Cambodia and the temples of Angkor

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Hi all not updated for a while as i havent really had the chance to do so or a good internet connection.

At the moment i am currently at Siem Reap, Cambodia. this is the place for those who don't now are where the temples of angkor are. well about 8km up the road actually.

Since Hoi Chi Minh City (HCMC) we set off for the border. the first day we got to GO Dau still just within Vietnam. This wasn't the best ride as it took over two hours just to get out of HCMC. with the total ride taking four hours. The second day we then cycled the 8km to the Vietnamese/Cambodian border at Moc Bai. after an hour or so we managed to get all the relevant stamps and our visa sorted and we carried on untill we reached Svay Rieng. This is a smallish market town just off highway one. it took us around 4 1/2 hours to get there from Go Dau and this was our first days ride the the pan flat roads which we have had to cycle in cambodia. the next day we decide to push on and cover the 125km up and into Phnom Pehn. this ride was split into two sections really as mid route we had to stop and bored a boat with the bikes to cross the Mekong which being this far south is quite large. once we then crossed the river we stopped at a small roadside cafe which had some of the local policemen stood outside. as we sat and had a drink we noticed that they were pulling over anyone that either had people sat on the roof of the minibus. this happens a lot round here and they just pay the fine and carry on there way with the passengers on the roof. Or they would pull people over for not wearing a helmet on there motor bikes. in one case they pulled over one scooter that had 4 girls crammed on the back. after this stop we then pushed on to Phnom Penh. the total ride took us around 6 1/2 hours.

once in Phnom Penh we found a hotel that was $20 a night and after some haggling we got it down to $10 a night and we stayed here for three days. during our stay we managed to visit a prison used by the khmer rouge in the 80's where they tortured there prisoners. these were mostly civilians including men women and children. it was a bit grim but good to visit for a morning. that after noon we decide to go to the local water park. an arrival we paid and went in to find most of the slides were not working and most of the pools had green water in them. err not to brilliant really. but we found a slide that wouldnt kill us if we got a gob full of water a messed around on that for a few hours.
we also managed to visit the Russian market on our last day which turned out to be a bit of a mistake. as after about 10 seconds of getting in a tuk tuk there was a monsoon and we got soaked and cold in about a minute.

after our visit to Cambodias capital the next big stop was Siem reap, although this was 317km away. on the first days ride we managed to get out of Phnom Penh on possible the worst road into a city that there is. whilst bouncing around on this rough track of a road it was raining so we got mud and dirt flung up at us from all the passing vehicles and ended up quite dirty. the town that night was nothing special with nothing to really do when we got there.
The next day we then covered another 90km and reached Kampong thom. That evening we then met our first English touring cyclist called alex who was from the London area and going a similar route to ourselves although doing some mad hardcore days on his bike. the next day we decicded to push on again and cycled the 150km to Siem Reap. after 3 hours into a tough headwind Adam and Anna decided that they would break the 150km into 2 days whilst I decided to push on. after a further 3hours on the bike i was really starting to struggle as i battle with a head wind that was getting stronger. in total the ride took me 7 hours 20 minutes until i manged to find a guesthouse in Siem Reap. that evening after 9i had eaten i decided to go for a beer at the guesthouse where i then bumped into Alex who i eneded up then sharing a room with for a few night in order to cut the costs a little. the same evening i checked my emails late on to find amazingly Adam and Anna had managed to also battle through the wind and had arrived a couple of hours after myself into town and had booked into another guesthouse.

The next morning myself and Alex met for breakfast and decide that we would visit some of the temples. the ticket to get in was $40for three days. this is high by Cambodian standards but well worth the money. some of the temples are amazing with massive free routes working there way through small cracks in the walls and pushing huge stone blocks out of the way in the walls.
the next day we decided to hire a tuk tuk for the day. we manged to find one near our guesthouse. not hard really there is bloody loads of them. and we had a driver called Ken. I expect it isnt his real name but they often use an English name so its easy for tourists. we paid him $18 for the day and he took us to loads of temples and we ended the day by climbing a bloody big hill whilst it was mad hot and watched the sun drop behind some clouds. not what was supposed to quite happen but nether mind.
the the third and final day of our ticket we went to visit a temple called Bayon which was used a lot in the film tomb raider. although it was good i dont think it was by any means the best one. we then decide to spalsh out and spend $6 to get us into a posh hotel to use there pool after 2 minutes in the water we spent the rest of the afternoon sheltering from the rain. i mean we did want to get wet but not by the rain after just spending $6 to have a good tan topping up session.

The same evening we all met up at a restaurant in town and had a meal. we then got back early as Alex had to leave in the morning on his onwards journey to Bangkok.


hope its not too long but had a bit to talk about this time leave us a comment if you want and i will try to get back to you in the next day or so.

Thanks see you all soon

Simon

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