Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Silly Trip Trivia
I have finally uploaded my pictures. They can be found in the individual posts. Click on a date in the Archives section to view older posts with the new pictures.
Here is some silly trivia from the trip:
Longest day: 121km
Shortest day: 10km
Most interesting non-bike transport: The pickup truck out of Siem Reap. The locals were shocked that I would ride with them and we all had a good laugh as we piled on top of all the stuff in the truck.
Number of cycle tourists that I met: 13
Number of them going the other way: 10. Isn't that always the way??? Maybe I should be more paranoid!
Most "Hellos" yelled at me in one day: Between Siem Reap and Kampong Thom. Hundreds of them.
Most useful item: Immodium :-)
Most useless item: Fleece jacket. Can't believe I inadvertantly put it in my pannier instead of in the bike box to be stored while I rode. 42C temperatures and I was lugging around a fleece jacket! Definitely get the Twinkie award for that.
Most surprising event: Getting fanned by someone when I mentioned that it was hot out!
Best food score: jar of peanut butter to give the daily baguette lunches a little more punch.
Best sunrise: Between Siem Reap and Kampong Thom.
Best Hotel: Nguyen Khang in Saigon
Best Restaurant: On the way to Long Hoa. Free lunch/feast with Scott and Nikki
Best Drink: The chai with my family on the way home from the airport. :-)
Favourite continent to ride: Still South America!
Here is some silly trivia from the trip:
Longest day: 121km
Shortest day: 10km
Most interesting non-bike transport: The pickup truck out of Siem Reap. The locals were shocked that I would ride with them and we all had a good laugh as we piled on top of all the stuff in the truck.
Number of cycle tourists that I met: 13
Number of them going the other way: 10. Isn't that always the way??? Maybe I should be more paranoid!
Most "Hellos" yelled at me in one day: Between Siem Reap and Kampong Thom. Hundreds of them.
Most useful item: Immodium :-)
Most useless item: Fleece jacket. Can't believe I inadvertantly put it in my pannier instead of in the bike box to be stored while I rode. 42C temperatures and I was lugging around a fleece jacket! Definitely get the Twinkie award for that.
Most surprising event: Getting fanned by someone when I mentioned that it was hot out!
Best food score: jar of peanut butter to give the daily baguette lunches a little more punch.
Best sunrise: Between Siem Reap and Kampong Thom.
Best Hotel: Nguyen Khang in Saigon
Best Restaurant: On the way to Long Hoa. Free lunch/feast with Scott and Nikki
Best Drink: The chai with my family on the way home from the airport. :-)
Favourite continent to ride: Still South America!
Labels: Trip Trivia
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Summary of cycling info
Well for anyone planning a trip in the area, here is a summary of the miles ridden, places stayed and condition of the roads. Hope it helps.
Ho Chi Minh City - Nguyen Khang Hotel (nguyenkhanghotel@yahoo.com.vn). $12. Excellent place and highly recommended. Just off Pham Ngu Lao St in District 1 so everything is nearby, yet it is quieter than most places. Amazing people there. They also stored my bike box for me for a month while I rode so they are very bicycle friendly. You keep your bike in the dining room area along side the motos so it is very safe.
Mytho - 78 km - Rang Dong Hotel. Adequate. $9. Road was pretty hairy getting out of Saigon. Loads of traffic and fumes. Definitely wear a mask if you hope to keep your lungs working! It eventually got a little less chaotic away from the city but the volume of vehicles was still really high.
Vinh Long - 76 km - Kach San Nam Phuon $12. Very nice. Traffic was a bit lighter, but still heavy enough to wear a mask all day.
Cantho - 39 km - Kach San 31. Adequate, $8. There is one ferry ride involved which was not too painful at all. Line up with the motos and jostle for a spot on deck. Still decent paved roads but a fair amount of traffic.
Long Xuyen - 87 km - Hotel Long Xuyen. Quite nice but noisy, includes breakfast. $12. Lovely paved road and it became much more rural about half way there. The traffic is lighter now but won't get really light until Cambodia. If you are following the Lonely Planet cue sheet at this point, there is a turn that they have wrong. Can't remember which one, but it is within about 10km of the start. Watch the road signs and read your map instead.
