Cycling Chumphon to Khao Sok

From Chumphon we rode directly west the whole width of the country and then when we reached the Myanmar (Burma) border, the road sharply turned south to Ranong. Only mountains on our right stopped us from peering into a country that not many people know about, which may have something to do with not many nationalities being able to obtain a Burmese visa. At times, it was only a river that separated the two countries. This was our longest day. 78.2 miles in one very long day, hill after hill in continuous torrential rain, thunder and lightning. It was the first time we both actually wanted a hot drink during our breaks as opposed to cold. Even though the temperature was still 23 degrees, when soaked to the bone, it got quite chilly. Along the way we saw a beautiful waterfall and passed official viewpoints (that was how high we climbed!).

Soaked, but warming up with hot coffee during break time

Beautiful waterfall right on the switchback of the steep road

As soon as we turned south, the head-scarfs among the girls in the villages along the road became more and more apparent, as did luscious forests, while villages were less frequent. This may be the time to also write about the continuous battle against the dogs in Thailand. There are two kinds of dogs in SE Asia; stray, homeless ones who are very skinny and often have wounds and various other diseases who run away as you cycle towards them. Then there are the dogs who ‘belong’ to people, but are trained as guard dogs and hang around with nothing to do outside their houses. To their delight, when two cyclists amble by, they either see it as a bit of fun to break their boredom or see us as a threat. Either way we have been chased by countless numbers of dogs down the street. Some of them chase for longer than others, and some have actually tried to bite; it is terrifying every time. Unfortunately James was left a little shaken after he was attacked by one vicious canine, but luckily the dog only punctured a hole in his pannier and not his leg, much to his annoyance but my relief.


One of our evening stops was in a place called Suk Samran. We weren’t actually meant to stop here, but our epic day to Ranong the day before had taken it out of us a little. We stayed in a beautifully carved wooden bungalow on stilts. We had a charming room with more windows than wall and all the furniture was made from bamboo including our bed frames. Our host, P.P. was delighted to have us and made us so welcome. What we didn’t realise was the guesthouse and surrounding buildings were work left by US Aid who visited the area after the devastation the Tsunami left Suk Samran in. The guesthouse was a gift and around it was a school and learning centre, a museum and a community bank, all with the aim of educating local people on how to deal with possible future tsunamis. Apparently villages around were given lump sums of money by charities to help rebuild their homes, but normal Thai corruption set in and the money was squandered. Only one village invested the $1 million they were given and now their balance is $3m, hence the community bank who are also trying to educate villagers on the benefits of investment. PP used an interesting analogy; do you give a victim of the tsunami a fish or a fishing rod? The answer is neither if you do also provide them with education on how to cook the fish or fish responsibly with a rod. Interestingly, PP also told us how certain things have prevented the learning centre from being as successful as it should be. Firstly because not many Thai country-folk travel and so do not know the centre exists, and secondly because of religion. PP is Buddist and the surrounding villages have a high Muslim population, so they are reluctant to go because they fear he will not understand. Far from it; PP was so passionate about education that I have no doubt that he couldn’t care whether you were black, white, purple, Muslim, Christian, gay or otherwise, but trying to get people to understand this is another matter in itself. Dinner in the village was Muslim influenced; saffron rice with curried chicken and potato roti, much to James’s delight. For pudding we cracked open a fresh watermelon we bought in the local market. Happy days.

Not so happy days when we were woken up at 5am by the call to prayer by the mosque next door, which we hadn’t actually realised it was there until the loudspeaker felt as though it was in my ear. Still, it was only 30 minutes before our alarms went off!


On we cycled until we reached the mountains of the beautiful landscape in the centre of Thailand just east of Takua Pa. Up and up we climbed, and down and down our sweat poured off our bodies and evaporated instantly on the hot tarmac. It took us 3 hours to ride 26 miles; it was seriously hard going, but we were rewarded by unbelievable views. Remember the film, Jurassic Park? It was as though we had walked on to the set of it, but instead this was Thailand’s Khao Sok National Park…

Cycling from Bangkok to Chumphon

We rode for 5 days straight out of Bangkok to a town called Chumphon. The first four days were along the only road south of Bangkok which was a rather unpleasant motorway. Getting out of Bangkok was a terrifying experience as there were parts when we were merging on to the Thai equivalent of the M25. There was actually a cycle lane most of the way out but this was blocked by parked cars, food stalls, buses and people in general so this seemed utterly pointless. Luckily, there was a smaller road at the side of the motorway out of the city that ran parallel for about 30 miles so we kept on that until it all merged when we had a nice wide hard shoulder to bomb along while the cars sped past us at at least 70 mph. The motorway ranged from having two lanes on each side to 6 lanes on each side in some places! The road was long, straight and boring but we knew there were smaller roads to ride ahead so again, it was heads down and shed the miles.

