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Published: September 28th 2007
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On The Road
Finally arriving. I am tired, stinky and dirty but feeling good... Monday, September 17th - Friday, September 28th
Siem Reap is a town that has an underlying charm to it, with a quiet river flowing through and tree-lined boulevard's adding character to the streets. It's also a city experiencing a massive face-lift in order to accommodate the millions of people flocking there each year to view and photograph some of man-kind's most tremendous ruins, leaving it more resembling of a permanent circus than a city. Coming into the city from the west one is confronted with massive hotels, almost worth a visit in their own right, that mimic and emulate the architectural designs found at the temples scattered north of the city; all with wholly original names like 'The Angkor Palace Hotel', 'The Angkor Temple', and 'Le Hotel de Angkor' for it's French visitors.
My love/hate relationship with the land of Korea was also rekindled as Korean's make up the largest percentage of visitors to the temples. There were Korean restaurants everywhere and one had to be careful not to get in the way of the bus loads of camera wielding Korean's on group tour. It's hard to imagine that I was visiting the temples in the off-season.
The
temples themselves are certainly worth visiting, especially for those interesting in seeing first-hand what mankind is capable of when a successive line of narcissistic King's have thousands of cult-like slaves at their disposal. But after three days of temples and having to turn down generous offers from a range of people offering to help me find anything I wanted - a massa, boom-boom, yaya, ganja, scooby-doo and yogi too, I missed the peace and quiet of the countryside and decided to skip town.
Rather than continue east on highway 6, which I had heard was in pretty bad shape, I opted to head south on the paved route 5, meaning I'd have to take a boat from Siem Reap to Battambang. From Battambang it'd be three days east to the capital city of Phnom Penh.
I was abrubtly reminded of the hassles of bus services when there was a mix up with my ticket and I had to force my bike into an already full van, apologizing profusely to the sleepy passengers for the hassle I was causing. At the crumbling docks we were intially herded onto a long, sleek boat that didn't seem would hold the weight
of us all. With a sigh of relief from the passengers, another boat was brought to split us up.
The boat ride took over six hours, but was a beautiful ride through the floodplains and rivers of the Tonle Sap. I sat greedily on the bow and watched as large cranes took flight and our boat navigated through narrow paths, probably impossible to cross in the dry season, past floating villages and into Battambang.
The rest of the day was a wash, literally, as a heavy rain flooded the streets and left me drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes and watching the kids splash in the streets.
The charm of the old French buildings lining the river and a friendly and honest group of moto-drivers (shocking hey?) convinced me to stay one more day. The goal for that extended day was to visit an old temple located on the top of a mountain some 26 km from town, but on the way I was invited to play an impromptu game of volleyball with some high-school students. It was a friendly game in a court of mud that drew in quite a crowd - mostly monks and young boys -
who were delighted to see me hit the ball at their friends, and even more thrilled to see the ball hit back at me. Afterwards, I sat chatting with them, handing out cigarettes to the studying monks and by the time I made it to the top of the temple I was beat and ready to ride back to town.
The one-hundred and three kilometre day from Battambang to Pursat was one of those days you have every so often that makes that jump off the proverbial bridge seem like not such a bad idea. I started the day with wild diarreah (no it's not supposed to read mild), a weak stomach, a sore throat, running nose, and headache. My knee was in such bad shape that several times I contemplated throwing in the towel, and to add insult to injury, I rode the first twenty-five kilometres with my front brake-pad rubbing on the tire as I questioned why in the hell I couldn't go faster than twelve kilometres per hour. Was I on a slope?
I arrived in Pursat miserable and visibly beaten and was in bed, sleeping by 7:30, perfectly content if I were to never
wake up again.
I was pleasantly surprised when, in the morning, I discovered that I was still alive. With my extensive imagination everytime I feel a little dozy, get a cough, or feel sick I'm certain that I've caught something; malaria, dengue fever, dehydration, there are too many things to catch, surely I have one.
The good news of my seemingly stable health put me in a great mood, like I'd dodged death, and the ride to Kompong Chhnang was relaxing and enjoyable.
I was approaching the city in the late afternoon as a red sun started to sink from the sky. Old women were riding their bicycles into the city, young children were taking a quick swim in flooded fields as their yaks waited patiently, their bells ringing quietly, and thousands of sugar palm trees stood tall over the green colours splattered vividly across the fields. For the first time on this trip I was taken with the beauty of the landscape before me.
That night, staying at a nice family run guesthouse in the city, I met a a French man who'd felt similarily about the city - so much so, in fact, that
after a short visit to the Cham and Vietnamese villages on the riverside he had decided to work on a documentary of the Tonle Sap and it's inhabitants living on it's banks.
After a few beer and the types of conversations that usually follow I knew that another day would be required to search this city and visit the villages myself. Then I'd make that final push to Phnom Penh. I wasn't disappointed.
So now I sit in Phnom Penh. I have spent the last few days in a state of permanent vegetation, reclining in coffee shops and tea houses and taking care of all the little things that have seemed to pile up over the weeks. In a day or two I will be off to explore the south coast of the country, before making my way east to the Mekong Delta and Vietnam.
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Riding Stats
Monday, September 17th -- Day off
Tuesday, September 18th -- Siem Reap - Angkor Temples
Today - 51.08 km
Time - 3:28
Avg. Speed - 14.7
Max Speed - 27.4
Wednesday, September 19th -- Day off
Thursday, September 20th -- Siem Reap - Battambang
(by boat)
Friday, September 21st -- Around Battambang
Today - 32.6 km
Time - 2:12
Avg. Speed - 14.7
Max Speed - 23.4
Saturday, September 22st -- Battambang - Pursat
Today - 102.97 km
Time - 6:00
Avg. Speed - 17.1
Max Speed - 23.2
Sunday, September 23nd -- Pursat - Kompong Chhnang
Today - 105.23 km
Time - 5:38
Avg. Speed - 18.6
Max Speed - 33.7
Monday, September 24th -- Day off
Tuesday, September 25th -- Kompong Chhnang - Phnom Penh
Today - 99.38
Time - 5:52
Avg. Speed - 16.9
Max Speed - 34.8
Wednesday, September 26th -- Day off
Thursday, September 27th -- Day off
Friday, September 28th -- Day off
Total KM Traveled - 920.5
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Brandon
non-member comment
Looks amazing man.. Good writing also..