More bikes....

Today I went out to CCH again to buy more bikes for them - This time, the standard push bike variety rather than electric. After picking up two of the older children to assist Brian and I went to Kampuchea Krom, the street with the bike shops...

The great thing about Cambodia is that all the shops selling the same thing are together. Not so convenient if you want to buy a selection of items but very good for price/service comparison should you be on a mission. I now have the art of looking uninterested yet interested at the same time in order to get a good deal... We began with a shop where the woman was more than annoyed that we had disturbed her afternoon snack and did not seem interested in selling. So, we e moved on to a place where the bikes were $45 (I think) but the price quickly came down to $35 and then after doing the whole "walking away, look elsewhere routine" the woman asked me to name my price. I did. $30 per bike and we would buy 5.

Intense negotiations

We compromised on $33 if I got 5. Had I concluded the same deal in the UK for £17.50 I do not think I would have got the same service that followed.

One of the bikes... The children insisted I try all 5 much to every Khmer's delight.

The price included, new basket, handles, brakes, seats ... everything but the frame and it took a while for this to be prepared by the "boys" who appeared as if from no where to perform the task. This gave me an opportunity to buy drinks from the nearby street stall, including the chance to expand upon my Khmer language skills. I understood the price and everything! wow! It was very nice drinking a cola from a plastic bag (the stall owner keeps the bottle), sitting on the chair the bike store owner had bought out to the street for me as they prepared the bikes....

Then we had to get 5 bikes back to the orphanage. Despite sensible logical tips from Brian and myself about how to fit the bikes onto the tuk tuk it was Asian rather than Western logic that prevailed and so the process was quite slow. However, in the end we managed to eventually fit 4 bikes on to the tuk tuk leaving space for me and one of the children. The other child (well actually about 16 yrs old and off to Canada shortly on a scholarship - Does anyone have a guidebook on Canada they no longer want?? - so not really a child...) rode the other bike back. Brian (having been daring enough to buy his own mountain bike at $34!) cycled off not really knowing how to navigate the traffic or his way home. I assume he is alive still....

Why would you ride a bike when you can put it on a motorised vehicle?

On arrival back at CCH the children were very pleased with the bikes. I also had got a number of grammar books, a picture dictionary and a thesaurus - far less exciting....