Cu Chi Tunnels and back to the doctors

I was off out to the Cu Chi tunnels for the morning, I had breakfast and by the time the bus arrived my gut was not feeling the best, I had finished the Anti biotics the night before, so I thought I would see how it went hopefully my gut would settle down. Jumped on the bus with 23 other people we had 5 still to pick up, went around to the next hotel and waited, and waited some more, then two girls jumped on the bus, a few seconds later they were taken off the bus by a guide from a different bus, all we heard were them saying the driver said it would be alright and then the guide said the driver does not speak English. Bit of a laugh to start off with.
We finally started to move and headed towards another hotel and meet up with the 5 remaining passengers, so we were off, we were to have a stop at a place where they make pottery and other things, the usual to try and sell stuff to the tourists, then it would be off to the caves. The bus trip took two hours to get out of the city, for the distance I recon I could have got there faster on my bike, it did not help that we got pulled over by a cop and the driver got a ticket the naughty boy.
The pottery shop was interesting enough, but my gut had not really settled down and was still gurgling, I was quite relieved when we made it to the tunnels. It was pretty busy, every man and his AK 47 was out there, we watch a movie and had a look at the different traps and snares, pretty lethal stuff really, some of the group went off and fired the AK47’s and M 60 etc, which have to say were pretty loud that’s for sure.
We got to the international cave system, this is a part of the cave that they widened and made higher for the Europeans to fit. I would not have wanted to be sent down the smaller caves, I don’t really like caves anyway, give me a cliff and a hundred foot drop any day over a skinny little hole. I managed about the first 20m before I bailed out of one of the exits and escaped it to fresh air. I don’t know how they could have survived the conditions down there, and I can see why the Americans lost the war against people who would injure that for so long.
After the caves it was back on the bus and back into town, my stomach had not really improved but it had also not really got worse so I thought I would jump out and have a look at the war museum and then head back to the hotel, by the time I walked the couple of blocks from where we got dropped off my stomach had gone south, well more north, I felt like throwing up, my stomach was still making lots of noise and was getting sore, so it was time to go and find a doctor yet again.
Back to the hotel and asked them if they knew where I should go, and asked how much it cost to get there, went outside and asked the first motor bike guy how much he gave me a price 3 times over what it should cost, so I told him what I would pay, was not really feeling in the mood for arguing so when he kept on with a price well above what I should be paying I walked away, as I was about 3 meters from him he agreed to my price.
So off to the doctors, got there and got my temperature checked 36.9, got to see the doctor pretty quick, told her my symptoms and told her I had taken some anti biotics and that it seemed to help but once I stopped taking them I felt worse. Got an injection of Anti biotics and then told I have to give a stool sample as well. Got the drugs I needed then back to the hotel and slept for the rest of the afternoon and that night. Just have to produce some stool in the morning and see what the results are from that, time will tell.

The road to Ho Chi Min City (Saigon)

Back into the early starts, the only problem was it was earlier then I wanted, they have these people here with some really crap speakers and they blare out I am not sure what, but some pain in the arse decided it would be a good idea to set up outside my hotel and have it running from 4:30am so you can imagine I was not to impressed. If I had a gun I would have shot the dam thing.
I was up thank you very much so headed off, out on the open road, which is not really open because there are shops and houses all the way along the side of the road, I had 75km to go and had hit the 40km mark when I decided it was time to stop. Stomach was starting to growl. Nice Breakfast of Rice, BBQ port and some other stuff I was not sure about. The back on the bike again, had heard and seen pictures of the roads in Ho Chi Min so was looking forward to that.
It seems the more crazier the roads the more I like them, I think with Vietnam it is not really if I get hit but how badly I come off when I do get hit, the only way to survive is to be as aggressive as them without getting upset when someone cuts you up. They are a very understanding people in that way, will I think they are because I cut a few people up on the way into Ho Chin Min and no one said anything, if that was NZ I would have had abuse thrown my way without a doubt.
The traffic for Ho Chi Min really started on the out skirts of My Tho, it is pretty much duel lane mayhem all the way in, so you really have to have your wits about you, always look forward, had a couple of close calls again when I was looking round then all of a sudden there is a bike coming down the wrong side of the road, don’t swing to the edge of the road swing in, otherwise it confusion time for them.
Have had a couple of times were the traffic has been that manic I have started out on the wrong side of the road thinking I was back on the left, then realized that I am wrong when all the other traffic that I was with on the wrong side with me suddenly heads back over to the other side. This mostly happens in the morning when I have just woken up. It’s insane..
Anyway the traffic into Ho Chi Min just gets crazier, it even makes Phnom Penh seem like a small village on a Sunday morning, not only is the traffic coming from the front it is also coming from both sides and the usual stuff coming from behind. I think though most locals see the crazied wild look in my eyes and give me a bit more room. You know the look I’m talking about, animals do it when they are shit scared. The whites of my eyes are showing and their heads swing from left to right.
I had breached the interior of HCM in no time at all, and soon became lost in the streets, it is always hard to judge distance in a big city, the maps are really not that good, I ended up stopping at a crossroads to get my bearing and a lady came up and asked where I was heading to, after I found the area she said it was another 12km down the road, back on the bike and into the traffic, I was passing cars, motorbikes and trucks as I headed deeper into the madness. Who’s madness you ask, I think a bit of mine and a bit of HCM’s.
I had purchased a face mask as well as my bandana to help to stop some of the fumes, as we hit more and more lights I thought I must be getting close, all the bikes stop in front of the lights so you cant tell when they turn green the only way you know when to go is when the engines start to rev up behind you and the horns start to blare. This of course does not mean that the traffic going across has stopped people are still running the lights, some get it all wrong and end up right in the middle of the traffic this is when it really gets crazy and bikes and cars swing to the left and right to miss the bike that is moving across the flow of traffic. I myself pushed the lights a bit too much and only just made in across a few times.
By the time I made it to the fairly tranquil traffic around Pham Ngu Lao I was ready for a break and a sit down, I had made it by 11am which was pretty good time considering the traffic. I found a guesthouse and settled in, then went out first in search of food and then to find some books to read, I had finished my last book at the border so was very keen to pick up a couple more.
I found some books and spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the streets much to the amusement of the local motorbike taxies, why would I want to walk when I could take a bike, pretty much because I had just spent the last 4 hours on a bike, thank you very much. I also booked myself a trip out to the Cu Chi tunnels for tomorrow, will be interesting to see.
These tunnels were used by the Viet Cong to live, it was whole towns living under ground, the tunnels used to go under an America base. 1.3m high and .6m wide, little bit too cramped for my liking but it will be interesting to see non the less.

Easy rider, super glue and a bridge

Well I was up and off by 5:30am, an’t you proud of me, say it, say it, good, headed for the river, had to catch a boat over the Mekong, got lost once on the way there, got my ticket and then joined the throng of people waiting, as the boat drew in close you could feel the anticipation of the crowd, all eager to get the optimal position on the boat, engines revving, choking smoke and then we made our way slowly onto the boat, after the anticipation of the wait it was a bit of a anti climax. Can’t have everything by the seat of my pants can I.
30km then breakfast, the road once I had left the town are all being redeveloped so it was a case of going from duel lane to single lane to less than single lane for the whole 30kms, luckily there was more duel lane than the other two so not so bad, made good time, and just cruised along. Found a little food stop for breakfast which good.
After breakfast pulled my glasses out of my bag and found they had broken, now I had got these in Malaysia so they had done well to survive this long, I had had to fix one of the nose pads before now but that was still holding sweet. Superglue, brought in Malaysia to fix the glasses last time they broke, I have also used it to fix my denture when I broke a tooth, still holding, has fixed a couple of things on my bike as well, still holding, so got into my bag and glued my glasses back together waited a couple of minutes then through them on and off I went, and there still holding.
Had to go over this pretty big bridge, might be a little bigger than the Auckland harbor bridge, took the walking track as thought I would stop in the middle and do some photo’s as you can see I did, everyone else on their motorbikes stops up there as well, I did not think you were allowed to do that but it seems in Asia you are, there was a guy up there telling everyone to move on if they had been there for more than 10 minutes. The Australians helped to build the bridge which I thought was nice of them till I got down the other side and found the toll booths, nice one Aussie. Saying that it is more likely the Vietnamese government making money.
The rest of the ride was not really that interesting, made it to My Tho and after a few wrong turns found the area I wanted, found another big bridge here as well which is not on the map, if I had know about this bridge I could have save about 20km of riding, o well I will know for next time. Ha next time…
Have decided I need a horn or something that makes a bit of noise to scare people when they pull out in front of me, so far I have wire and a switch, I just want a 6v horn so I can use a small battery, but am having a bit of trouble finding one, and making myself understood as well, well really that is the real problem it’s the communication that seems to be a problem, I am hoping to have a bit more luck on my way into Ho Chi Min City tomorrow. Then I’ll show them.

