NH is basically the same denotation as the I for interstate in the US. Here in Cambodia a NH or National Highway is not exactly the same as our definition of an interstate. These roads can vary from the first road that we drove on here from Poi Pet to a pretty well taken care of paved and sometimes even divided highway. There are a few added bonuses that you do not get at home here.
Even if you do end up on one of the well paved roads many obstacles still sprinkle the road to make the journey far from relaxing. Traffic going the wrong way on the wrong side of the road, overloaded trucks and motos, wild dogs and livestock all come at you somewhere in the neighborhood of every 5 minutes. There are children who seem to be magnetized to the edge of the road and some of them even play the squirrel game of trying to run out in front of your car at the last minute just to flirt with death a little.
In our near 3 week stay in Cambodia, we have not really seen any police enforcing order on the highways. Everyone says that it is corrupt so no one ever gets tickets anyway…my wonder is if they even have any real traffic laws on the books. We will be out of here in the next few days. I am sure we will encounter more interesting road conditions ahead, but in a country that is renowned for bad and dangerous road conditions I feel like the excitement will be something to long for when we are gone.
