Firstly, if you are turning left, you do not go forward into the far away lane, and then turn left, you go over to the left hand lane before the corner and follow the kerb around so that you are driving towards the oncoming traffic in their lane. Whilst driving forward, you then try to veer over to your righthand lane - avoiding the oncoming traffic whilst doing so.
You can also overtake by going into the left hand lane at time you like and on any road you like, no matter how narrow. The oncoming traffic should just stop to let you overtake and move back in. Or sometimes, they will weave in between you and the vehicle you're overtaking. Simple.
Thankfully, cars are in the minority with most people on small motorbikes or in tuk tuks which gives room for all this swerving. Two other volunteers, Ellen and Catherine, in a tuk tuk below.
Bikes are also common and it is by bicycle that we are to get around Phnom Penh. So on Thursday Claire and I took to our bikes for the first time. What makes cycling even more interesting is that there are no road rules. There are no give way signs, no stop signs, no road markings and very few lights.
So when approaching junctions, nobody has right of way. Cars, tuk tuks, motos, bikes and pedestrians all meet at a four way junction and have to work out for themselves who is going where and when. Cue lots of zig zagging, swerving and braking as everybody comes to a near stop in the middle.
The plus side of this anarchy is that nobody goes very quickly and people accept the muddling through without road rage. So, the only unforeseen thing we encountered was the uncommonly heavy rainfall, for this time of year, which we cycled to work through.
And as you can see by our smiles, that only seemed to make the whole thing more exhilarating.
Gordon
