Cycling Cambodia's Flatlands

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Its all change once you've crossed the border into Cambodia.Gone is the relative calm of Thailand ,replaced by the chaos of an impoverished asian nation.Climbing out of the ashes of war and famine Cambodia would become another open door to poverty with a smile,something i'll always admire.
Poipet is your classic border town.Cambodian's pulling huge wooden hand carts ladden with goods available to them from across the frontier.Borders bring scam artists trying to make a fast buck from passing tourists and here is no exeption.My rule at all borders is if you dont wear a uniform then im not stopping.It all went smoothly though,after a 1000 baht no hassles 30 day visa we were off towards Sissaphon cycling through one of the poorest areas in the country.
The road was good and flat it even had a shoulder to ride on.Cars raced past blaring the obligitory horn at anything that moved in front of them.Trucks slurred along dangerously overloaded with boxes,sacks and people clinging to ropes upon their high perches.The slow trucks and tractors allowed us to partake in our hobby of truck surfing although as a three we needed a bit of luck with hand holds.
The shadeless land around stretched off into the hazy distance,people worked the rice fields , kids net fished in drying pools at the side of the road calling out to us in friendly fashion as we passed.The air was dry the sun heavy and hot.Sisaphon a crossroad town dusty and poor was our introduction to Cambodia.
The hotel was great and for 5 dollars a real bargain.Ensuite bathroom and cable tv would become our staple as the hotels in the country would continue to be a fantastic bargain although sometimes of questionable quality.
Up at Dawn we were on the road with the morning sun,eager to beat the heat and get along to Siem Reap 105 km away in good time.Our headwind has continued and is fast aproaching 3000km.Not quite enough to hamper us entirely we still had time during the day to sample some roadside fried grasshoppers which didnt taste like chicken by the way.Decided to leave the big black bettles til another day.
Rolled into Siem Reap mid afternoon passing Vegas like hotels,huge super plush hideaways of the rich here for the air con and Angkor temples.Our digs were somewhat more modist although for us was five star treatment.
Siem Reap is where Cambodia ends and Khymer disneyland begins.It has all the tourist trimmings and then some.We are all here (and there are many of us)for one reason ,to visit the world famous ruins of Angkor Wat and its sister temples.They employ a clever system here in order not to get "templed out" you can buy various ticket types.We went for the three days to be used within a week.That way we can do a day on day off,which worked a treat.
Using our bikes we covered about 130km over the three days,the roads are good and flat but I wont go into the whole Angkor experience as it would take to long.Just to say its a magical place ,deserves the effort for a sunrise,places like Angkor ,the Bayon the fantasticly named terrace of the leper king, you wont be disapointed.And three days for us was enough to see almost everything.
Mixed our days up at Angkor with days at disneyland.If you need a tuk tuk then you can definetly get one in Siem Reap absolutly no problem.Its like a game you play with the drivers.You can be stepping out of one while being asked by another if you now need a tuk tuk.Its all very comfortable in Siem Reap with steakhouses, strange fish massaging,swimming pools, banana pancakes ,discos all the things you'll find in a tourist bubble.After six days of that we took our pin and headed out of town towards the Tonle Sap lake intent on bursting this bubble and rediscovering Cambodias real charm.
Tonle Sap is Cambodias protien basket with 80 % of its fish caught in this eco success phenomina.The waters rise and fall by several metres during the monsoon seasons giving the river people a unique way of life in thier floating villages that hug the shores and main waterways of the lake.
This being the dry season meant an 8 hour trip across to Battambong.With bikes and tourists loaded all over the boat we set off at 7.30 with water and food for the day and took in the colourful scenery.
Its a simplistic but hard life for the ethnic people amoungst the reeds and waterways ,basic living in cramped conditions,everything based on fishing and the next meal.Self sufficency alive and well on the Tonle Sap.This is a great way to see a different side of Cambodia ,its a long 8 hours(one floating resturant stop) but well worth the effort.