Our first night out of Bangkok was hilarious. After the town we were aiming for on the map just disappeared or didn't exist, we sought refuge in a motorway hotel we stumbled upon, again by accident. It was literally on the motorway, but we didn't care as we were knackered from the adrenalin used up to concentrate on the roads out of Bangkok. Once we were in, we then realised that this hotel was more of a, errrm... shag station. Yes, it had a light outside each room, showing white or red, depending on whether it was occupied. It also had a large curtain to cover the little drive where one parked their car to conceal ones identity. The room was equipped with large mirrors on two walls opposite each other, tissues on each bedside table, and yes, there was free porn on the TV. We walked out of our room, the light glowing red, down the hard shoulder of the Thai equivalent of the M4 to the restaurant to get dinner. How romantic.

The next day, we were up and rolling out onto the motorway at 7.30am. We cracked out 60 miles and arrived at the coastal town of Hua Hin at 2.30pm where we found a little hotel on the end of a pier, dumped our stuff and ran down to the beach for a well deserved swim; our reward for cycling that day. The beach was pretty, well kept and this place is the nearest beach resort to Bangkok, so very popular with both Thais and tourists. Tempted to stay, in deed we were, but the next town was also a beach town, so on we cycled the following day another 58 miles to Prachuap Khiri Khan. This was the day my speedometer ticked over to the 2000th mile! Far quieter; an idyllic seaside town where no tuk-tuk man or hawkers bothered us. We stayed in a psychedelic guesthouse painted crazy bright colours with a balcony overlooking the sea and some of the islands. We watched the pretty sun in all its glory come up from behind one of the islands in the morning before having breakfast with the Thai lady owner and her artistic, eccentric Austrian husband who was drinking beer while we were breakfasting at 7am.

Celebrating 2000 miles!

Our balcony in the guesthouse at PKK

The next day, and another 62 miles cracked out and the first time we turned off the main highway. We stayed in a very cute bungalow on stilts in a little jungle, complete with jungle noises of exotic birds, insects and monkeys!


The final day was spent entirely on secondary roads that flirted with the beaches all the way down to Chumphon. The road was fantastic and our first cycle day of seeing proper Thailand other than what you can see from the motorways. Rich and luscious forests, perfectly lined either side of the roads. James spotted all sorts of birds of pretty colours and every now and then we got a glimpse of the sea! It was however, rather continuously hilly so we arrived in Chumphon rather tired!

Undulating hills = want sleep at lunchtime

Yucky hills but beautiful scenery.

We rested for one day in this rather uninspiring and dull town to also catch up on emails and research the route going forward as this is where the road splits down either side of the coast due to the mountains in the middle. We decided on the west coast as this appeared to have more towns and beaches along the way and also made sense as our crossing into Malaysia will be on the west coast too. And off we go!

Bangkok...

We ended up spending 5 days in Bangkok with the last one spent researching the route ahead. Bangkok is pretty crazy but actually far more structured and western than I had imagined. We stayed in the old town area where the metro or sky trains haven’t quite reached out to yet, so to get anywhere we always had to get a tuk-tuk or taxi first, which we then spent at least 30 minutes stuck in traffic somewhere as the roads are so atrociously rammed with far too many vehicles. Most of our outgoings that week were spent on transport as the city is so big. It’s very different to the previous cities I have visited on this trip which were all walk able.

Here are the sights we saw in pictures:

Grand Palace

Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo

Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo

Scary weird statue at the Bangkok Cultural Arts Centre

Awesome sketches at the Bangkok Cultural Arts Centre

More strange stuff at the Bangkok Cultural Arts Centre

Jim Thompson's House - pioneer of Thai silk

Eating in the road in crazy Chinatown

Huge reclining Buddha at Wat Pho

More gold at Wat Pho

Relaxing on the red and gold beds in the best Indian restaurant in Bangkok with a Shisha!

