I want to ride my bicycle ...

There are 3.2 million motor vehicles (mostly cars and motorbikes) on Phnom Penh roads, an increase of 14% from last year. Peak hour traffic can feel chaotic here. Rules if they exist don't appear to apply, but I've never known traffic or drivers in this city to be aggressive.

Bicycles are for those who are on a very low income, children or crazy foreigners. Crazy because while the locals here are finally getting the chance to be upwardly mobile and enjoy what the industrialised world has done for more than half a century, we ex-pats cycle by choice and not through necessity, either because we think it's good exercise or having driven cars for years, we are now outraged about the pollution and carbon footprint that is being created.

During the scorching months of March and April which are the hottest of the year, everyone sweats profusely even when motionless. Humidity is close to 100% on most days. Much to the dismay of my colleagues, I continued to cycle to work and would arrive totally drenched with perspiration as if I'd had a shower fully dressed, my clothes stuck to me, hair plastered to my head and looking bedraggled. It was possibly not the best way to start business meetings when I first needed 15 minutes to dry off.

But for the rest of the year I feel really happy as I cycle around, especially in the evenings when there is a breeze or when I go shopping for fruit and vegetables to the farmers' market and along the way, make many stops to the bakery, cafe and flower shop. I've had an extra basket fitted onto the back of the bike so I have enough space for all the bits and pieces I pick up.

Tropical weather lends itself to ambling along. I love the slow pace and notice things I wouldn't if I were to drive a car. I see the many frangipani flowers in bloom and the bursts of orange, white and magenta colours on the bougainvillea bushes, the tuk tuk drivers sitting on the pavements playing chess while they wait for a fare, who look up to say hello as I go past and the faces of the street vendors up close. Sometimes I stop to get a fresh coconut from one of the street carts before I continue on my way.

Many days I have the same exchange with a security guard whose name I don't know. He stands outside a building I regularly pass. As he sees me approaching he leans out and raises his hand in readiness and I slow down just enough for us to high five and laugh out loud. I couldn't do this if I were zooming along in a motor vehicle.

I've had this bike for 2 years and it's been my main form of transport. It's looking a bit weathered but has character, like a life well lived. It's not just seen better days as the old saying goes, it has seen wonder filled days. I've taken it onto ferries and crossed the two rivers that intersect in Phnom Penh - the Tonle Sap and the Mekong. I've gone to Silk Island on it and cycled along red dirt roads, past green fields and cows. I've done round trips of 80km on some weekends discovering Phnom Penh and surrounds. I've come off the bike a couple of times too when an errant moto has crashed into me sending me flying over the handlebars.

Soon I will pass it on and hope it gives the next owner as much pleasure as it has brought me.