|
|
Bali, Indonesia: Island Of The God
Bali is undoubtedly one of the most enchanting place that honeymooners can desire for. Lush greenery, beautiful miles stretched sandy beaches, roaring rivers, crystal clear lakes, tropical forests full of exotic wildlife. There are also picturesque...
Florida Sun n Fun
The vacation rental villas in the Kissimmee and Orlando area experience an upturn in renters around this time every year, with those magnificent men in their flying machines turning up in the sunshine state to enjoy a whole week, wallowing in...
Living in the Clouds
I have a sister of whom I am very proud. After the kids were grown she found herself divorced after years of unhappy marraige. So she went back to work. She found the job market brutal after all those years as a housewife, but she stuck with it, and...
The Best Safari Company for Your Safari Trip - Here's How To Choose
Which is the best African safari company for my safari trip? This is a question that comes up very frequently and it's not surprising. There are so many safari operators in the market all promising the earth that it is very difficult to choose...
Travel To Russia - Kamchatka
Among the mysteries of the Russian language there is an expression "Sitting on Kamchatka" which in school slang, this idiom means, "to sit in the back row of the classroom, far enough from the teacher's strict gaze. This geographical idiom...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cambodian Taxi Chaos – A Leaf, A Radiator And A Macgyver Moment
The roads in Cambodia are vicious, angry slabs of asphalt filled with potholes that would qualify as valleys in some countries. Fortunately, I had it made traveling from Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh. Or so I thought.
Cambodian Taxis
Having spent two weeks in the relaxing beach town of Sihanoukville, I was getting bored and so were the three chaps traveling with me. It was time to head to the supposed chaos of Phnom Penh and eventually Angkor Wat. Despite the legendary reputation of Cambodian roads, the owner of our accommodations told us the road to Phnom Penh was smooth as glass. For twenty U.S. dollars, a local taxi would get all four of us to the city without incident.
Around noon, two Australians, an Englishman and myself crammed into a Toyota Camry with our backpacks and miscellaneous junk. Our driver was a good guy, smiling constantly. We did have a communication problem since he spoke about two words of English and we only spoke English. The road, however, was as smooth as promised and we congratulated ourselves on our stroke of luck.
For about an hour, we cruised through the placid Cambodian countryside. It was difficult to imagine the chaos that must have occurred when the Khmer Rouge was in power. There really wasn’t much to see beyond the occasional village. About half way through the trip, the lack of any sizeable towns became a concern.
In the proverbial middle of nowhere, our driver pulled over to the side of the road and turned off the car. Since we couldn’t verbally communicate, much finger pointing was undertaken. Were we lost? Did he want more money? Was he going on strike? What the heck was going on?
Eventually, we foreign idiots were able to decipher that the car was overheating. Lest you think us complete idiots, I must mention that the temperature gauge wasn’t working. Regardless, our driver popped the hood and our smooth trip came to a cracked end. Steam poured from a half-inch crack next to the radiator crap.
Road site assistance seemed an iffy prospect in the middle of Cambodia. I mean, you couldn’t really call your car insurance company.
Me: “Hi. My car is broken.”
Operator: “Okay, we
will send someone out. Where are you?”
Me: “Um, somewhere in the middle of Cambodia.”
Operator: “…[hysterical laughter]… Click.”
The driver looked at us. We looked at him. Simultaneously, we all started laughing. What else could you do? We were in the middle of nowhere, the radiator was shot and it was 60 miles or so to Phnom Penh.
Looking back, I can tell you that Cambodian taxi drivers are a committed and creative group. We sat on the side of the road, contemplating the fact that we were about to have a much more authentic Cambodian experience then any of us had planned. Mysteriously, our driver had gone off into the brush on the side of the road. After a few minutes, he returned with a dark green leaf and a big smile.
Putting MacGyver to shame, he proceeded to patch the crack in the radiator using only the leaf and tube of superglue. We all moved back as he applied the superglue to the boiling hot radiator, but nothing went up in flames. After allowing for a suitable amount of time for drying/praying, all we needed was water.
Although admittedly not a car expert, I do know pouring cold water into the radiator of an overheating engine is a bad idea. MacGyver, err… our driver, didn’t bat an eye despite our extensive arm waving. With a big smile, the water went into the radiator as we watched in horror. The only question was what would happen first, the leaf patch bursting or the engine seizing up?