One rather blog-worthy story that happened to me in Bangkok involves a cockroach. I am usually OK with bugs and spiders, but I hate cockroaches. I can just about dodge them and skip round them in the street without too loud a whimper. On our last night in Bangkok after packing up and everything was ready to go, I lay on the bed in our hotel room with my arms spread out, a little tired. All of a sudden I saw something move at the speed of light in the corner of my eye and before I could move, this thumb-sized cockroach ran across the bed, up onto my arm and into the scrunched up bed sheets. To say I screamed was an understatement. Holy crap, I have never moved so fast in my life. Urgh! It crawled on my Arrrrrrrmmmmmm!!!!!! I shiver just thinking about it.

Cycling to Bangkok...

I was sad to leave Cambodia. I didn't feel anywhere near ready to leave as I did Vietnam. But, time is marching on and new places are to be explored. The border crossing into Thailand was very simple and very quick, surprisingly. Once through no-mans-land and in to Thailand, I was completely thrown by the fact they drive on the left side of the road. The same as the UK, yes but I got so used to cycling on the right for all my time in Vietnam and Cambodia!

We cycling along the main highways straight into Bangkok from the border. There was not much to see or do along the way so we decided to get our heads down and get to the capital. Finding hotels appears to be a little more challenging than ever before for two reasons. Vietnamese uses the Roman alphabet and we knew that Nha Nghi was hotel so spotting these words on signs and buildings was relatively simple. In Cambodia, the word Guesthouse is presented below any hotel signs that are written in Khmer - again simple to spot. Thailand however has its own alphabet (just as squiggly as Khmer) and nothing is in English and it seems there is not one standard squiggle that we Westerners can spot on the side of the road while also trying to cycle and jostle with the traffic. Mmm... it did seem however, that many people we spoke to along the way spoke a tiny bit of English and 'Hotel' is a universally understood word here. We always somehow managed to find some where.

Instant differences when reaching Thailand are the roads. All of a sudden, they are all signposted and beautifully laid tarmac with painted lines and wide hard shoulders. The drink stops were far less frequent but I think this may be because most of the roads we took in to Bangkok were main highways and drink stops when driving I guess don't need to be so frequent. EVERYONE drives a 4x4 here and we wonder if perhaps the government hands them out as part of being Thai. Bicycles were no where to be seen, and there were barely any on scooters here compared to Cambodia and Vietnam. It was strange, we suddenly felt very alone on our bicycles. Apart from the trucks screaming past, the roads were silent, no beeping, no children shouting hello, no animals to dodge and generally no people about apart from when we passed through towns. It was... dull actually. 

I want to dedicate this post to all the Thai people that showed us kindness on our journey in to Bangkok. Firstly to Whippy. James and I were coming to the end of a full cycling day. We were heading for this one town when 3km just outside it we saw a hotel. We stopped to check the map and discuss our options when we suddenly heard 'Can I help you!?' Two young ladies stood behind a fence eager to help. After some discussing of hotels they excitedly invited us in to rest and have a drink when they found out we had cycled just over 100km. Their family ran a hardware store so we sat on their hand made benches and they gave us coke and water. After further discussions with brothers, uncles, fathers and co-workers in Thai and English, Whippy concluded that we would NOT stay in the hotel opposite as it was not good and because we were tired and come so far, she will drive us and the bikes in her pick up to the next town 10 miles away to a good hotel. After some protesting that this wasn't nessecary, we didn't actually have a choice as the 4x4 was already in the courtyard and her brothers were dismantling everything to put into the truck and tie down. She took us straight to the hotel, bartered down the price to half what we would normally pay, then helped us take everything upstairs. She would not take any money for the drinks, the petrol or her time. Before she left she then gave us a little wooden door knocker made in her warehouse. Unbelievable. We couldn't believe how kind she had been and she explained that it was Thai nature to do good for others and she would never accept payment. 

