 to ∞ people, many sitting on each other's laps, along with a warehouse full of freight that can be anything from furniture to motorbikes. Sacks of rice or luggage will be under your feet and people sitting on top of the freight that is strapped to the roof. The mini-vans will stop every 10 minutes to pick up more passengers and/or freight or even to wash the van (seriously, it happened to us). It will end up taking for ever and definitely longer than a bus or taxi.

Sometimes one has no choice, but I always choose car taxi over mini-van if I can when I am not taking a bus. One can pay for 2 seats to get extra room. However, if the route has lots of passengers the driver may ignore that you have paid extra and try to fit more people in. Remind him if you did and try not to feel guilty when everyone has someone sitting in their lap while you have extra room. I couldn't and ended up giving my extra seat to a 10 year old child whose father was very grateful and gave me a bag of Cambodian snacks which I shared with the child. I let him play with a drawing app on my cheap tablet and we had a great time giggling and snacking.

To paraphrase Thrive, (who got it completely right btw) - This is Cambodia, it is a completely unpredictable adventure! ALWAYS expect the unexpected and you will never be disappointed.

A lot will depend on where you are travelling to, most travelers/tourists travel between centers of populations where more choice of transport are available. Most dilapidated minibuses you see on the road are area or even village specific which will take you from PP and drop you off in your village and often at your door. If I am doing a long journey I will take a regular bus just because of the leg room as I am a tall lad, however when I travel to see my adopted Khmer family I take the local minibus or a tuk tuk which takes much longer but more comfortable. The tuk tuk option enables the driver to spend time with his family in the province but still earn money taking me to and from the village but of course you do need a little local knowledge

hotdigr is absolutely correct. It is the crazy unpredictable nature of Cambodia that makes it such an amazing place and unlike any other S.E. Asian country. Some many be similar, but none quite like it. After 5 trips since 1998, I am still hooked. Even the car wash had us laughing. Although, at the end of the 5 hour trip that should have been 3 my bum was not laughing. With an open mind and a good sense of humor you'll be fine.

@hotdigr

Perhaps visitors will need a drink upon arrival in Phnom Penh after a share taxi ride in the Cambodian countryside? :-)

After, during and before mate ;-)

Yeah. :-) You should have seen Phnom Penh back in 1992 / 1994. Welcome to Cambodia.

On the other hand, hotdigr, if you wanted to step away from the bars for a while, see this page

https://www.youtube.com/user/Snookyville

This guy recently spent a lot of time documenting the recent changes in Kampong Som (Sihanoukville).

Maybe you could pick up where he left off? Internet users might find it interesting.

@sanityclause

Is it really true? Is it really possible that you have still not done the Kampong Cham / Tay Ninh crossing?

What do you spend your time doing in Kampong Cham every day? It is unbelievable. Maybe you are still in high school?

Interesting read smfoggie. I actually stepped away from the bars here in Sihanoukville a couple of years ago btw. http://theadvisorcambodia.com/2014/07/dish-red-heaven/
We are about to become the first restaurant. lounge in Sihanoukville to not serve alcohol and become BYO only. No corkage fee or charges either. I'm not actually sure if this sort of post is allowed on this forum, but I'm not trying to promote the business, just sort of gently point out your assumptions about me were wrong.
Aussie Dave

I want to thank all of you who shared your insights re shared taxis and kept to the subject. Of course, I will take the bus where I can but may be forced to take shared taxis in the very rural areas, e.g. to Koh Ker fro Siem Reap.and to Preah Vihar Temple from Koh Ker. Now, at least I know what I am in for. Paul Sarno

+We are about to become the first restaurant lounge in Sihanoukville to not serve alcohol+

http://theadvisorcambodia.com/2014/07/dish-red-heaven/

hotdigr, this is an amazing development. Maybe paulsarno will be your first Internet customer?

paulsarno, sorry to bust into your thread for a stupid reason. You are going to have a blast in Cambodia.

Now you know where to go in Sihanoukville too, no? :-) Enjoy your visit to #Cambodia

Paul and you are more then welcome to drop in mate. I will shout you both a milkshake or coffee!

@paulsarno

Sorry again for having busted into your thread. It is simply that I just discovered this very cool guy hotdigr on the Internet who lives in Sihanoukville these days. See his contact info above.

For Thorn Tree readers, is this the new "go to guy" in Sihanoukville? A restaurant in Sihanoukville which does not serve alcohol? Maybe hotdigr is crazy? :-)

Thanks to chiltern and trive for the excellent descriptions about what share taxis look like in Cambodia. Paul, after your trip, we would all love to read your report about your share taxi experience. It will definitely be memorable.

Enjoy your visit to #1 Cambodia.

Paul, while I have only lived in Sihanoukville for 2 & 1/2 years, I'm not a wet behind the ears newbie with stars in my eyes. I don't know what axe you have to grind with me, or why, but have the balls to come and talk to me personally. You know who I am and where I am, so come in and see me ( or are you "Not in the country right now? Just another long term tourist wannabe, know it all w^nker?). The offer of a free coffee still stands. I answered the OP in good faith, you decided to derail this thread and keep derailing and then apologising for being a wnker. Stop being a wnker and then you can stop with your B.S apologies as well. What do you reckon mate? I have a pretty good idea who you are and what sockpuppet names you use on the various forums with K440 being you're #1 rant site. Learnt to speak Khmer yet digger?

While we are here, we may as well degrade this thread still further.

For new readers, K440 refers to the worthless Phnom Penh based web site on

http://www.khmer440.com

Much better though is the even longer running BP

http://goo.gl/iooPkT

Mention of their name is banned on this newsgroup, thus the goo link.

hotdigr, your place in Sihanoukville aka Kampong Som sounds like a good refuge from all of this, but what is up over there on http://www.tripadvisor.com?

Readers of their Phnom Penh forum are suggesting that more money should be paid for a share taxi ride between Pochentong and Sihanoukville?

What is up with that?

Maybe readers of this here Thorn Tree forum are more up to date?

Keep posting from Sihanoukville. Cheers,

@sanityclause

Want to have some fun with my old pals at the BP?

I just sent this link to them.

Certainly, they won't respond but I am certain that YOU will love the links.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uihIf3vHd2u42JakuIoup1jQx9doOy8nzVdOiTDHvwg

This post has been removed because it may not have met our community guidelines.

This post has been removed because it may not have met our community guidelines.

This post has been removed because it may not have met our community guidelines.

Keep it on-topic and away from personal abuse.

@shikibu

Wow, you are good. Where did the new Lonely Planet owners find you? Please do ask for a big raise in salary. :-)

+When in rural Cambodia+

a share taxi is anything you can imagine. Just flag down any passing traffic for your share taxi experience.

Enjoy your visit to #1 Cambodia and please don't forget to update this thread about your particular experience.