Floating market and food glorious food

Early rise this morning, up at 5.30am then off to the boat for the morning market, I grabbed some yogurt and had some fruit from the night before for 1st breakfast, it is a pleasure being able to eat normally again, now my last few pages in Cambodia sounded like I was getting a bit sick of riding and at the time I was, I think it did not help that I had not been feeling that great for a time and I not really sure Cambodia was for me. It also may have been that 3000km barrier that has been holding me back. Let’s just say there were a few things that were bringing the riding down.
Since crossing the border, passing that 3000km mark and my health improving I am feeling ready to go again, I have been working out my path so I do no more than 100km in a day, now I realize this might have to change but not for a while, it will take me longer to get places but I won’t be getting as tired and so hopefully energy will be a bit higher.
Anyway back to the floating market, meet my lady who was going to be taking me on my journey to the floating market then for a trip through the cannels, we jumped in our little boat and off we went, at about 5km an hour, ok so this was not going to be a race then. I sat back and just enjoyed the sunrise, the yogurt and fruit really could life be better than this. As the sun made it’s sleepy way over the horizon we had done about ½ a km, boats full of tourists were screaming up and down the river and my little boat just chugged along.
As the sun cleared its way over the horizon mainly because it got sick of waiting for us to get to the market we still chugged on, by the time we got to the market it was starting to warm up quite a bit, even on the river I could feel it was going to be a hot day. This market is not your small scale market, it was more you whole sale market, the scales were not in 1,2,3 kilos but 10,20,30 kilos. Large boats had one or two things to sell, the smaller boats would come in and buy 20-30 kilos of said produce and then off to another boat for something different.
Me and my driver swung in past these boats while I snapped away on the camera, it was more people spotting for me, the back bone of the country at work, these are the people that break their backs in hard labor to keep fresh fruit and Vege at the markets. With the sun position in the sky it made nice shadows on the faces around me, the only problem was I had to be quick with the photos as the flow of the water pushed us along quickly.
We had just about made it to the other end of the market when the lovely lady offered to let me have a go at paddling the boat, silly women, of cause I would have a go, the only problem is, is it is all backwards to normal rowing, so lets just say it took me a bit to get used to it, Paddle right move right, paddle left move left, long strokes are best, watch out for the boat, ok don’t watch out just crash into them sorry learner rower here, were did I put those L plates. Alright got it now, only took a couple of minutes, had my photo done as well, you will have already seen them of cause because there up on facebook. Paddle back up river then my driver nice said she would take over. You ever see a Asian turn White I have, no I was pretty good for my first time.
We wandered back through the market, the other tourist boats that had been screaming up past us earlier don’t come right into the market, they stay out on the edge of it, so they may have paid less but I think I got a pretty good deal. We headed off down some cannels on the way back, people were washing the dishes in the river and all other manner of things, large boats full of sand even plow the smaller cannels and we came across a couple on our little trip. One of them crashed in to a bridge, not really that bad buy it did break a cover on the back of the boat, we managed to squeeze passed him.
It was a nice enough day and my lady was really nice even though she could only speak a little English, after the boat trip I went and had breakfast, that’s right second breakfast, my appetite is back, Harold my intestinal worm must be feeling better to, so I had a banana shake and some bread with jam, then went back to the hotel, on the way back, the local restaurant were preparing a beef for the spit roaster so I knew where I was going to be having dinner. I picked up the laptop at the hotel and headed out for lunch, see you were thinking bread and jam was not much well I was eating lunch 1 hour after second breakfast, and that was noodles with Shrimp and squid, then a banana pancake, then after lunch I went out and brought some more fruit and had that then 2 hours after this I had beef soup, then another pancake and two yogurts, and I finally felt full. So my day was just eating.
I had also decided that I would get back into the 5:30am on the bike and riding mornings, it gets a bit too hot here in Vietnam to be riding much after lunch. It also means I have more time exploring the cities. And finding my way around when I get lost.

A lecture and a few Km

Well I tried with the letter style of writing, I am in Nam, don’t think it would work for everyday, but you have to try these things. I had looked at the map and thought I only had 70km to ride today, sweet an easy ride, the city was madness, you really have to watch in every direction at one here, nearly crashed this morning because I was looking around and a dog ran out in front of me, locked up both wheels, did manage to miss it though.
After biking for 7km I was still in the city but made a left turn north, onto what I thought was 30km straight road, it would turn out to be 57km of straight road, dead straight, not even a hint of a turn, few small rises but that was just over bridges. After finally leaving the city and being on open road I had a guy come up besides me and start to have a chat, we must have talked for about 20km riding side by side, have to say here his speedo was showing 30km/h the whole time. His name was Thi and he invited me to stop in at his parents restaurant which was at a cross road I would hit further along. Sounded like a good idea and that would be my lunch break and then I would only have 50km that after noon.
I pulled into the restaurant at 11am, thought I would stop for 1 hour and the head on to Cam Tho, I meet up with Thi again and ordered some food, I have to say it was really really good, the flavors’ of the food were sublime, it makes my mouth water now just thinking about it now. I chatted with Thi for a while, he is a interesting young fello, they really all do look to the west as being the big shining light in the sky.
I did not ruin it for him and told him at home I have three cars and two houses with 6 wifes, who all have their own cars and I have a TV screen that makes a truck look small. No I would not do that, told him the only thing I own is sitting in front of him, my bike and trailer. When I decided to leave his dad came out and asked me if I knew anything about Vietnams history, he said if I come to the country I should know what has happened. For some reason I think he wanted to have a rave at a westerner. I however do have a little knowledge, yes just a little.
I think really he is still pissed at the Americans for what they did to the people of the south at the end of the war, I think he may have been one who was persecuted by the north Vietnamese after the Americans pulled out and left the south high and dry, good one America. Lucky I was leaving he seemed pretty heated up about it. I give him his due though, if what I have read about happened to him he has a lot to be bitter about. It has made me slightly more interested to check out the war museum in Ho Chi Min City. Have to point out here lots of locals still call Ho Chi Min City, Saigon.
The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful, I did get into a argument with some guy how was trying to charge me a over the top price for a toilet that he did not even own. It was a bit funny really, I nipped in to us a loo at a gas station and when I came out this guy asked for money, now if he had gone lower then what he said he might have been lucky but he wanted to much. So I told him I was not going to pay that much, It was only over about 25cUS but still, I am no ATM.
After about 10 minutes of really getting know were because he could not speak much English and my Vietnamese is next to nothing, I suggested we find someone to translate he seem to think this was not such a good idea, especially when I started to walk towards the guys working at the garage, he thought it was time to let me go. At this point he went back to his job with his mates laughing at him.
I ended up down by the water front and found a hotel for the night, some guy when I arrived tried to push a whole day site seeing trip on me, he got the cold shoulder very quickly as I was not really in the mood, I was hot, sweaty and tired and all I wanted was to get to a room and have a shower and relax before I went out for dinner.
I wondered toward the water front and started chatting with this lady there, there is a new bridge being built over part of the Mekong river, it looked really cool and I thought it would be nice to have a closer look, I did not realize she was a tout at the time, she went over and talked to this guy who just seemed to be walking passed with a group of locals, well lets just say they happened to be going out on a boat to see the bridge.
She asked me if I wanted to go and said it was for free, so you have to wonder now what she wants, so much suspicion. She touts for the floating market trip in the morning, we negotiated a cost for that, which with a little more haggling I could have got it cheaper but I was getting a free ride to have a look at the bridge so let her off. The bridge is pretty remarkable and I enjoyed my sunset run around the bridge. I think I have some nice photos of it. So I am now all booked in to see the floating Market in the morning, there is another one north of here and will see that tomorrow on my way towards My Tho my next port of call.