Furthering on from this, we had many people in their flash cars pull up the side of us to say 'Well done' and 'Keep going, you're doing really well!' We stopped at the side of one road to fix a puncture on James's bike and one chap pulled over, bought some freshly cut pineapple from the stall in front of us and gave it to us. And once we got into Bangkok and a little lost, we had 3 separate people ask us if we needed help and gave us directions. Their kindness was greatly appreciated so Thank You to all of you!

We made it in to Bangkok alive, we have yet to cycle out, but the roads are not as bad as I thought! I was expecting mayhem on a far more vast scale than this. So, now we will spend 4-5 days doing the sites and activities of Bangkok before heading south towards Malaysia.

Battambang

Reading up on Cambodia, we came across a town called Battambang. It is the third largest city in Cambodia and there are a few random but intriguing activities to be done around the city. Being the curious cats that we are, we decided to give it a go and see a bit more of this beautiful country before heading for Thailand. Slight problem was getting there though. Cambodia has the biggest inland waterway in the whole of SE Asia called the Tonle Sap and Battambang is on the other side of it from Siem Reap. So instead of cycling round it (to then have to come back along the same road to get to Thailand), we thought what better than take a boat and at the same time see the floating village and the wonderful wildlife.

The ferry port was between 8 to 14km away from Siem Reap depending on the time of year, i.e. how high the water is. Mmm...OK. The boat also leaves at 7am and takes 6 hours - lunch in Battambang then. So, not wanting to miss it, we got up at 5am, loaded the bikes and cycled down the only road to the port, bleary eyed in the faint dawn light. Admitedly we were rewarded with an overwhelmingly stunning sunrise with bright and clear pinks, oranges and yellows along the way. We arrived at the port at half 6. Plenty of time to load up. The boat had rows of benchs on the deck and then a roof overhead where all the luggage and our bikes went. There were only 4 of us there on the boat ready to go at 7am. Great, we can relax and spread out. Come 7.30 we still hadn't left and a few more people drifted on. Then all of a sudden, a mass of people arrived and all piled on to the boat. There were no seats left on deck so half the people had to sit on the roof (with no shelter from the blazing sun, this must have been horrific). Our luggage was now right at the bottom of a six storey high pile of backpacks and we were a little concerned for our bikes getting squished too. Eventually we left the port and were on our way by 8.15am for the most horrific boat journey I have ever experienced.

It started off well and James being nature boy was spotting all sorts of birds I had never seen before. The floating village was interesting as literally everything you imagine to be in a village, was here and floating, with everyone getting around by canoes. People had dogs though, which puzzled us slightly, do they get walked? But we saw a floating Police station, a school, a chemist and a doctors along with shops and plenty of homes. Then the pump stopped working and the boat started to fill up with water which was discovered when the guys pulled up the wooden floor boards on deck. As a result of the bottom filling up, it meant the slightest turn of the wheel and the whole boat leant over to one side because the water was sloshing about in the bottom and increased the leanage. How, with all the weight on the roof, the boat did not capsize I do not know. It leant over so badly at one point, everyone actually screamed, and people's stuff went rolling around the deck all over the place. Eventually we arrived at 3.30pm and I couldn't wait to get off!

There is not really much to see in Battambang itself and considering it is meant to be a city, it seemed more like a lazy quiet town to us. On our first day, we ventured out on the bikes, pannier and trailer free to find a Pepsi bottling plant that was abandoned in 1975 by the Khmer Rouge who forced it shut. It hasn't been touched since, and thousands of bottles still errily stand on top of one another. From there we went on to a crocdile farm. Not my idea, but J wanted to have a look!

Our second day saw us taking a tuk-tuk out to the country to a single rail line. Cambodia only has single train tracks from French times and the Khmer Rouge did away with the train services and they haven't quite been able to recover. After the Khmer Rouge, local people built what they could to go on the train tracks and they came up with the Norri train. It is a 2 x 3m platform made from bamboo. It sits on metal wheels and has a small petrol engine. You simply load up the flat surface area and bomb along the delapidated tracks at about 20 mph. As the Norri train idea caught on, more and more were made and as a result of the single track, the bizarre thing about the train was what would happen when two trains met along the same track. The lighter load of the two trains would have to remove itself from the track to let the heavier load pass by. The train drivers would then reload the train back on to the track and continue on its way. This would also happen if the train reached the end of the line and needed to return to its departure point! This has now turned in to a tourist attraction and one that intrigued us! Even though our bums have sat on more comfortable, smoother rides, it was fun to whizz along through the countryside. In December, the Norri train will no longer exist as Austraila have been successful in their bid to upgrade and run new railway services, which I imagine will change Cambodia quite significantly.

