Tag Archives: Cambodia

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Along the Mekong: Cambodia

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June 2016

After our monstruos day of mud and two rest and exploring days we went off to cycle further along the Mekong. We pointed the bicycles north, eventually going to Laos. And oh boy – it was absolutely stunning! The Mekong Valley burst with green colors which were all the more intense after cycling through Cambodia’s dry and barren plains before.

There was really nothing more I could wish for. Some easy relaxing cycling on small but good roads. Lots of tiny villages with friendly people on the way.

About 25k north of Kampong Cham we took a ferry across the Mekong.

A bit after I noticed a bulge on my back tire. That’s not looking good!

And a short while later there was a “pfffff” sound and all the air was gone. Fortunately we still carried an old spare tire so with the help of at least half the village we were able to change it.

I fell in love with Cambodian houses. Not two of them look the same but each sports a lot of individual features and colors.

After fixing another flat we stopped for sugar cane juice and the obligatory group shot.

Shortly before arriving in Kratie, Torsten noticed his handlebar moving. Wait… That shouldn’t be happening, right? After examining it closer we found this:

Nooo!!! Mud-infested roads, tires exploding, handlebars breaking… What’s up lately? Well, what else to do than look for a solution. We spent the afternoon riding around town and asking in several bicycle shops if they had any handlebars. Not even dropbars, any handlebars. But there were none. The bicycle shops only sell entire bicycles but have no spare parts whatsoever. So Torsten talked to some bicycle shops in Pnomh Penh where we had just come from a few days ago. The offered to get handlebars from Thailand as they didn’t have the right one in stock, too.

Long story and lots of facebook chats short, it was all rather complicated and we weren’t sure if they could get the right part with the right measurements. So Torsten decided that his broken handlebar was still rideable as only the lower part of the dropbar had broken off. He mounted the brake to the frame and off we went!

Spoiler Alert: This makeshift solution held up fine until Hanoi, Vietnam!

After all that excitement it was nice to join the locals for some relaxation and a beautiful sunset at the riverside.

On the next morning we found our favorite breakfast food in Cambodia. Took us a while but it’s delicious!

And suddenly we spent our last full day riding in Cambodia. A few more beautiful houses and small roads…

… and after a visit to the morning market in Stung Treng we were off to Laos! This last stretch along the Mekong has really been stunningly beautiful and I loved cycling through all the small villages greeting many many children. Let’s see what awaits us further north!

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The Angkorian Experience: Nokor Bachay Temple

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May 2016

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Before coming to Cambodia we had decided not to visit Angkor Wat. Firstly it wasn’t really on our route, secondly it is rather expensive and thirdly, we are more interested in the things you discover by the road instead of the big tourist attractions. So the Nokor Bachay Pagoda close to Kampong Cham sparked our interest.

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There is a relatively new Pagoda built in the remains of an Angkorian temple.

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I always love the mixture of old and new…

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… and we found lots of interesting little details, too.

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I’m sure Nokor Bachay doesn’t have the magnificence of Angkor Wat itself. But on the other hand you can just wander around the temples almost by yourself. It was very quiet and the cloudy day added to the “Lost and Forgotten”-atmosphere of the temples. We loved spending some time there and exploring the grounds without crowds of tourists around us.

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One of these days: Rainy season in Cambodia

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May 2016

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Can you see the clouds in the picture above? Well, they could have been tell tale sign enough but at that moment we were just busy admiring the temple. We were on our way along the Mekong from Pnomh Penh north bound towards Laos.

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And suddenly it started. Raining, no pouring. Within seconds, sheets of water started hurling down on us and we were lucky in finding shelter in a cafe / garage kind of business. About half an hour later it was all over and we started cycling again. And this is how we discovered the difference between Cambodian dirt roads in rainy season and dry season. It all started innocently enough with just a few puddles of water here and there…

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…until they got a little bigger…

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Oh well, isn’t cycle touring and dirt just like French fries and ketchup anyway?

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We weren’t the only ones facing the mud by the way.

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The chains and cassettes were not happy.

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It could have been really beautiful you know. Lots of these stunning houses on stilts, each individual and different from one another. But this day just turned out to be one of the most challenging on our entire tour.