Letter home

Dear Dad and Mum
I was posted to the Border town of Ha Tien, we have strike out for Rach Gia and then further into the Mekong Delta. The locals of this small provincial towns are really friendly and have looked after me, they seem shocked to see me as I pass and are always yelling out hello. I have crowds gather when I stop to view my transport, In fact when I was poising by my bike someone asked me to move out the way so they could have a better look at the bike.
The terrain is mostly flat with a few small hills, after leaving Ha Tien my path hugged the coast line. On leaving Ha Tien I came across the locals up to their knees in mud on the mud flats at low tide, it seems hundreds head out to gather crabs. It looked liked colored spots through a dark brown land scape.
The road carried along the coast for some way till it took a turn in land, no hostiles here at all, I stopped for food in a small town of Kien Luong, the locals gathered around me to watch me eat, it is a strange sensation, I felt a little uncomfortable, not that I was threatened but more that I hoped I was eating with the correct ethics. Not sure if Ethics is the right word but you know what I mean.
I had thought Rach Gia was only 50km away but it was 95km away, by the time I got there with the late start and the hot day I was pretty tired. I found a good room just across from the local market, The colors and the people are amazing, already had a few local girls tell me they love me. I had had a break earlier in the days and was invited to sit down with some locals, I was told by one that I was a handsome man. Seems myself esteem and ego are getting a boost in Vietnam.
Once I was stationed and dug in for the night at Rach Gia, I headed out to find a map, the first shop I got directions to did not have the maps I wanted, a local girl offered to take me to another book shop that might have the maps I wanted, it ended up that the shop was across town so I rode her bike and she sat on the back it was a bit of a laugh, at one stage she asked me to slow down. We managed to get the book so I can work out the distances and the terrain I may encounter. Very sweet young lady.
I stopped for dinner at a café next door to my hotel, it seems cafes here don’t sell food, I was given a coffee drink, and then one of the girls went across the road and got me some food. You know how I don’t like coffee and I would have felt bad about sending it back, so the plant that was by me had a bit of a drink, hope it servives.
I think you would love this country, the people are amazing, I only hope it stays like this all the way north. I have about two months left of my tour of duty.
Hope all is well at home, Take care.
Love Steve

To Vietnam in a roundabout way

Washing found, outside of room some still wet, if they had given it back to me the night before as I asked it would have been dry, luckily nothing of importance was wet. Had some breakfast before I left still not sure how the stomach was doing. I had to ride about 25km to the border then into Vietnam and Ta Hein a town 6km from the border, easy ride.
The trip out of town was nice, overcast so it was pretty cool, the road was getting fixed up so it was an easy ride, I have to say I like Kep, no one hassles you or anything, they just get about their business and if you would like something you just have to ask, no constant nagging. This mornings ride to the border consists of a straight road, then a right turn then another right turn and straight to the border, sounds easy does it not.
I got the first right turn no problem, the next right turn was a whole other matter, to tell the truth never really found it, I realized this when I came across the town I had seen on the map and told myself I don’t want to go there, not because it’s not a nice town but because it is about 10km out of my way and a bit of a roundabout way to get to the crossing I wanted. Well that was a shame. Top up on some fluids and got directions, headed off and went straight passed the road I wanted again, turned around and stopped on the corner, it was heading in the direction I wanted, Ask a local time again, pointed down one road Vietnam reply Yes, pointed down the other road Vietnam reply Yes, great it was one of those that if I pointed up to the sky and said Vietnam I would have got yes. Took the road that was going south, bit of a dirt track, enough for 1 ½ cars, lots of traffic must be it.
Spent the next 10km on a dirt road with minivans bellowing smoke and dust everywhere, I wonder who is going to pay for my dry cleaning bill. Even with my directional mistake and the rough roads I still made it in good time and the repairs on the trailer worked as it was towing well.
After the 10km dirt road track I came across the road I should have been on, another dirt road, now you don’t really find the Cambodian border here you more just stumble across it, it dirt road, dirt road oops border, if you blink you could miss it. Got my passport stamped and got a photo done, 3000km people, 3000km how about that, who would have thought, I have ridden 3000km and have a few thousand to go.
After the dirt road of Cambodia, which was kind of a nice way to leave Cambodia for some reason, it just worked, it hit Tar seal and a big building on the Vietnamese side. Now it was a hot day and I did my health check and the guy asked for a US dollar and I just paid, did not really think about it till after I had done it, I have not have to pay for a health slip, brain just must have jumped out of gear. I found it funny really, and I think so did he because he gave me a big wave when I left, probably thinking stupid tourist, ha and he would have been right. The jokes on him, because I ticked no to everything, yet I have had headaches and diarrhea, that will show him, I think…
Off to Ha Tein, skip a jump and I was in town, found a bank so had some Dong(money) all was good, time to feed the machine and think about heading on east in to Vietnam, so I pulled into a hotel, plenty of time for Vietnam easy day today. I tried to find a map for Vietnam but that was not going to happen in Ha Tien, to tell the truth there was not really much here at all. My room was nice and the people who run it were friendly enough. So the tour of Nam had started.

Back to the mainland

Sleep, it would have been nice to have more especially after having to get up a few times in the night, but I was up early and ready to go, thanks stomach. I had packed my bag before anyone else had even gotten out of bed, I seem to feel better when I am doing something.
Was not really feeling up to breakfast so finished of reading my book, I will be without one till I can change them some time in Vietnam. By the time everyone else was up it was about time to go, because I was still not really feeling that great I headed off to the pickup point with my big bag, I wanted to be able to take my time and rest if I needed too. I made it to the bay and along came the two German girls, and then guess what, they said the boat was coming to pick us up from the other bay. Bugger.
They offered to take the big bag but I thought that would be wrong, the bag I am sure is getting heavier and weighs a ton. We headed back over to the other side, and yep you guessed it the boat was going to pick us up from the bay I had just come back from, well slap me with a 4x4 but buggered if I was going to carry my bag back the other way. Well lucky for me the guy who was arranging the boats sent one of his minions to carry my bag which I was very pleased about.
Got soaked on the boat ride back but not as wet as the others on the boat who were up front of me, I parted company with the group back on the mainland, they were a nice bunch of people, and were heading back to Kampot. I stopped for the night in Kep. Kep I have to say is a lovely place, it could be a really great place with just a little more development, just as long as they do not over do it.
The guesthouse I stopped in was a bit over priced but the spaghetti bolognaise was pretty dam good and my bed was really comfortable. I had got them to do some washing for me and with the day how it was I thought it would be dry, when I asked later on that night it was still wet, so I asked if I could get it back, I was going to just hang what I needed up in my room to dry, but by the time 9:30 came around it had not arrived so I just went to bed, I would deal with it in the morning.

When stomachs go bad

My stomach has not really settled down and although I do have days were it seems better, today was not one of those days. When I woke up it was to the rumble of my stomach I headed for the loo and that’s when my day went downhill. It was all over in a couple of seconds but the way my gut was I knew it was not be the last time I would be in here today. We had the boat trip that afternoon too, was not looking forward to that.
Because I was up early and did not want to wake klous I headed to the beach front to look out on the world, the wind had only let up a bit so there was a bit of surf breaking on the shore. I always find this sound very calming, I sat at one of the sun beds that was catching the morning light and let the sun warm my back as the wind blew into my front. Besides my arse it was going to be a nice day. Breakfast was steamed rice and an egg. Yummy. That was lunch too.
The idea was to come out for one night then head back to the mainland at four, I was going to stay in Kep and they were going back to Kampot for the night then back to Phnom Penh. Besides Klous who was retired the rest were all teaching English in Phnom Penh. $14 an hour US. That’s if you want a job teaching English.
After so discussion it was decided that 3 were going back and the rest of us were going to stay one more night. The three who were leaving headed off, Klous, The Cambodian Guy who I had not really talked to as he got in a mood with one of the German girls he goes out with and the got drunk on rice wine and passed out and the German girl. I kind of felt that we would be seeing the German girl again as she did not really want to go.
About 40 minutes later the German girl showed up without her boy friend, looks like that relationship is going to last, NOT. Anyway not that I really cared I was having an intermit relationship with the toilet, we really got to know each other well. I did manage to go for a swim and by the end of the day was feeling a little better, I was feeling as though I had a bit more control. That night after a nice enough sunset I had a meal of Grilled Fish with steamed rice, yummy. Well the fish was nice.