Turning the Norri around to go back to our start point

After being shaken by the rickety tracks, we headed out of Battambang to Phnom Sampeau, the highest point for miles, with temples and shrines built on top of it. Half way up, we also visiting the Killing Caves, which was where 10,000 people died here by the Khmer Rouge. After climbing the hill, which felt more like a mountain, we sat looking out at the view of miles of flat land, snacking on crisps. The rustling of the crisp bag was clearly a magic noise to a family of monkeys who suddlenly appeared. Now, I don't mind monkeys, but seeing what these red-arsed viscious animals can do from living in India, I am not going to put my rabies jab to test, so when one of them advanced towards me, I jumped out the way and he stole my bag of crisps. Damn, I wanted those! He took them up the tree, being careful not to tip them out and sat there munching away on the much needed salt I could have done with after sweating up the hill. 

From Battambang we were two days cycling from the Thai border and five days from Bangkok. We spent a considerable amount of time researching the route and possible places to stay, along with mastering the Thai language and hotel availability as much as the internet could help us. We then set off to the Poipet/Aranyaprathet border.

Siem Reap and Angkor

Siem Reap is the small town where tourists base themselves when visiting the vast number of temples included within the Angkor complex. The town has been purpose built to cater for tourists, and don’t you know it. For us, this is good because we can gorge on decent western food, coffee and ice-cream – yum. But, after a while, it got on our nerves. 

Take three steps out of one’s hotel and you get the following:

“Hello, tuk-tuk?” No.

“Hello, moto?” No.

“Hello, marijuana?” No.

“Hello, opium?” NO!

“Hello, tuk-tuk?” No.

“Hello, splif?” No.

Then, once you have fought your way through the rickshaw men, and reach the main hub-bub of restaurants and market-place, you get the following:

“Hello lady, you want massage?” No.

[Having glanced in the direction of a shop/stall] “Hello lady, buy som-sing?” No.

“Hello lady, you want scarf?” No.

Then you get interrupted by, “Hello, tuk-tuk?” NO!!!!!!!!

Then when you are resting your feet in a café/restaurant within the temple region, you have children selling things coming over to you with the one of the following two:

1. “Hello lady, where you from?” England. “If I tell you the capital, the population and the name of your prime minister, will you buy som-sing?” No, but tell me anyway, and so they reel off the facts – pretty impressive. To test this, with various different children, we were from Germany, France and Holland to which we learnt their population. Finland failed.

2. “Hello lady, here is free bracelet for you.” Errm, no thanks. “No lady, free for you.” [Bracelet forced in my hand] “You buy from me later”. Uh-oh. Of course, we are then hawked down after visiting temple because they gave me ‘free bracelet’. “Please buy, only one daaaallaaaar” they whine.  

To further amuse you, James nipped to the shops on his own one evening, returning a little flustered. I asked why and here was what he was offered, all by the SAME guy:

“Hello sir, tuk-tuk?” No.

“You want joint?” No.

“You want lady?” No.

“Massage?” No.

“Opium?” No.

“Heroin?” Really no.

“Two ladies?” Slight hesitation… NO!

Oh, to be a tourist!

Anyway, so the Angkor complex; the eighth wonder of the world, which is why we are here. The templus (the official word for two or more temples, completely made up of course) were built between 802 – 1200 AD. This once was the capital of the powerful Khmer Empire. The complex stretches 25km wide and 10 km north to south (apparently the same size as Manhattan). Unbelievably, the whole city was abandoned in 1431 due to Thai occupation of Angkor. It wasn't rediscovered until 1860 by a French naturalist, then rather disturbingly, a French archeologist got his grubby mits on many of the most beautiful statues and carved stones in 1873 and took them back to France to 'enrich' their culture. There are still ongoing disputes about where they belong between Cambodia and France today. Ever since then, the templus have been cleared and are slowly being restored, primarily by France, but many other countries have poured money into conservation too, such as India and Switzerland. Many of the temples were modelled on Indian temples, with tall central towers communicating to the Gods above. Most were built with sandstone; easier to carve, with laterite used as the foundations.