Well, you can guess how it turned out. Not only did we make it to Phnom Penh, we later learned the radiator had two other leaf patches on the bottom. The road had been smooth, but my nerves were still shot. At least I had ample ammunition to mock MacGyver fans.
About the Author: Rick Chapo is with http://www.nomadjournals.com - Preserve the experience with Nomad Travel Journals as well as journals for hiking, rock climbing, fly-fishing, bird watching and more.
Source: www.isnare.com
|
|
|
|
|
Federal Aviation Administration - Home |
The FAA is primarily responsible for the advancement, safety and regulation of civil aviation, as well as overseeing the development of the air traffic ... |
www.faa.gov |
  |
LANDINGS Welcomes All Pilots & Aviation Enthusiasts to Aviation's ... |
LANDINGS - aviation meeting place featuring: aviation news, up to date aviation databases (FAA Regulations, AIM, SDRs, NTSB Briefs, N Numbers and more), ... |
www.landings.com |
  |
LANDINGS Welcomes All Pilots & Aviation Enthusiasts to Aviation's ... |
LANDINGS - aviation meeting place featuring: aviation news, up to date aviation ... Welcome To The Busiest Aviation Hub in Cyberspace: Please Check-in... ... |
www.landings.com |
  |
AWC - Aviation Weather Center |
Aviation Weather Center Homepage provides comprehensive user-friendly aviation weather Text products and graphics. |
aviationweather.gov |
  |
AIRLINERS.NET - A Breath Of Fresh Jet Blast |
Discussions going on in the most active aviation forum online ... MyAviation.net - Just like Airliners.net but accepting all aviation photos! ... |
www.airliners.net |
  |
Avhome.com - Your Link to the World of Aviation Featuring Aviation ... |
The aviation search engine and directory. Featuring thousands of categorized links related to aviation and aircraft. |
www.avhome.com |
  |
The Aviation History Online Museum |
Browse through a selection of airplane photographs from the beginning of aviation history to the present day. Take a virtual tour of the Garber restoration ... |
www.aviation-history.com |
  |
Aviation Week's AviationNow.com |
Aviation news and information, with aircraft for sale, aerospace engineering, jobs and images. |
www.aviationnow.com |
  |
Aviation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
Aviation refers to flying using aircraft, machines designed by humans for ... Civil aviation includes all non-military flying, both general aviation and ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
  |
U.S. Army Aviation Warfighting Center and Fort Rucker |
The US Army Aviation Center trains military, civilian, and international personnel in aviation and leadership skills. |
www-rucker.army.mil |
  |
weather.com - Aviation Welcome |
Aviation Maps View cloud ceilings, turbulence potential and other aviation maps. ... Share questions and answers with pilots and aviation enthusiasts. ... |
www.weather.com |
  |
Aviation Safety Network |
Resource centre for airliner accidents and civil aviation safety issues. |
aviation-safety.net |
  |
Aviation Jobs, Aerospace Jobs, Jobs in Aviation, Cabin Crew Jobs |
A recruitment agency for jobs within the aviation industry. |
www.aviationjobsearch.com |
  |
NTSB - Aviation |
US Government authority responsible for maintaining the standards of the US aviation industry. |
www.ntsb.gov |
  |
Aviation.org |
Org--the interactive website operated by Aviation Safety Connection, Inc.--addresses fundamental safety issues related to pilot performance. ... |
www.aviation.org |
  |
Aviation |
The aviation site at DTLR. Sections on environmental and noise issues, the future of air transport, the Heathrow Terminal 5 enquiry, air safety and other ... |
www.dft.gov.uk |
  |
Canadian Aviation - Real Pilot Info for Canadian Pilots - Home |
Your Canadian Airline, Aerospace and Pilot Portal. News, Webmail, Links, Metar Reports, Classifieds, Wallpaper, and Galleries that affect you in Canada. |
www.aviation.ca |
  |
AVweb the internet's aviation magazine & news service |
Aviation magazine and news service featuring aviation news, articles, searchable aviation databases, and on-line shopping. |
www.avweb.com |
  |
EAA - The Leader in Recreational Aviation - Oshkosh, Wisconsin |
Official Home of EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association), The Leader in Recreational Aviation, an international 170000-member organization encouraging and ... |
www.eaa.org |
  |
Unusual Aviation Pictures |
Aviation Pictures you don't see in the Paper Everyday. |
www.aviationpics.de |
  |
|