Island and wind

The morning arrived by Moto and I meet up with Jelle for breakfast he was heading towards Thailand and then home and I was off towards Nam, after breakfast we headed our separate ways, I stopped at a bank as money needed to be replenished from the hole in the wall, I have been thinking lately that I could give up the bike easily and just carry on backpacking my way across the countries, it would save a lot of money and would mean I maybe could complete my whole trip, at the moment it looks like I will run out of money before then end.
As I cycled out of town I realized just how good it is on a bike, the people of these countries remind me why it is such a good way to travel around, I got a lot of hello’s on the way out of town and people yelling to friends as I rode passed (they probably saying look at the freak everyone) but it does make a journey. When I was heading out of town I caught up to a Moto with a big trailer full of people, I popped in behind and slipstreamed for a bit, I was greeted with smiling faces, ok some of them where tooth less but they still smiled and there was waving and laughter as well, it really does make the day.
The 27km took less than an hour to ride and I arrived at Kep, for a start when you head into Kep there does not really seem to be too much, it is as you head to the shore and cruise the road along beside the see that you know why the French made this a holiday spot when they governed Cambodia. The are many ruined villas along the coast road, some have become homes for the locals. The architecture is pretty marvelous and places show a lot of forward thinking in their design.
I had had a look at the local map and found there was a wharf so slowly made my way towards there, I had a heap of time, so took a slow ride along the coast. It was nice to have the sea breeze and the smell of salt and all the other smells of the sea again, it felt like I had been away from the sea for too long. There is something about the sound of waves crashing against the shore and the smell of the sea I really enjoy.
I arrived at the wharf and pulled into the restaurant there, it was owned by the same people that own the guesthouse where I had stayed the night before. It was breakfast time so I sat down and eat. I contemplated my trailer on my bike, you ask yourself why, well on the way out to Kep I had noticed that the trailer felt like it was dragging behind the bike rather the gliding along as it has done in the past.
I knew it was not sitting flat anymore and thought this might be the problem, I was trying to figure out the best way to fix it, to see if I could get it running true again. After I hard feed I took to the trailers front end, the bars at the front were no longer sitting even so the first step was to sort that out, with a little help from the builder across the way I managed to get it all to pieces and started to knock a few things back into place so the front arms would be more level. I spent maybe 45 minutes doing this and then tested it to see how it sat behind the bike. By this time I had a crowd watching, most of them probably had more idea then me I what I should be doing but because they could not speak English they just stood and watched.
After I had tested it, it was still wrong, the trailer was more flatter then before but the back wheel was still off centre, then, you know how you can look at something and for the life of you can’t work out what is wrong, then you have a little step back from the project and it hits you, well this is what happened to me, I realized the back wheel was out of shape, the bars had been bent across, this would have happened in the van ride.
I got one of the crowd that was still hanging around to hold the front of the trailer down while I bent the bars at the back into place. New rule for trailer, when someone is tying trailer to a van make sure they don’t tie rope to the back wheel it is not strong enough to take the weight. So not the trailer is running more or less straight. Once I was finished with the trailer I sat back down and had lunch and waited for the group to arrive.
After reading my book for a couple of hours I was going to give them another 30 minutes which would make it 3pm, if they had not arrived by then I would find a guest house for the night and head off to Vietnam the next day. About 10 minutes after I had decided this they turned up. So there would be 3 Germans, 2 girls one guy, an English couple and a Cambodia guy who was going out with one of the Germans and me.
As we sorted the ticket for the island I locked the bike up beside the restaurant, the guy who manages the restaurant said it would be safe so I just went with it and hoped it would be, it was kind of out in the open a bit. We jumped on the boat and headed for the island, now these boats are long and have very low sides, when the sea is choppy you get soaked to the skin, so this is how we arrived at the island like a bunch of drowned rats. I did notice that the driver and the other crew man sit right at the front or right at the back and stay dry. The swines.
Once on the island we headed off towards were the bungalows where, Klous the German Guy who was mid sixties lead the way as he was here only a few weeks ago. At the bungalow me a Klous decided to share a bungalow because otherwise someone would have had to stay at another place. After I dropped my stuff in the room I headed straight for the sea, it was so good to be back in the water, it was not a deep bay but I ended up swimming around for about an hour or so. The water was lovely and warm, the only thing that was not so good was the fact that the wind was blowing straight into the bay.
I did manage to do a bit of body surfing though which was good fun. After the swim I headed for a shower which was just a bucket of water, I really like the back to basic stuff, the bungalow were a Bamboo flax construction, that sat about 3 foot off the ground and had a hammock out the front and two single beds with mossie nets in side. The bathroom was again Bamboo and flax construction but with a concrete floor.
After my shower I went back to the bar for dinner, ordered the food straight away as we were on island time now so it would take a while. I chatted with the others while my food was prepared. We had some music playing so it was a nice evening, a bit later on the younger ones of the group headed off to smoke some weed so I headed off to bed, old man I know.
The weather blow into a storm that night with heavy rain and high winds lucky for me my bungalow was protected by the others so it did not seem that bad, the huts hold up to the weather really well.

Disappointment and biking around

Meet up with Jelle last night and had dinner, we discussed headed up to Bokor Hill station and taking the bikes if we can get up there, it’s a 1000m drop along a dirt road, there is also a old abandoned Casino, water falls and a Buddhist temple to visit. After we had a dinner we headed over to a bar that looked good, we had a chat with an English expat who owned the bar and were told the news that you could not go up the hill, it seems they have sold the national park off to the Russians and they are redeveloping the area.
There is to be a new Casino and a golf course, the road is being widened and this is why no one is aloud up there, so plans were a bit ruined. So do I stay or do I go. I decided to stay for one more day. Before I woofle on about the next day I have to tell you about the chocolate brownie, Now we have all been travelling and you miss things when your away, like a nice roast lamb or things like that, every now and then you do find things that you really like, in my case Chocolate brownies, now you have to have them with cream or ice cream, brownies by themselves are always wanting.
So far in my travels I have tried a few chocolate brownies around the place and they really have not been up to standard, I found the perfect chocolate brownie in Kampot. It stood just over a inch and a half high and maybe 3 by 3 inches, warmed and moist all the way through with some large dollops of Vanilla Ice cream on top. I have to say it was a bowl of heaven. If I had not had so much dinner I would have had two helpings.
The next day I meet up with Jelle again and we went for a ride around Kampot, I ride took us through the back streets and towards the sea, we went passed these houses built on stilts sitting out over the river I have to wonder what happens when the river rises as some were only a foot above the water, our little foray came to an end when we hit a cannel, a local guy stopped on the other side and pointed down the cannel to where it was only thigh deep, but by the looks of the water we decided that this was not the best course of action and retreated back towards town.
After the disappointment of not being able to reach the see we headed across the three bridges bridge, now let me explain this, during the Vietnam war, the Americans bombed the bridge twice, so one section is a concrete section one metal and then a different concrete section. It made for a very interesting bridge, of cause now they have a brand new bridge up river a bit.
We rode around on the far side of the bridge for a hour or so then headed back, we decided to meet up later on for dinner again. We went back to the bar with the chocolate brownies and had dinner there, Jelle meet up with a guy he had meet in Siam Reap so we sat down with the group he was in. Jelle’s friend recommended the BBQ Spare ribs so that is what I had and these were also very good, the only problem was when I went to order the Chocolate brownie again Jelle had beaten me to it and got the last piece, as you can imagine I was disappointed. I had to console myself with a big bowl of Ice cream.
I had chatted with the people around me and when they headed off they invited me to come out to Rabbit Island with them the next day as it is just off the coast from Kep my next destination, it sounded like a good idea, the only thing was I had forgot to ask where and when I would meet them. O well tomorrow would tell if I caught up with them again.