Battambong was reached with sore arses late afternoon.Found a great hotel(paris) with massive balcony overlooking the setting sun.Without further ado we got the Angkor beers in and watched a red tinted sunset.Im 38 tomorrow and we need to get our stomachs ready for a feast of booze and fried insects.And they say english food is bad.
Today weve entered the unfamiliar world of public transport, hiring Mr Bo's tuk tuk for the day at the cost of 15 dollars.Taking in the sights such as Wat Banan and its 300 odd steps then later paying a young lad a dollar to show us the killing cave where the Khymer rouge soilders would murder their own countrymen by throwing them 30 metres down to their deaths,sad stuff.Skulls were piled high in a small pagoda next to a reclining buddha where we bought red braclets from a shaven headed nun and headed on somberly.
Ive seen catacombs in Peru's cathedrals that show skulls and bones of the dead butthey weren't massacred by an out of control regime.Some people here in Cambodia want these remains buried ,the past forgotten while others feel the need to remind people of a past that must never be again.Sadly this is only one of many "killing" areas of Cambodia.
We needed a lift so on our way back we stoped off in a field for birthday port and two types of real cheese.Fantastic.Its been a while and made short work of the lot.
Enjoyed a night out at the riverside balcony bar where along with Gertz a german lad from the boat we put away several jugs of Angkor beer and spilled out onto the streets at midnight.Luckily for us (I think)we found the fried insect man and bought a collection of crunchy creepy crawlies including grasshoppers,bettles,frogs and some sort of big locust that took an age to digest.All in all the frogs were the best ,nothing really tasted great .just a bit insecty.This is training for my ill concieved bet with Tati to eat penis at a chinese resturant.Cant wait!Have you any mayonaise waiter!
Got back on the road after a rest day heading out early for Pursat,flat with the usual headwind to keep us company.The midday heat was upon us as we along the straight route 5 passing four other tourers zooming past towards the west with their greedy tailwind.So far cycling here has been easy,lots of hellos and although its flat the field workers ,DIY vehicles and kids are keeping us from bordom.In Pursat we found a great hotel for 6 dollars next to route 5.The Than Sour Themi is a good option for the dusty cyclist.
The road between Pursat and Kompong Chhnang looses its shoulder ,it even gets slightly hilly in parts,although only slightly.There was more traffic too so I remained at the back watching in my mirror for any possible trouble.Kompong Chhnang is the second of three stepping stones to Phnom Pehn.Stopping off at a hotel we washed up and headed down to the busy waterfront where we hired a boat and pole driver from an energetic young man and punted around the lives of the river people.Im not usually into the human zoo effect where we go people watching with cameras but here they live such open and outdoor lives that it was barely an intrusion.Amazing way to live!Floating shops would drift by selling everything from toothpaste to whiskey,people and plates were being washed in the murky waters.Boat menders carpenters and mechanics worked away in the evening sun.A group of men made merry around a bottle and a pack of cards.All smiles in this rustic world.
The last leg of our trip was pretty straight forward.An easy ride into the capital on a wider road following the Tonle Sap on our left ,flood plain on the right.For a city of two million the road remained pretty quiet til about 10km out when all hell broke loose.Cars and trucks,motos and buses all vied for spaces as they filtered in from various arteries clogging up the road.We made short work of the last few km and found refuge in Angkor Meas hotel.Top floor as usual ,we lugged our gear upstairs and made ready for some nightlife.
Our trip with Bernie is over as he heads south into Vietnam and we begin a week of visa hunting in preperation for the north.

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Photos

Poipet border
lads working hard in the morning sun

Truck loaded up
overload at the border

Truck surfing
Resting legs with the farmers

Comments

[Lazy]

happy berfday!
happy berfday mate! glad to see you're celebrating it with crunchy grasshoppers, beetles and frogs. and eh, what penis is this animal going to come from? sorry to hear about the headwind. you'll be ready to ride north from nouakchott now. Lazy

[mudyshox]

riding north through the desert one day is all that keeps me going