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The mud just got worse and worse. A few times it was so slippery that we had to push. But even pushing it was hard to keep the bicycles from falling down. Oh and fall down we did. Torsten once and me 3 (!) times! Until this day we had never fallen off the bicycles for the entire year of touring. Today was different. First the slippery mud got to Torsten, then I cycled over a curb in the dark and found myself lying on the ground. A while later I stopped to wait for Torsten and a dog came running and barking towards me. And I fell. While standing. Not a particularly proud moment. The third fall I cannot even remember anymore.

What I can remember is excessive pushing and cleaning. You see, the slippery mud wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was the sticky mud that stuck to our tyres, brakes, and everything else like glue. For a big part of the day we cycled or pushed the bicycles for a few meters and stopped because the wheels wouldn’t turn anymore. At first we used whatever stick we could find to brush off the big chunks of mud from brakes and tyres but in the end we went in there with our bare hands. Lost a bit of skin in the process but couldn’t have cared less.

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The pushing against resistance reminded me a lot of the day in Australia where we ended up pushing our bicycles through soft sand. Only this time no one came to save us. Well not with a 4 wheel drive anyway. The locals were still fantastic. Many of them gave us sticks, water or even knives to clean off the mud, others helped to push and a few people told us about smaller trails avoiding at least a part of the muddy road. So in the end we made it because we always somehow do. We decided not to camp somewhere along the road but to cycle until Kampong Cham. We needed a shower, a place to rest properly and somewhere to clean the bicycles.

So we kept cycling. I don’t know how exactly because at that point I was beyond tired. But after almost a year of touring I do believe in the following mantra: “It’ll pass.” Because however much a situation sucks, however tired I am, it will pass. Tomorrow is another day and I won’t feel like this forever. So we rode until Kampong Cham, calmy stopped to fix two flats two km before the guest house and finally arrived. The friendly owners allowed us graciously to store our very dirty bicycles inside and we found some food and went to bed. Tomorrow will be another day.

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Funnily we woke up to this. Funny because it seems like such a stark contrast to all the mud and dirt from yesterday. p1190109

We had decided that we would need a day for resting and cleaning and after breakfast we did just that.   p1190114 p1190117 p1190118

In the afternoon we rode the unloaded bicycles over Kampong Cham’s famous bamboo bridge which is newly built every year. Amazing how strong bamboo is! Can you spot the car in the picture?

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Some leisurely halfhearted cycling around the island led us to this temple…

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… and another one of the beautiful houses on stilts.

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But to be honest all I wanted to do was nothing. No new impressions, no new challenges, no more mud. Not today anyway.

See you tomorrow!

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Into Pnomh Penh – Getting a taste of Cambodia’s challenges

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May 2016

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Leaving Battambang after a week we were both happy to be on the road again.  The two days cycling towards Pnomh Penh led us past a lot of agriculture and this interesting earthen structure. We couldn’t quite figure out what it was for though. p1190010

 

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lots of houses on stilts…

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and found the river which led us into Pnomh Penh. Unfortunately there was some major road construction happening. So the going was rather tough and we were a bit slower than expected. When it was already getting dark two people on a motorcycle rode past us and kept looking back at us. Eventually they stopped and talked to us. And this is how we met Ary and Aude, two French staying in Cambodia to live and work. They invited us to stay with them but as we already had organized a warmshowers host to stay with we decided to meet up for dinner the next day. What a warm welcome!

p1190030_v1 Over the river we had another surprise waiting for us. Our hosts Raphael and Claudia were living right beside the Mekong in a beautiful house with a garden.  p1190040  p1190048 p1190049 p1190053

We spent our days in Pnomh Penh relaxing, cycling around the city and also gave the bicycles a good clean. Cambodia’s secondary roads left a little dust where there should be no dust:

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We also payed a visit to Tuol Sleng Prison where the Khmer Rouge incarcerated and tortured people they didn’t agree with. Not an easy place to be at until today. I was especially interested in the portrayed stories of people who had been forced to resettle somewhere else / to marry someone they didn’t want to marry / to work for something they didn’t believe in. All of this happened not too long ago and all these stories are still a part of today’s society.

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On two days we ended up staying with Ary and Aude in the city as the ferry over the river only runs until 10pm. They cooked a fantastic dinner for us and introduced us to the French way of slowly eating for about 3 hours. We also tagged along for some drinks in the evening and found ourselves in a district that could as well be in Italy or Spain. With lots of small bars and restaurants it looked distinctly European.