Biking out, then a Van ride

Had the worst sleep ever last night, it was bloody horrible, first could not get to sleep then kept waking up all night, lucky no dreaming, at least my stomach was a bit more settled. I was up at 5.30am one of those mornings were you wake up before your alarm and then just before it goes off you fall into a deep sleep. Motivation Zero. Dragged myself out of bed and packed, then out to put the trailer and bike back together before hitting the road.
For 6am in the morning there was a lot of traffic on the road, had had the map out earlier for a look so knew basically were I had to go. Joined the traffic and off, worked my way through the city till I hit the main road out, Now remember I had left only a few minutes after 6am. I had my mouth and nose covered as the amount of car pollution is incredible. I think this was a reason I was feeling a bit sick.
Threaded my way through the traffic, Bangkok has nothing on Phnom Penh, lots more bikes then cars here but there is even less road rules. I inched my way out of town. Not Phnom Penh has the same problem with signs as you find on the open road, I came to a sign saying State Highway three off to my Left, about 5km further down the road I had still not found the road, it was not till I had done about 10km and I only know this from the map that I finally found the Left hand turn onto Highway three.
Once I had found Highway three I was not even sure it was the right road I had to ask someone to be sure, Highway three makes the road into Phnom Penh from the north look like a main Highway, Highway three consists of what would be a single lane road with a dirt verge on each side. The road has more bumps then it does flat bits, I have ridden mountain bike tracks smoother then this road, in the end I just rode on the dirt track on the side of the road because it was smoother and a bit safer.
Now I had a bit of a head ache that I think was caused by all the car fumes, My stomach also let me know it was still there as well, I carried on out of town form about 47 km, I only know this because I had just passed a sign when I decided it was time to catch a Minivan ride, I signaled one to pull over and with, thank the heavens for this guy who could speak English negotiated a ride to Kampot. $4 for about 100km.
We loaded up the bike and me up front and headed off, I was going to have to change vans but the driver of mine would sort that out, all I had to do was pay my $4 at the end. There was a few of us in the van as we headed off. On the way to the changeover we came across a crash between two of these vans and I thought maybe its not such a good idea being in the front.
When we finally made it to the change over, my bike was dragged off the back of one Minivan and taken down to another, I watched my bike being taken away while I tried to keep an eye on bike and trailer, it ended up they both made it to the same place and were tied to the back of the van, It did not really look that safe but what was I supposed to do.
I still had a headache and was in the back of the van with very loud high pitched music blarring out of the speakers, plus because the back door was open the dust from the road poured into the back of the van, at more than one point I was considering getting out and riding. The road progressively got worse, till even the gravel roads in New Zealand looked better then what we were driving on. They really have shocking roads.
When I finally made it to Kampot we were listening to remixes of EMINEM with Cambodian voice over, if I did not have my headache it might have been funny. I am here now and settled into my room after moving from another one because the roof leaked when it rained. Will be catching up with Ellea later on, then will see if I head to Kep tomorrow or stay around Kampot for another day.

Market, Visa and Nothing but reading

The Market, we being the Dutch pair and Myself were off to what is called the Russian Market, not really sure why it is call the Russian Market but it is, We meet up for breakfast and it was decide that we would take bikes out to the market it was only about 3-5 km away so not too far. Nienke hired a bike from the guest house and we headed off, I really love the roads here the traffic is so much fun in this city, I have heard that Ho Chi Min is more crazy so I am going to have to pass through the city on my way north. Anyway back to the story at hand. We went to the market.
Like most markets in Asia they sell everything, from angle grinders to little trinkets. When we got there we headed for a drink as it was a late start and the temperature was getting up again, it did however look like rain. While we were sitting down Ellea the Dutch Guy did not look good, he went a greenish color and started sweating profusely. We kept an eye on him and after 15 minutes or so he settled back down. Not sure what it was about.
After this little episode we headed into the market, Ellea and Nienke were out for shopping and I was just there to have a look, I think I lost them about 4-5 times as they slipped into these small shops to try and strike a bargin, haggling the locals over 25cents to get that right price. I have to say after 2 hours I was ready for off, one thing I did buy was fruit, it is one of the best things I have found in Asia is how cheap the fresh fruit is.
After the market we headed back and I did some emails and had a chat with Treve from Work, well done for getting Skype up and running, if you would like to Skype me I come under stevethecyco (thanks Norm) times can be arranged through email.
15-16th not much really happened, I went and got a two month VISA for Nam, read my book and hid in a Air con café for a few hours, my stomach was still not right so would be here for a couple more days, caught up with Nienke and Ellea that night so we headed into town as Nienke is off to Vietnam to start a 3 week tour of duty there. Had a pretty good pasta dish and a pizza which I have to say was fantastic.
I head south on the 17th, have not heard from the Germans so will be carrying on south on my own, it is about 2000km from one end of Vietnam to the other but I think a train will be used over some of it. I am really looking forward to Nam, I have been told lots of good things.
So just a quick mileage to date.
Singapore 52km
Malaysia 849
Thailand 948
Loa 528
Cambodia 585
Total to date 2962
So by the time I rock over into Vietnam I will have hit the 3000km, I have to say it has been getting harder not easier for some reason, Maybe I have hit a plateau and the 3000km mark will be the beginning of renewed enthusiasm.

The killing fields and S-21

Pol pots killing fielding’s and his sanctioned torture chamber were on the cards today. I had had a crap nights sleep due to stomach problem, my breakfast from the day before had caught up with me and so had not had that much sleep, but I wanted to see the Killing fields and S-21 Museum. I heard a couple on another table talking about going so I invited myself into their little group.
So we had me, Cory a loud American, what a surprise there and Anika for Holland, Cory nearly had a argument with the owner of the hotel of the price of a Moto for the day. The American was not listening to what the guy was saying, So both me and Anika were cringing by the time he had finished and I was thinking what have I got myself into.
We headed off to the Museum first and a video about the lives of people who lived or for some did not live through the ordeal. It was interesting but on a arse pain scale it was not that gripping. Arse pain scale being how long it takes for my arse to start hurting from sitting down for too long. I felt sorry for the people who had to live through this and realized that I had meet people who had lived through it. It is kinda weird to think that it really was not that long ago, and that they were still fighting the last time I was in Thailand 12 years ago.
After the movie I just wondered through the cells and the torture chambers, photographed some of them, I did wonder if it was morally right to photograph such things, but then of cause it is, like world war one and two, we should remember these things so hopefully they won’t happen again, that’s right it is still happening, thanks again America. Will the human race ever learn to put aside our differences and get along. I wonder when seeing things like S-21 if we ever will. And yes I can hardly get on my High horse as yes I have felt that some people are stupid and should not be in charge, or put themselves in a position where there are not getting all they want, but I don’t think that’s a good enough reason to wipe them off the face of the earth.
I did realize that I would have been one of the people in the graves as I don’t think I could have just stood by and watched it happen, but of cause you never know till you are in that position. I wondered through and finished looking around I had been there for a good couple of hours so I had seen most things and read a lot of the stories. I think the thing I found most interesting was the map that showed all the torture prisons and the fields were people were buried, there were a lot.
I had finished looking around and headed back to the moto, I brought me and the driver a drink and sat and chatted to him while I waited for the American and the Dutch girl. Once they arrived we headed out to the killing fields, now the first thing that you see is a massive pagoda filled with skulls, 9000 in all, it is eye opening to have it put in front of you.
I think what stood out for me most was the cloths of the people that were stripped off them, cloths still stuck in the ground around the sunken holes where people were buried, once away from the pagoda you see a few bones in storage type places but you don’t see any in the ground or anything, so really if you took away the clothes sticking out the ground it’s just a field with holes. The killing fields done really show the injustice that was done there. Now this is just my view, other people I am sure would feel differently.
Once we had finished with at the killing fields which I would like to point out is owned by the japans which is something I don’t think they should have done we headed to the Palace, which I have to say is crap, and that’s all I will say about it, will maybe a bit more $6US for crap.
Later on that night caught up again with the dutch girl, by this time I was glad not to see the American. She introduced me to a Dutch guy who is riding around Asia who she had meet in Lao, so we sat down and had a chat, he had started in North Thailand and then Lao and Cambodia, after this he is back to Bangkok and then off home after 9 months of travel. It was interesting talking to him as he has had some of the same experiences as me.
So that was my day at the killing fields. Eye opening, horrific and Bazaar that people can still do that to each other.

