Bangkok, Siem Reap, Phnom Penh & Cycling the Mekong

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14/04/16 Catch a bus part way and then hitch to the airport through the ghost town of Negumbo (New Years), wedge myself into a seat at the port and sit it out until late evening, pleasingly swept through immigration without quibble with my ever so slightly) expired visa. 15/04/16 Watch Star Wars rather than sleeping and knock into Bangkok to join a 6.30am "skytrain" into city. A little jaded first day in a songkrang festival sleepy Bangkok. Wonder a little before an Asian siesta and a quiet evening mooch of town. 16/04/16 Go see the jungle book at mega mall central world and begin a couple of days discovering this extremely likeable world. The food on offer is insane. It's not fully explainable while the street eating is most famous but the choice of food malls & restaurants bowled me over, it's a different scale, weekend market was pretty dam awesome too.



I spend four nights in the capital and could have stayed another week but pulled myself away to kick start my intended trip catching a day bus 19/04/16 to Siem Reap crossing the border half way and reaching the tourist town shadowing the famous temples by dark. Find a nice 5 dollar hostel stay and join Mamoon and his pals for a halal dinner with manchester's freshest & finest junior doctors. 20/04/16 I hijack their taxi boot for a dawn visit to Angkor Wat, again a classic Asian hazy (slightly disappointing) sunrise. Visit the tomb raider temple with the gang and later ride with Mamoon to the airport and then venture back into temple land on foot to see some of the other landmarks before my day ticket expires.



I spend the following day brainstorming ideas and grab a bus ticket for a journey 22/04/16 to Pnom Penh arriving in the evening for a stay at nomads hostel in the north of the city. 23/04/16 head to Orussey market and visit "bicycle street", part with 60 dollars for a second hand multi geared mountain bike fitted with luggage thingys. Shipping containers from Japan feed Cambodia's reborn bike industry, hard working fixers return the rusty frames back into something rideable, visibly chiselling & scouring the rust away then dressing the bikes up with can upon can of silver paint for that good as new mr muscle sheen. My bicycle "Ami" appears to be French but who knows. A couple of add-ons such as a bell and bottle holder I return to the hostel & set about turning her into two wheeled pony over the next two days. Coupling outings to the very graphic genocide museum and killing fields in the south of town I source bits from central & Orussey market I make up some saddle bags/panniers from child rucksacks & bbq griddles, stock up on some basic tools and cable ties for the worst.



The afternoon before I set off I post my pack to new best buddy Thu in Ha Noi from couchsurfing (bike or no bike - where I shall reach in June) so on 26/04/16 collect my passport with Vietnam stamp and head out in the sprawling traffic of Phnom Penh for the last time. I ride north alongside Mekong on the main highway then pare off hugging the river on a B road until Kong Meas district for a welcome nights stay in a guest house. 27/04/16 30k connects me to Kampong Cham in half a day, catch up on some laundry, spin around the pleasant towns views including the mahoosive bridge, good pizza place by the river. 28/04/16 6am start riding west side of the Mekong before catching a 600 riel ferry cross to carry on north on the east, I reach Chhlong before 3pm for a guesthouse stay. 29/04/16 if one does this route to Laos and naturally stays off in (35k away) Kratie>a pleasant town good for river dolphin outings then the remaining leg to Stung Treng is 145k, not appealing. To cut this down I pass kratie, kampi too via dropping by the tourist Rapids, the road continues past sandan (maybe 1 guest house here) the joins the highway at sangkum, I cycle for another hour and then select an abandoned wood hut for my nights stay around the 82k mark, endearing approval to shower at a neighbouring farm house.



30/04/16 I move on at 6am for a pretty tiring 80k cycle to Stung Treng, little shade & quite a bit of climbing on this section. I reach town by 1pm and chill for the remainder. 01/05/16 lay in and join a minibus to Banlung, Ami had to ride on the back tied up with rope. An afternoon stroll around Yeak Laom crater lake near town before a nights kip and morning 02/05 venture to a dry as a bone! waterfall, nice rural cycle though. Bus back to stung Treng and bed down for the night. 03/05 Kick off @ 6am with a suspected slow puncture, 50k to the border, pretty swift run through; $36 for a Laos visa. A little notorious for bribes though Cambodia didn't ask & Laos guys accepted my polite refusal, so into Laos and time to fix that pesky puncture. Super relaxed roadside tyre shop eventually deals me a patch and back on the road for another 8k to the ferry to Don Det island from Nakasong village. Backpacker favourite det, I enjoy a lazy afternoon & hang out with a jolly Irish pair up Mary & Sorcha. 04/05 A days island cycling to the really impressive Liphi Falls on Don Khon, a little chain clean for Ami and another night in a Don det river shack. 05/05 7am start to land river hop to Don Som where one can cycle north on dirt tracks and catch another boat to Don Khong, a new 2014 swanky bridge connects to the mainland, nice little alternative dirt road heads north up the Mekong before re joining the highway, 70ks ish from here to Thang Baeng for a nights stay at a roadside guesthouse & enjoyed a tasty noodle soup in the village.



06/05/16 a further 18k to the ferry turnoff to champasak, rolled up just in time to cruise across with a friendly crowd of monks. Champasak > very likeable pretty little district, plenty of sleeping options & places to eat. I grab an early lunch and continue on the west side of the Mekong, this a new paved road smooth as a babies buttocks all the 30k to Pakse; burney hot afternoon looking for a bike fixer turns out annoyingly fruitless. I settle on a quiet guest house in the east of town and following morning tweak to correct my skippy gear shift later make an afternoon go for it to Paksong, 50k of climbing, hard work but rewarding with increasingly leafy scenery as you gain ground. Arrive just as night arrives and find a dorm room for the night.



08/05 Liking the new surroundings after a market breakfast I set off on a very easy downhill whizz through the Bolaven Plateau 65k to waterfallVille around near Tad Lo falls, spend another night in a beach shack type hut fit with pet pigs for neighbours and visit the three local waterfalls before riding onto the town of Salavan for half a haircut and a nights stay. 10/05 After not too much red flag from the town tourist office I decide on route 23 north to Muang Phin, a notoriously off beat scratch of a highway with bombed out bridges & jungle tracks..well not entirely untrue! However initially quite an inviting compact dirt road with loads of half eaten wooden bridges over dry river beds in a dry open landscape frequented with village life leads 50k to large village Toumlan meeting a sealed road heading e-w, lunch in the market before heading north; here things begin to get a little more difficult..turn up your jungle switch theres steep slippery slopes ahead, river crossings and puddly forest. It was dirty gritty muddy fun, press on another 25k ish for sunset eventually finding a friendly village and allowed to camp out in the sundry shop porch> winner! 11/05 Awake to a cockerel chorus and tweak breaks a very dirty ami before continuing, another 15k or so on sandy tracks, a 5000kip boat over the river to Tat Hai, a sizeable village & another shelled out bridge. 50k left & from here route 23 opens back up to a dirt highway up through some glorious forest. Climbing gradually up to a very steep descent towards Muang Phin in the lowlands; Success. In town for midday to wash the mud off

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