Sihanoukville – Kampot

9th April 2014      101km     32’C @ 8am

A short ride to Kampot today, which is renowned for it’s local peppercorn.  The town itself is a nice place, with some stunning examples of French architecture from that period in Cambodia’s history.

As always, the Cambodian people are friendly as ever and always welcoming.

The one exception is on the road where madness seems to be the normal approach to road rules.   In definance of all logic, one of the bizarre road rules in Cambodia is that it is forbidden to drive with your headlights on during the daytime. (unless you are an official or police vehicle)    I had not disabled the headlight on the bike, and as a result, other drivers have been beeping their horns madly, flashing me with their lights, and generally indicating that I should not have my headlights on.  It is though I have committed the gravest violation of the road rules by having the headlight on.

Overtaking on the wrong side of the road?  OK!
Driving backwards up the rode with 4 people sitting on the roof of a car that is so overloaded the tyres are smoking?  OK!
Scooter with a family of 5 (3 kids), no helmets, flying down the road at 110kmh?  OK!

But leave a headlight on in the daytime and everyone gets upset.  I even had a military guy at a checkpoint tell me to turn the light off.    So, as I’ll be getting closer to Phnom Penh tomorrow, I made some time this afternoon to unplug the globe from the headlight and perhaps avoid needing to pay another bribe for my headlight transgressions.

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7 Comments on “Sihanoukville – Kampot

  1. Glad to hear lights on or off is your biggest problem at the moment.. 😉

  2. How much did the headlight bribe cost? Would also like to know the reason for this stupid rule they have…

    Shame you couldn’t take a picture of the car with people on the roof – would have love to seen that!

  3. Good Fun!
    Reading from another travel journal (in Chinese), the traffic police told the guy it is a violation of the law to keep the motorcycle headlight on at daytime. He was fined US$20 (asked for $50 at beginning). So lucky you!

    • So it’s a good thing I disconnected it! Although today, it was so dusty that driving without lights would have been madness. So I turned the driving lights back on, so that other cars/trucks might have a better chance of seeing me through the dust clouds. I’ll deal with the policeman if/when that happens. It’s worth the risk. US$20 is alot of money here, that dodgy cop must have made his family (or a bar) very happy.

  4. We have the same thing here in rural Ghana, the difference is they think you left it on on purpose and it would save you fuel to turn it off.

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