The road to Phnom Penh

I have been told the road to Phnom Penh was bad by a few people, have to say besides being a narrow road it was not too bad. I had had a good start to the day and was making good time towards Phnom Penh, the traffic was not too bad.
I had stopped for breakfast and had a bit of a dodgy meal, my stomach was doing a bit of rumbling and at the time I thought it did not sound good. The bacteria of my stomach it seems were fighting for survival and it was a battle they hopefully would win. So with my stomach gurgling I battled on, 75km to easy. As I neared the 40km to go mark the road got busy and narrow.
There was only a little dirt path down the outside for me to escape on to and this was used a few times. Now here in Cambodia there seems to be a beeping of the horn rules. One beep is I am coming through, two beeps is I am coming through get out of my way now, three beeps is this is going to be really close if you don’t move now, and four beeps is the last thing you hear before the impact. One other thing is never look behind you and you could see how close death is.
So with the roads busy and dusty and the crazy driving I edged closer to Phnom Penh, I had stopped counting the close calls where the cars were ½ a foot away and I was just counting the ones were my arm hairs got brushed by the cars, bikes and trucks as they went passed. I stopped a couple of times to have a drink and escape the madness. Who needs adrenaline sports just ride on a bike into Phnom Penh.
With only 10km to go the traffic had come to a stop as they were doing some road works up ahead somewhere, if you were on a bus it would have been quicker walking into Phnom Penh I am sure, lucky for me and the bike we weren’t and headed down the outside of all the cars into Phnom Penh.
I eased over the friend ship bridge just before lunch which I thought was perfect timing. The roads were crazy as in most Asian cities, the rules for city riding are never look behind you, once you decide to move across the traffic keep going at the same speed. If you hesitate or slow your speed this is where problems happen, you become unpredictable and this gets you in trouble.
I easily negotiated the traffic like I had lived here all my life, NO FEAR, I am sure one day I will push my luck and get hit but will worry about it when it happens. I am pretty impressed that the trailer has not been hit, I keep meaning to buy a new bright flag for it like the one I lost so long ago in Malaysia but just have not got around to it yet.
Phnom Penh is a crazy place and there are less road rules here than anywhere I have ridden before, cars, bikes and moto’s run red lights all the time and if there are no lights you just have to edge out into the traffic and hope it stops as you shoot across. It’s good fun. Yep it is confirmed I am crazy.
I found my guest house after a few looks at the map, got told to move on by a cop at one point when I had stopped at the side of the road, there were no signs to say I could not but I am not one to cause trouble with the police, will leave that to my sister to do.. Found out later the President of Thailand was in town and would be passing through at some point.
Made it to the Guesthouse with no real problems and have settled in for a few days, have not heard from the Germans yet, but hope to soon, if I have not heard from them by Monday evening will head off south anyway.

Rice paddy fields and a storm

90km was on the cards, up earlyish and off, the Cambodians I have found are up really early, by the time I get on the road at 6am they are up and about. Headed off out of Kampong Thom towards Skun, not a big ride today so I relaxed into it and just took my time, the land since Siam Reap is pretty flat with vast expanses of rice paddy fields.
In Malaysia and Thailand the rice fields were all machine plowed and planted, here in Cambodia it is still done with Ox and cows towing the plows, and the men and women planting out the rice, and this is where my story begins, I was passing the miles away when I came across what I thought would be a good picture, A guy was dropping bundles of Rice storks out ready for planting. The green storks in the muddy brown water mad for a interesting picture, so too did the women planting.
I pulled over off the road and pulled out the camera, which is have issues at the moment, and started to take some snaps, then one of the ladies looked up at me and she kind of signaled that I should come and help, well what the hell, I don’t think she thought I would actually do it, I had a quick check of the time, yep had made good progress, shoes off, gloves and hat off and over I went, much to their amusement.
Waded through the water and mud and was promptly handed a bundle of rice storks, with a bit of instruction I was off and planting. My skills at planting were no match for theirs but I gave it a good go. In the time it took me to do 3 square feet they had done near 10 I would say. Just as we were finishing the row, one of the ladies found a crab in the mud.
Now I have never been a fan of crabs, they always get you on the soft parts of your feet and hands, if I had know there were crabs I probably would have been a bit more selective on where I placed my feet and hands, saying this of cause, like in the sea you only know there their when they nip you.
After we had finished off the row, will after they had finished off the row it was smoko time so I took my leave of the ladies in the mud and clambered back on the bike and hit the road again, as continued the ride I noticed I was being chased by some big black clouds and from the looks of them they were gathering speed.
I eased into Skun knowing I had beaten mother nature and made it there before the rain hit. I had just found a place for the night when mother nature showed her displeasure at my thwarting her, and she was pretty peeved I think. In fact I would say she through down a Minnie tornado. There was a building site across the way and for a start the metal roof was getting ripped one way then all of a sudden it was getting ripped the other way. Metal in the end gave way to the force of the wind so we had sheets of roof flying into the street.
The rain the whole time was thundering down and sweeping straight into the back of the hotel causing a flood which the staff were trying to contain with minimal results. It was all over in maybe 40 minutes but it had managed to wreak a roof and flood more than a few business and the next morning as I rode out of town it had ripped down a few trees to I noticed.
Skun is a place easily passed and will there is not really much there two main streets and that’s it. It is supposed to have tarantulas but I never saw one.

So long Angkor Wat and a story about a Camry

Was up early and the owner of the hotel asked me to come back for a free breakfast, not one to pass up the free breakfast I said yes, so headed out to Angkor Wat, wanted a photo of me and my bike and trailer in front of the Great Wat, and I got it to. It is a shame the sunrise rubbish, it was cloudy so there was not much of one, but I got my picture so I was happy.
Headed back to the hotel and had breakfast and then headed off, I thought for a second when I was leaving the owner was going to hug me, but no I missed out. Out on the road again and 147km to go, it was now about 10 to 7 so really had to get underway, at least with the cloud cover it was not going to be too hot for a while.
SO out on the road and heading through town, caught a tow with a truck as it slowly made it’s way through the thick traffic, had to let go a couple of times as the truck nearly ran me into a few people on the side of the road. After this had to use leg power for a bit, I had done maybe 20km and was going along pretty well when I came to a village and managed to catch another tow with another truck. This one was a lot longer and a lot faster, had to let go in the end as we made it onto the open road again.
I was having a good morning, I stopped at about 10.30am for second breakfast and then back on the road again, now this is where it got even better, I had done about 50km so was making good time, then a people mover type Moto came passed, it was going faster than me so I speed up and jumped into the slipstream, and this is how we stayed for the next 40km I managed to keep up, and it was great, I was able to rest a little, it all finally came to an end at the next town we came to, the whole Moto waved good bye to me which was sweet, then I carried on down the road a bit and stopped for water and a sweet drink.
After getting back on the road I had no tows for the next 10km then you would not believe it the Moto carrier came up beside me and the driver pointed at the bar at the side so tow it was, and I stayed like that for about 10km and then they stopped in the next town we came to, so it was turning out to be a good day. The rest of the trip to Kampang Thom was just hot and sweaty, my knee got a little sore at the end but it was at the end so I survived.
Now let’s get down to business, CAMRY’s, that’s right people Toyota camry’s there a classic car, built with water bed suspension and a ability to cruise at 110 forever. Now I am slightly byist as I owned one, but I was correct in buying one, because 2/3 of all cars on Cambodia’s roads are Toyota Camry’s that’s right I have done two counts now, one between the Cambodian border and Siam Reap and again today and 2/3 of cars are Camry’s. The other 1/3 is made up of Toyota landcrusiers and a smattering of everything else you can think of.
So 2/3 of Cambodian drivers can’t be wrong. Or Toyota dumped a boat load of Camry’s in Cambodia at sometime, O yes there is a Varity of years and models, so really that just points to a good car.

Wasted journey and the best massage yet

I had booked a moto to take me out to the lake to have a look around and see what it was like, got up had breakfast and then jumped in the moto for the ride to the lake, now my understanding was you could go right to the edge of the lake by road, should have asked more questions. Did not even get to the lake, did not even see the lake, the road ends about 10km from the lake and then you have to get a boat $20US for a couple of hours to go out to the lake. If I had been told this before I left I would not have wasted my time. I could have been on the road heading south. I had wasted an hour and $8, that’s nearly 3 meals, so as you would expect I was a bit pissed.
The moto drive tried to get me to go to some Wats for $5 extra but by now all I wanted to do was go back. When I got back the manager of the hotel said “O it must be under new management”. He did offer me free dinner to make up for it, which was nice enough, in the end I got both dinner and Breakfast free so cannot complain too much.
After this I went for a walk into town to relax a bit, earphones on music playing did not have to listen to the constant moto drivers trying to get work, calling out etc. Walking pasted a massage place and one of the girls asks if I would like massage and that sounded bloody good to me. Yep booked me a one hour massage.
Now as we walked in nothing was set up and there was no one else around, I was taken right through the building to the back, and yep I was wondering what I had got myself into. But after changing into there really bad top and pants the massage started, and it was good, very good. After I walked out all the stress of the morning was gone and the day was looking better.
I went and did a bit of shopping after this, needed some oil for my chain and a couple of other things. The negotiations were fun and we both had a laugh, I had a price I wanted to pay and got what I wanted but she tried to throw everything else in for more money, in the end we both left the negotiations happy.
After this it was lunch time and then spent the rest of the afternoon reading my book. I checked the my email to see if the Germans had emailed but no luck in that department so will try and meet up with them in Phnom Penh.