We decided to do two days and a half days of the temples. Many would say this isn't enough, but actually it's pretty tiring! On our first evening, we climbed the rocky hill and temple of Phnom Bakheng to watch the sun set. It was absolutely bursting with tourists all trying to get the best picture. I of course managed to nab one of the best and highest (so not to get heads in the way) spots and watched the sky turn from bright beautiful blue to gray to orange, to pink and to red. We watched it disappear behind a cloud to then reappear from underneath it as though it were an upside-down sunrise. Magic. In the dusky light we explored a little and it was easy to see how much of the film 'Tomb Raider' was filmed here. Photos below:

Day 2 saw us exploring the Angkor Thom complex. Angkor Thom is a huge walled square full of dense woods and beautiful trees. The main road into the centre of it was a wide boulevard that reminded us of various royal estates in England. It included one of my favourites of them all, the Bayon. Dramatic, with wall after wall, level after level, passageway after passageway, smiling Buddha faces everywhere you look and intricate carvings in every nook and cranny. 

From the Bayon, we walked through the trees over to Baphuon and Phimeanakas, further through the trees and around the lakes on to the Terrace of Elephants and the Leper King. After lunch we then explored another of my favourites, the temple of Ta Prohm. This one was in the centre of another walled rectangle surrounded by enormous trees, except the trees did not stop growing on the outside of the temple; they had also taken over much of it. It was unbelievable to see such huge, old trees tangle its roots through the walls and bricks. I thought it showed perfectly just how old the temple was by the sheer size of the tree trunks. It was amazing and I felt a little like Alice in Wonderland, totally magical. 

Spot the face in the wall where this tree eerily and conveniently grew around.

Headless Buddhas; the works of the Khmer Rouge.

Day 3 then saw us up at 4.30am to race down the biggest and most impressive all the temples, the one we deliberately saved until last; Angkor Wat. Anyone who knows me knows I am not a morning person and really not my best at anytime before 9am. So, bleary eyed and chilly in the cool air before the sun heated it up, we stood, again with many others to worship the sun.We had one up on most people there though because being the good scouts that we are, we had cans of various coffees and mashed banana and Nutella baguettes! Unfortunately, the sun rise was not as spectacular as the sunset, but nonetheless it was enjoyable and I've never actually managed to get my butt out of bed for a sunrise before!

It was amazing how quickly the air was heating up once the sun had risen. After exploring Angkor Wat in the daylight, we took a tuk-tuk ride 20km north to a temple that was the furthest north of all of them. Banteay Srey is affectionately known as the Lady Temple. What is fascinating about this one, was because it was so far out, it was not discovered until 1914. It is a very small temple, with a walled square and moat surrounding it. The designs on this temple are the most intricate of all. Parts have been restored beautifully and the eye can clearly see Buddhas, elephants, serpents, dragons breathing fire, as well as horse and chariots, kings and servants and their swords, monkeys and the Khmer language. You could spend hours studying them. 

Our last day was spend chilling out, updating blogs and giving our bikes a once over, getting ready for the next day of travelling to Battambang by boat. Stay tuned.

The first days of cycling Cambodia...

So eventually James and I set off from Phnom Pehn all kitted out, to cycle along Highway 6, the main road that took us to Siem Reap. Getting out of PP was the usual crazy-crazy, having to watch the traffic in every single direction, but incredibly easy and once out of the city, the roads quietened down.

Whilst killing time in PP, James and I decided to go out on the bikes for a trial run as we have not ridden together before. We decided to take Highway 1, which is the same H1 that Kris and I followed all the way through Vietnam. Thus, this road is the main connecting highway between Saigon and PP. Thinking that this would be a decent enough road as it gets used by thousands each day, we had a rude awakening when we were met with chaotic road works, pot holes and dust – both the sand and concrete variety. Gulp. Is it going to be like this the whole 200 miles to Siem Reap? Answer: to our delight, no. Phew. The whole highway has been recently resurfaced, meaning no dust.