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Pnomh Penh was an interesting place to be. It was a cocktail of extremes with simple Cambodian eateries on the one side and fancy French bakeries with fancy prices on the other side. Shiny malls and Tuol Sleng Prison. Lots of old scooters and a few expensive 4 wheel drives. And everything in between.

It is very easy for foreigners to get a Cambodian business visa for a year to stay. Volontourism is ever rising and the industry of charity is booming still. There is an ongoing discussion about the effects of Western charity and for anyone considering going to volunteer or work in Cambodia I recommend reading this article on volontourism and Cambodian orphanages :

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2012/05/201252243030438171.html

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With a lot of new impressions and things to think about we left Pnomh Penh after a few days for the countryside. We planned on following the mighty Mekong for a while to see where it would lead us… More on that next time!

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Racing to Cambodia – on passion, hospitality and being sick

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May 2016

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Man it was hard to leave Bangkok. We loved the family atmosphere at Toom’s place and will be forever grateful to him and all the people staying there for our time together. But our visa time was rapidly coming to an end and so we had four days to make it to Cambodia.

On spontaneous hospitality and a lot of passion

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As it was still unbearably hot and no clouds in sight we decided to look for accommodation in Chachoengsao. We asked and asked but it was all too pricey for us. It already got dark when a passing road cyclist took pity on us and ended up leading us to a friend’s place. There we would be sure to find a place to rest and spend the night. And oh my how we did!

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Mit Saladin and his family created a very special place indeed. The Saladin Cafe is a former workshop / now cafe / restaurant / bar / future hostel. They are in the progress of building some rooms where travelers can stay and we got to test one of them. It is in the cellar with very low ceilings and will thus be one of our most memorable sleeping spaces.

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Love the atmosphere! There was also a toilet and a bath tub but fortunately not ready to use yet…

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… which is why we got to use the family bath room! And this is hands down the most beautiful nature bathroom I have ever seen!

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Of course it helps when there is no winter :). In the morning we enjoyed some freshly made noodle soup and got together for a photo shoot with Mit Saladin and his family. What a fantastic start after our break in Bangkok!

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Going to Cambodia

Afterwards we left the populated areas and enjoyed the hell out of the small roads leading us to Cambodia.

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And just before we entered a natural reserve we rolled over another big mile stone: The first 10.000 km! Not that numbers are that important but it amazes me that you can get that far on a bicycle. Not an engine powered car / motorcycle / plane, no, just a simple bicycle. Here’s to the next 10.000 km – I wonder where they will lead us…?

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For the time being we were still in Thailand, cycling through a natural reserve. We had been warned before that it would be dangerous cycling through as there are elephants living here. And said elephants are known to chase cars and motorcyclists. Oh well. The only evidence of those beautiful animals we saw were those heaps of shit. Which seemed most interesting to a bunch of butterflies. What can I say, tastes vary a lot!

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It was still unbearably hot during our last days in Thailand. But the appearing clouds promised a soon to come rainy season and with that some relief from the heat.

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We cycled past many of these spirit houses that Thai people often have in front / near their houses.

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On the very last day of our Visas we finally entered Cambodia. Shamefully I have to admit that I was a bit confused about which side to cycle on. After leaving the crowded border most people seemed to drive on the right side which did confuse me a bit. Eventually Torsten asked me why I was cycling on the other side of the road. Ooops! After almost two years of driving and cycling on the left side it had become so normal that I totally forgot to check about Cambodia’s road laws. Oh well!

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For the rest of the day we turned away from the main road and cycled on dusty dry roads towards Battambang. Temperatures were at an all new high today and as I had an appointment for my last rabies vaccination at 5pm, it turned out to be a bit of a race against time and against the wish to just lie down in the shade and consume a bottle of sugar cane juice per hour.

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But we made it, I got my vaccination, we found a hostel and I got really sick the very next day.

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Which made us stay in Battambang for a week. With lots of tea and coffee, baguettes from one of the bakeries and ample down time it wasn’t too bad for me, but Torsten was getting restless. But sometimes there is just not much you can do except to wait it out. After about a week I finally got better and we set out towards Pnomh Penh. More on that next time!

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