Lazy day, and More wats

The 7th what can I say about the 7th not much really, did bugger all, got up late about 7:30am why will my body not let me sleep in, had breakfast by 9:30am and then what the hell do I do with the rest of my day, I did need to get a new book, so had one thing to do, all you people at home doing your 8 till 5 jobs have forgotten how hard travel is. Made it into town about 11am to look for a new book, ended up getting two which means more weight in the bag, good one Steve. Saying that I was contemplating the other day if I could ride my bike and read at the same time so that would get through the books.
Had a look through the markets as well but could not find what I was looking for, cant tell you what it is either as that would spoil things. At about 2pm after some lunch came back to the guest house and read my book and that pretty much was the 7th taken care of.
The 8th came around after the 7th as it does, there is a building site right next to my window and so far they have been fairly quiet until this morning, I did notice yesterday that they had brought in a big crane so something was going to happen, and at 7am it all started. They are laying the foundations at the moment, they have these 5 meter long foundation posts that they are using a hydraulic ram to push into the ground. Lets just say it is a bit hard to sleep through.
Today was the day I was going to head out to the Roluos Wats, three to see, no bike, Moto this time. Moto’s are motorbikes with trailers. The wats are older than the ones at Angkor, and are more Hindu in nature, the and more run down. After negotiating a price with the Moto driver we headed off, out on the road that I will be riding out of in a few more days.
We arrived in good time and were meet by the kids trying to sell books and other things, and ladies yelling to buy a drink from them, of cause there is three or four of them yelling at the same time. It does get a bit frustrating when it is every single temple you go to. But I just walked pasted said no thank you and headed to the temples.
I made it to the third temple which was the best, and most interesting, the only problem was I had this kid who just would not leave me alone, probably because I was the only one there, bugger he was a pain in the arse, when I stopped to take photo’s he was beside me asking for money, yes I realize that these kids are poor and under privileged and yes they have a terrible life and good I’m a bastard but really I can’t help them all. I have donated books to an orphanage, I have brought over price coke, and heroin woops, no just the cans of coke and water off them. I cannot help everyone leave me alone, all I wanted was to walk around the temple and enjoy the afternoon and I could not.
Before I carry on what made these temple so different was they were definitely Hindu, the structures and drawing were so much like some of the temples I had seen in India. Shiva, Vishnu, Garnesh etc. So it would have been nice to spend more time.
Now I know what some of you are thinking, why did you not just give him so money to get rid of him, but do you do that with all of them because if you did around here it would be a short journey. So I got a few photo’s of the temple but did not give it the time it required. After this it was back in to the Moto and back to Angkor to look at a water wheel, not sure why we went there the driver just took me. It made for a pleasant ride back.
Once back in town I headed to get some gelato icecream, I needed something yummy. I have received an email from the germans cyclists so will hopefully meet up with them sometime tomorrow. They well be here for a few days and then they head to Phnom Penh by boat so hope to meet up with them in Phnom Penh and head south with them before I head into Vietnam, and they head towards Thailand. Also hope to meet up with Peter an Aussie living in Phnom Penh, he manages an orphanage there.
Tomorrow is the big lake for a few hours and the relax and get ready to head off south, 3 days 350km to Phnom Penh and everyone has said terrible roads. Will it will be a change because so far there pretty good. The sunset was very nice, it is now just dropping below the horizon, the sky is that beautiful golden color, have to say I think sunset and sunrise are the best time of day, the light is gorgeous, but that could be the photographer coming out in me. Well better think about food, and sleep…

26km of wats, and wats and wats

Today was the 3rd day of Wat spotting, they are really easy to find, you just follow the road and maybe a little bit of a walk and you will find a wat. At Angkor there are two tours that you can do the Little tour and the big tour, ones 17 and ones 26kms, it was my day for the big tour, I jumped on the bike and headed out around 9:30ish and after the check point managed to get in behind some motorcycle ricksaws and slip streamed them out towards the big circuit.
The weather was getting hotter and there was only a slight covering of clouds, My rickshaw buddies turned off towards the little circuit and left me with a 5km ride out to the first of a lot of wats. The first Wat of the day was Pre Rup, what is special about this wat it is where they cremated people, they had the area for burning them and a area for the ashes. I only found this out because a local guy who was waiting for his rich tourists, now I call them rich because not only did they have a Guide they had a car too. I am still sure it is as good as my bike, I mean how much fun can it be sitting in a air-conditioned car and just be driven from one Wat to the next and having some guide yammering on all the time. I got a bit of free education from there driver anyway.
I was off to the next Wat, have to say they are a lot alike these wats and after the four or fifth one the only thing that distinguishes them is how run down they are and how many trees have grown up through them. The ones I have liked the most is the ones that are the most over grown.
On I think it was the fourth or fifth temple I picked up a guide, he just started talking to me and then explaining the temple, I realized this was a move to get some money out of me, he was a cop also, so I let him woffle on about the temple and everything, some of it was interesting and some I just did not really take in, by the time we finished the circuit of the temple I was pretty glad to have rid of him, it cost a $1 US for maybe 40 minutes of woffle. Another guy stopped by me on the way out and asked how much I paid him, he said normally he would get $3 so I’m a stingy bugger then. I am riding a bike around if I had lots of money I would be in a Air con car with a guide.
By the time I got to Angkor Thom which I had already seen on the first day I was pretty tired, in fact with all the walking my legs were knackered and I was ready for lunch and a bit of relaxation, I headed off into town and picked up a sandwich from one of the local ladies, it was a Cambodian sandwich which I could only eat half of because my mouth had become an inferno and I had run out of water. Where I was sitting eating my sandwich I was just down the road from some cops who were pulling people over, they signaled for this car to pull over and I think the guy was going to make a run for it, but the cop just stood in the way, the guy in the car did not stop in time and hit the cop, not very hard but enough to get the police man in a bit of a bad mood. At this point I was trying to watch and not be seen.
They knew I was there though. The coppers got the guy out of the car and there was some pushing and shoving and then two more from the looks of things senior cops came alone, it was not looking good for this guy, I think the only reason they did not ruff him up more was because I was there as they kept looking my way. In the end one of the cops jumped in his car and drove off and this guy was left taking to someone on his telephone. As he was walking away the cops were following him, at this point I headed away as I had to find water to quench the fire in my mouth.
Temples seen in the three days so far,
Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm Kel, Phnom Bakheng, Baksei Chamkrong, South, North and West Gates Angkor Thom, Beng Thom, Bayon, Baphuon, Terrace of leper King, Phimeanakas, Thommanon, ok was going to write them all out but there is way too many, I have pretty much done them all except the Roluos Group which is on the cards for tomorrow. After this I will not be looking at another temple, unless there is something so Amazing that I just cannot pass by.

Angkor Wat for Sun rise and sunset

Early start this morning up at 5am to head out to Angkor Wat for sunrise it the thing to do, on the bike again, it’s really nice riding the bike without the trailer, took about 10 or so minutes to ride out there, I thought it would be packed with people hanging off the walls looking for the best shot. When I got there, there was no one there, there were the usual police and assistants but otherwise it was just me. I did stay on the outer edge of Angkor.
Right so people who have been here would know that around the outside of Angkor wat is a moat that goes around the whole thing, it has two bridges one to the west and one to the east, then it has a large wall with towers on it, then after you pass through this there is a walk way a couple of buildings and ponds to either side of the walkway then you come to the main temple.
Everyone goes and sits inside this inner ring with the main temple and takes photo’s, while I stayed on the outside with a view of the moat, outer wall and towers and the temple off in the distance. It was just me there, so I did a few photos, about 40 or so then as the sun got higher in the sky went into the temple proper and took some more. At the time what I did not pick up was my lens was pretty dirty. So out of about a 100 odd photos 50 of them are useless and the others I have had to do some photoshop work on. Note to self check the lens.
After the sun had risen over the back of Angkor wat, which I have to say with the clouds around was pretty good, not the best sunrise I have seen on the journey but still a worthy one. I wandered through the temple and eased dropped on some of the guides talking about the history of the temple, I wonder how much of what they say is out of the books the kids try and sell you, some I am sure are just about word for word.
I left the tour groups behind and worked my way through the temple and out the other side, so I had just gone from the West to east side, the sun on this side was perfect for a few photo’s and the colors were quite dramatic in some of them. I was all by myself, did not wanna be all by myself, no just kidding it makes for good photos when you don’t have 500 westerners in the back ground. I on purpose position myself to be in people photos, just so when they get back home they go who the hell was that guy. Just kidding.
After I had walked around for a good 1 ½ hours it was time to go back to bed, I spent the rest of the morning relaxing and reading my pop up book, those two or three sentences are hard work, so I managed to finish my book and now have to find another one. I did make it out in the afternoon to the local market to look for some chain oil, all they have here is WD40 which will have to do.
Later in the afternoon I headed back out to the wats to climb the hill to Ta Prohm Kel which every man and his elephant climb to watch the sunset, besides the monks doing a mantra as they walked around the temple and a crowd of locals following them there was really not much to talk about, the sun set was very undramatic, there was no flare of light the sky did not turn firey red or golden, the sun pretty much said later and that was it. The main road back was pretty cluttered on the way back so I jumped on one of the small roads that lead back into town.

