You never know how bad car sickness is if you do not experience it once. Only the people who have suffered it understand how terrible it is.

Kai Kong, a 22-year-old junior sociology student at the Royal University of Phnom Penh,  has too much experience with this problem. Since moving to Phnom Penh from Kampong Speu in 2010, he must regularly travel 90 kilometres to his hometown when he is free from school. He spends around two hours getting home by taxi, and although it is not too far, he said car sickness makes the trip feel as long as flying to the United States.

He said car sickness always depresses him when he travels to visit his parents in the province. When he is in the car, it is like there is a war inside of him, he said, and he has no energy to talk with his fellow travellers. Sometimes, he takes black plastic bags to store his vomit.

“Even when I think about the taxi, and the smell of the car exhaust, I feel sick,” he said.

“After I left the car once, I was sick for five to six days, so I had to spend those days recovering.”

To reduce the sickness, he listens to music or wears a mask, but he still cannot deal with it.

“Why am I allergic to cars, and how do I solve it?” he asked.