Moto

I got a motorbike!  Laum took me to a dealership today, and we looked at various models.  The motorbikes are designed for males or females.  The difference?  Speed.  The salesman showed us the newest, most expensive model first before we moved on to the second-hand bikes.  After looking at a few, I selected the Honda Wave.  It's 100 cc's.  (I don't know what that means.)  Laum kept going back to the first motorbike and drooling over it.  With big, glassy eyes, he said, "I like it a lot.  I save money to buy it." 

After a quick stop to get a helmet, we drove us back to the village where Laum gave me a driving lesson.  He sat behind me, gave instructions, and held the handles with me.  Soon, he pulled his hands away, and I was driving.  It was like learning to ride a bicycle.  Laum said, "Ah, you learn fast.  Faster than Cambodian."

It's really fun to drive.  I took it for a spin around the village a couple times, and the villagers all smiled (or laughed) at me.  I can just hear the dinner conversation tonight.  "Oh my Buddha!  The barang got a motorbike."  To get used to being around traffic, I skirted along the main road for a little ways.  Some guy took a picture of me on his phone. 

I took this picture in Battambang.  It's not uncommon to see a family of four riding along like this. 
                                   

This is what my motorbike looks like.  Laum told me to lock it in the front patio room at night.  I tried to push it up the steps, but it was heavy, so I hid it on the side of the building.  I just went out now to check on it and discovered it was moved up on the sidewalk, right in front of my patio.  I laughed when I saw Jon-Rob, the bus driver, sitting there (apparently waiting for me), and he helped me move it the rest of the way inside.  He also gave me a big bunch of bananas.  How sweet!  I bet his mom told him to do that.  His family lives nearby, and he goes over there to eat.