At first, much of what we saw on the side of the road was similar to Vietnam, but as we got further into Cambodia’s countryside, I could see differences. The road was less busy for a start, which was excellent because it meant it was quieter and less stressful. Buses still screamed past beeping their horns, but it was much less frequent that Vietnam. The road is lined with more trees too, which also means a little more shade. Where Vietnam has town after rice paddy field after town, here the villages were further apart and the paddy fields were open, expansive and very flat so you could see for miles, far further than Vietnam. The paddy fields here are also scattered with palm trees, which makes it just look stunning and far more interesting to look at. The houses in the villages are dotted along the roads, with plenty of space in between them, unlike Vietnam where buildings were concentrated in small spaces and often two or three storey. The houses here are all built on stilts and underneath is the working area for the family during the day. It is a genius design because it prevents any damage when and if there are floods, but also means they have a ready-made shaded area, more storage space and the house is probably cooler as the floor has air circulating underneath it. They are all neatly built little squares with either planks of wood or dried palm leaves on the outside. Some having been painted bright colours, some have steel steps, while others have a ladder. Either way they are incredibly cute, especially as most of them have ponds at the front with pretty pink water lilys.

 

The children out here never fail to spot us a mile away and shout hello as we cycle past, but it is gentler than Vietnam. The children and general people here are happy, smiley and genuine, and not as pushy and fierce as those in Vietnam. Our use of Khmer is greatly appreciated and I am surprised by the English they know. There seems to be more of a level of politeness that we English would know, so communication is not as blunt.


Our worries about drink and food stops were soon diminished as we spotted little huts selling the essentials roughly every 5 miles. Coke has been replaced by the yummy Lychee juice and there are towns equally spaced apart by roughly 20/30 miles all the way between PP and Siem Reap, which all had at least two guesthouses. I soon relaxed about the journey and enjoyed the peace, beautiful views and talking to James.

We had one incident on the road that left us a little shaken, but actually my fault. Whilst cycling along together with me on the outside, I needed to pull in, so I went in front of James but cut in too soon and my trailer completely took out his front wheel, which meant he went from 12mph on the bike to 12mph skidding along the tarmac. This resulted in a jarred wrist, a bruised, cut and grazed shoulder, back, butt cheek and thigh, as well as a ripped pannier and bar tape. Needless to say, I felt and still feel absolutely awful. Thankfully, we are still talking!

I got my first puncture of the whole trip, on the trailer rather than my bike. We pulled over to change the tube on what we thought was a quiet road, but once we were done, we suddenly realised we were surrounded by 8 people watching us, who emerged from, well, nowhere. We also saw our first western cyclists out on the roads. A couple from Holland, also with Ortlieb gear stopped to chat to us for a while. They are doing exactly the same route as I have done from Siem Reap to Saigon, including the Chau Doc border over 4 weeks. It was good to know there are other crazy people out there!

We passed some fascinating villages along the way, including stone masons, who were carving six foot Buddhas, elephants and tigers out of huge chunks of rock, all by hand of course. A four foot solid stone Buddha would set you back $2000 – how one would then get in back to the UK is a slightly different matter!

It took us three and a half days to cycle from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, where we are now. We will rest here for a few days, using it as a base to explore the eighth wonder of the world; Angkor Wat.

Oh Phnom Penh...

It was certainly not the plan to stay in Phnom Penh for two weeks, but I had no choice. Phnom Penh is the final stop where a tourist can obtain a Thai visa for longer than 15 days (probably cutting it a bit fine when the length of Thailand we will be cycling is roughly 800 miles), so a trip to the embassy was a priority. However, geographically misplacing my passport photos saw us on a chase around the city to find a photo booth setting us a day later by the time we found one. This along with the Thai embassy celebrating a national holiday meant that we had to wait an extra 5 days in PP. Although I was originally super stressed by this idea because time was ticking on my Cambodian visa and I am just rubbish at relaxing, I have actually enjoyed my extra time here and I have done things I wouldn't normally do.

I have had lots of days of relaxation, but in that time I still managed to paint my toenails fluorescent pink, eat, catch up on emails, eat, sort my photos, eat, and read a book (and remind myself how much I love reading and that I never had 'time' to read at home). My trousers are now a little bit tight, so as I can't afford to go and buy new stuff because I just have no space left in my trailer bag (may be because I bought another handbag - oops), I am looking forward to getting back on Sally and easing in to my clothes again. I also spent a lot of time researching Cambodia, something I didn't do for Vietnam because it was a given that a cyclist's needs could always be met, as well as the ability to read Vietnamese as they have the roman alphabet.

