1. They like their motorbikes. They like their motorbikes so much that they take them on public transport with them. I have seen bikes tied to vans, we had several come on the coach to the beach with us, and worst of all i have seen one on the front of a bicycle thingy with the poor cycling driver pushing with all his might to propel the motorbike and motorbike lover along the streets on Phenom Pehn.
2. The 24 hour clock is different here. 00:00 is midday. It took me a while to work out that it was not just the odd wrong clock, but all clocks are 'wrong'. 12:00AM and PM have also been reversed, which makes for some interesting conversations around bus timetables.
3. If you step out of a tuk-tuk, a shop, off a bike, or are entering a temple you must need a tuk-tuk. It gets hard to politely decline such offers when it is blatantly obvious that you have just arrived somewhere. Its hard to learn the word for Hello in Khmer as you are so often greeted with the word, 'tuk-tuk'.
4. Khmer people are typically very quiet and respectful of others, you rarely hear shouting. However, when someone gets married, music is blared out of numerous speakers, so loud that it sounds like it originates in Vietnam. This begins at 6am and ends around midnight, for a few days at a time. If you are the neighbours, you just have to learn to love these songs or practice your dancing in your house with the free tunes.
5. Khmer's like to wear a lot of clothes. Although it is their summer and faintworthily hot, they are wandering around in their long sleeves and fingerless gloves. This is the lengths they will go to to avoid a suntanned skin. How mad they must think i am to be loving the darkening of my skin!
5.5 There are no roads wider than two cars. Even the main highway to Vietnam has a patch of non-tarmaced texture, and its a snug fit for the two cars to pass by each other. Quick travel is not an option here.
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