Tumada

There's a Khmer word, tumada (pronounced ta-ma-da) that Cambodians use when something a little crazy happens. It roughly translates to "normal". Five family members riding on one motor scooter? Tumada. Double passing into oncoming traffic in a tuk-tuk? Tumada.

Since landing in Cambodia, we've been trying to adjust to a new sense of normal (with a lot of help from Jo, our gracious host in Phnom Penh). This is the first truly developing country we have visited and the most "foreign" feeling place we've been so far, which is both enthralling and nerve wracking.

We recently arrived in Siem Reap after seven hours on a bus (the fancy westerner bus, for $14), passing rice paddies, houses on stilts, and seeing just about anything possible being carried on a scooter. It was fascinating and we spent the entire ride just watching Cambodia operate.

Here's are a few quick video clips of one part of our ride. It doesn't do it justice, for that you'll just have to visit and get a real sense of tumada.

Clip 1: http://youtu.be/T6Tp6UCo644

Clip 2: http://youtu.be/VB4IrjbYWg8

Clip 3: http://youtu.be/lPonrrlpqOU

Clip 4: http://youtu.be/lwiZ-WvwCcI