I have heard lots of mixed reviews on cycling through Cambodia. Speaking to people direct about it and reading all about it online, it seems that the Cambodian roads are atrocious, hotels are scarce, the food is awful and they have a seriously complicated alphabet that to me looks like a bunch of lined squiggles a five year old would be proud of. Hmmm.... a lot of research was needed. Plans have been written and rewritten, towns have been googled and with the help of the hotel guys, essential Khmer words have been written down and how they are phonetically pronounced so we can actually try and communicate.

Cambodia's history is long and painful. Going back to 800 - 1400 AD, Cambodia was once the strong Angkorian empire, but even during that time, they were at war with one another and it's neighbours Thailand and Vietnam. The French then came in 1864 and kicked out the Thais and Vietnamese and ruled for a while, which provided some protection. Eventually, Cambodia declared independence in 1953 but trouble was still lurking. Cambodia was affected by the Vietnam-US war and in the early seventies the prime minister was overthrown, who in turn set up a government-in-exile with the guerrilla group, the Khmer Rouge. And so, Cambodia's worst history happened under the Khmer Rouge rulings. They had incredibly twisted and extreme views on how they wanted Cambodia to be. Essentially they wanted to wipe out all traditions and history and start again with everyone on an equal scale. Whilst under their regime, people were forced to work long hours in poor conditions. Intellectuals (those who speak foreign languages, wear glasses, have long hair, engineers, doctors, academics, soldiers and all relatives of these people, including children and the elderly) were punished, tortured and killed. Just under 20,000 people passed through the S-21 Prison (which used to be a high school, and is opposite our hotel, creepily enough) before being taken 14km south of Phnom Penh to be killed. It has been estimated that 2 million people died directly or as a result of poor health, diet and sanitation during the three years and eight months of Khmer Rouge rule. I just cannot believe that such horrendous atrocities happened just 30 years ago.

As a result of such horrific and recent events, it is not surprising that Cambodia is a little behind in development, especially compared to neighbouring Saigon and Bangkok who have not had such a regime that has prevented the skyscrapers, trendy cafes, bars and restaurants. But, nonetheless Phnom Penh is getting there, just perhaps give it 10-20 years to catch up.

It seems here the people are a little taller than the Vietnamese, a little darker and their eyes are a little wider. They are just as beautiful and they definitely smile a lot more, which just amazes me when you consider what they have been through as a nation. From what I have learnt since being here, certain countries, such as the US, China, Japan and Australia have an ever increasing presence here and it is though they are all trying to compete against one another in who can do the most to impress Cambodia and be seen as an ally perhaps? The UN have a heavy presence here and I think the Cambodians feel somewhat protected by this. I even met an English chap who has worked for the UN in Phnom Penh for the last year whilst cycling through the city. Much to mine and James's confusion, we were trapped inside our hotel for the morning whilst Hilary Clinton and her hundreds of security guards visited the S-21 Prison opposite. It looked like a scene from The Matrix for a while, with agents in sunglasses and ear pieces everywhere.

I think I have done enough talking for one post and I am going to let my photographs tell you the rest...

Having a snooze while business is quiet.

Mmm... chicken

Man with a van... or tuk-tuk

Killer ants.

The beautiful King's Palace.

The SIlver Pagoda.

The four faces of the King's Palace.

Pink toenails! Asian girls love nail art, they put my bare nails to shame.



The buddhas of the King's Palace.



The victims of the S-21 Prison.

The classrooms were knocked through and turned into prison cells.

A high view of the tiny cells, not even big enough to lie down.

Mmm... squid.

Dried fish and snake heads.

Certainly not for the faint hearted!

Nothing is wasted.

Old and young... everyone goes to the market.

No baby chicks in sight but I'm sure they're there if you ask. Also pajama-esque suits are normal here.

Takking a cooking class to learn what actually goes into the delicious Khmer food. Well worth it and very enjoyable.

This is what I made...absolutely stunning fish Amok.

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