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.
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