Single track and some wats

Well for a those who mountain bike Angkor is a great place for single track riding, there are so many paths that cut away from the main tourist trails it’s fabulous. Jumped on one trail, before I go on I was riding with road tires, anyway I jumped on one trail wipping through some pretty slippery tracks, flat running most of it but because of the slicks on the bike and the fact that the area is clay type soil it made for a good ride at speed.
I had gone passed Angkor Wat before this, I have a 5 day pass so today was all about getting lost and having a good time doing it, I did look at some Wats but we will get to that later, so after a quick stop at Angkor which was packed with people, I randomly picked a direction and went, thank goodness my phone has a compass because I did manage to get myself lost. Not much sun direction in the trees.
Back on to what is important, the single track, after jumping off the main drag on to a dirt track, which weaved itself in and out of the trees, I popped out into a open area near a classroom full of kids, I did not want to disturb them to much so cruised on past with a quick wave and then I was gone again. After a few more corners I came across the elephants home, They have these rides for the tourists on elephant back through the Wats, have you noticed how I class myself as not a tourist, well I do the tourist things just not in the normal tourist way. I’m special people, very special. So after zipping passed the elephants I came across one of the little villages, the people doing the usual thing if there not working, I.e. lying in a hammock sleeping, these guys have the right idea.
At this stage I had kinda got myself turned around so had to pull out my phone and find north, yes and I forgot my map so most of the day I really had no clue where I was. North found I headed in that general direction and came across a road and a big gate way with a moat, so headed through then dragged the bike onto the wall, I did do a few photos, then it was off again, what I thought was a north direction but with a check of the phone was east.
So along the wall I went, this was a pretty big wall but did have single track running along it, heading east then ran out of wall and headed north, then found a sign pointing off down a small hill off the wall so headed down, was board with the flat path. Ran down a small rain rutted track and came to a culvert which looked nice so took some photos and got attached by ants, I stood right in the middle of a red ant column. Got a good couple of bits from them the little buggers.
Back on the bike and came to a swamp and some tracks that were to over grown to ride so had to retreat back up to the top of the wall and continue north. Found the West gate of Angkor Thom one of the biggest Wat complexes in the Angkor park. At the time I had thought this was where I was but without a map could not be sure. Followed a road back towards the main area passed a couple of stunned guards, it seems people don’t go that way much.
Did a bit of Wat spotting and then headed north, I did stop and take photo’s it was a nice wat but not the best I would see, so back on the road headed out through the north gate started following the tourist horde doing the tourist circuit, stopped in at Preah Khan, this was pretty cool, had a good look around a took lots of photos, it really is amazing and in it’s day would have been something special, even now as it is falling down it has so much character and a sense of energy and hidden secrets.
Back on the bike, I was starting to get hungry by now, well it was close to 12, stopped outside a wat at one of the eating places, there are so many it’s hard to miss them. Had a really crap noodle meals but I was hungry and it filled a part of the void. Had a look through the Wat which turned out to be Neak Pean which is another big wat. Will have to revisit some of these. After this jumped back on some single track through to another wat and then more single track till I came out beside a lake. Had a drink and by now was felling like heading home had done a few hours ridding and wat spotting.
On the way back grabbed a tow from one of the motor rickshaws, and it just happened to be full of Kiwi’s from Christchurch, so as I held onto the side of the rickshaw we had a chat. They were heading into town as well so got a tow all the way in, sweet. Will probably see them tomorrow as I will be up early for the rising of the sun over Angkor wat, heard it is something to see, so hopefully the sun will be out.
I will retrace some of the Wats from today as would like to spend more time at them, also would like to spend more time at Angkor Wat, just have to keep away from all the kids selling books and little trinkets, they can be a bit annoying.
Have spent the rest of the afternoon fixing a broken plastic bit on my bike hopefully it holds together otherwise I could have a problem with my gears. At the moment I have superglued it back together and put a cable tie around it for more support, tomorrow will let me know it has worked.
Just so you know I took 100+ photos, so be ready for a lot of photos when I get back.. That's just day 1...

Pigs on bikes, and some place with wats

Late start this morning, I had a feeling my washing would still be damp as it had rained most of the night, and guess what I was right, picked it up anyway and went for some breakfast, put the cloths I was going to wear on a couple of chairs to dry a bit, then went about the task of getting breakfast, noodle soup, it seems the only thing they eat for breakfast in asia is noodle soup. Now don’t get me wrong here I enjoy the noodle soup but after 4 or 5 days you just want cereal.
Packed up and hit the road about 8:30am so latest start so far, should have just done my own washing, that’ll teach me. The roads in the cities, or towns are fairly crazy and you really have to think about which side of the road they drive on. Bad move if you get it wrong, but people will just beep and drive around you. Not that I am saying I got it wrong it’s the locals who drive down the wrong side of the road.
It did not take me long to leave Sisophon behind, I had managed to find a big 1.5 bottle of water before leaving, it seems most places only sell the small bottles. Back out onto those straight flat roads, 90km to Siam Reap, should not be too bad. The day was warming up, and the humidity must have been in the high 90’s I would say, black clouds were building on the horizon but I had blue sky above me.
20km outside of Sisophon I came across something unexpected, a hill of all things, not a big hill but a long slow rising hill, I powered up it nicely and it was a good opportunity to do a photograph of where I had come from. Headed over this hill and there was another one, Katie you said Cambodia was flat, there’s hills on these here plains. As I went up the next hill I came across some big rock work factories, where they were chopping up yep you guessed it rocks, but you may ask what for, come to Cambodia and find out for yourselves, sorry no I realize Terry live vicariously through me so have to tell you. Buddha’s, They chop these massive boulders up and then these guys further up the road chisel them into sitting or standing Buddha’s, I has to stop and has a watch. Some of them use machine grinders some chisels and hammers. On the big ones, now these are maybe up to 2 meters there are three of them working on it. It was interesting to see but I still had a lot of riding left.
I left them to their work and carried on over the hill and back onto more flat straight road. Have to also say this is all new road and in very good condition. I came towards a small town hugging the road, and this is where I saw it, pigs on a bike, now I am not talking about small pigs, I am talking about big pigs, Sows and not sure what they call male pigs, but these guys had them loaded up on the back of their motorbikes and were off down the road. The pigs are tired into these brace type things, and loaded on their backs, their legs are free to move. Not sure what happens if these guys crash the pig gets up and runs away if he can I suppose.
It was getting on towards lunch now and the beast was hungry again so stopped in for Fried rice and beef for lunch, the lady cooked me up a huge amount which I have to say I thought was sweet. Munched through that in no time at all. They were having a big old chat about my arm and the graft there, pointing and all that so I showed them were it was. One of the older ladies was fascinated by this, so showed her me leg graft as well. Not really sure what they thought it was from but they had a good chat about it.
Had 30km to go and those clouds that were on the horizon this morning were now starting to pass through. I grabbed my jacket out of the bag all ready for the rain to arrive and much to my joy it passed in front of me so just had a wet road to ride down. Of cause about 10km down the road it poured down, monsoon style, buckets and buckets of water came down. So I asked the local guy to stop throwing the buckets on me they were starting to hurt.
This down pour lasted till just outside of Siam Reap, when it finally stopped, by now I was soaked through, great arrive in another town wet, it seems I do this a lot and that’s what you get when you ride through Asia in the monsoon season. I have found a nice place and will sort out my five day pass of Angkor wat, I think this is a place that you should take your time to see, I will have my bike so will just cruise around and enjoy a few temples a day, will also look for good spots for morning time photo’s as I won’t be watching the sunset over Angkor Wat as it rains most nights here now.
Well wish me spiritual enlightenment.