Chau Doc - 61 km - Vin Phuoc Hotel. $5. The staff were great but you could likely do better. Room was rather disgusting. This was the best cycling so far. Much less traffic, lovely paved road and the people were really friendly. Felt less like a tourist with a dollar sign on my forehead and more like a person.
Phnom Penh - Here is where I cheated and took the boat to PP. Very civilized way to go. I had no recent information on the road into PP but eventually met some cyclists who rode that way and said it was fabulous. They rode from Chau Doc to Takeo and said the road was well paved and practically empty. The did bus it from Takeo into PP but thought the road looked fine. If you cycled HCMC then PP will be a cake walk, so don't worry about the warnings of crazy traffic. It is less crazy than Saigon. Here I stayed with Rob and Zarah of warm showers fame. They were fabulous hosts. I hope that some day some warm showers cyclists will stay with me so I can pay their hospitality forward!
Note, there is a little market and a basic guesthouse in Oudong if you don't feel like riding the whole way to Kampong Chhnang.
Kampong Chhnamg - 97 km - Prey Preheak Guesthouse. $5. Bad, try finding something else. Traffic thinned fairly quickly once outside PP and it became an amazing ride. The people were curious, friendly and treated me like a human. The chorus of "hellos" started and didn't stop till I returned to Vietnam.
Met some cyclists who stayed in Krakor and said it was disgusting that they should have just kept riding.
Pursat - 100 km - Than Sour Hotel Guesthouse. $11. Very nice and quiet. Even had a bathtub! Light traffic and still smooth pavement. As I got closer to Pursat I found the people to be a bit more aggressive. I wound up leaving dinner after dark and felt uncomfortable walking alone, there were several lewd sounding comments thrown my way, although my Khmer is pretty bad. This place is best visited with someone else or in daylight. This is the first place I had a bad vibe with and would only have one other day where I felt the same. Not bad really!
Battambang - 109 km - Chhaya Hotel. $10. Reasonably cheap and decent. Road was good and although traffic picked up a bit nearing the city, it was still easy going. There was a slight rise in the road once but still couldn't call it a hill!
Siem Reap - Took the boat ride into SR. There is about a 16km ride from the boat into town. The first 5 km are nasty, sandy, dirt road with tons of motos, tour buses and tuk-tuks all fighting to get to town first. Once you hit the pavement it is easy going. Here is where the pavement becomes a little less smooth and stays that way until you get back to Vietnam. Not bad, just not as smooth as highway 5. Angkor Voyage Villa Hotel. $12?
Kampong Thum - 121 km - Arunas Hotel. $5. Great balcony for drying laundry. I did take a pickup truck ride for about 30 km, so if you are a purist and want to ride the whole thing it will be closer to 150 km. Lovely ride, flat, friendly and paved but farther than I wanted to ride in a day.
Kampong Cham - 49 km - Mekong Hotel $5. Fan room was actually rather nice.
This time I took a minibus to Skuon and rode from there. It is 148km if you ride highway 6 to highway 7, but it is paved the whole way. You can go the more direct route (at least it looks more direct on the map) which is starting on 6, veering left onto 21 and then turning left on 7. Sounds easy enough and according to Stuart it was about 110km. However, there is about 30km of dirt roads in the middle and a few unmarked turns that don't show up on my map. I didn't trust my sense of direction and was a little low on energy so I took the easy route. However, he said it was a fabulous ride and that the scenery was great.
Prey Veng - 81 km - Angkor Thom Hotel. $10. Nice enough although my hot water heater was broken. There are actually a few tiny hills along this section! Wahoo. Nothing to make you sweat but I did at least have to change gears. Made it interesting. The road goes through rubber plantations for a long section which is awesome because there is a ton of shade on the road. Much nicer than the hot sun! The pavement was rather rough for the first 30 or so km but improved after that.
Svay Rieng - 99 km - Tonle Waikor Hotel. $10. Hard to find but quite nice. Nice roads again. However, the people seemed a bit more aggressive as I got closer to Svay Rieng. This was only one of two days where I felt a tad uncomfortable riding alone. Other cyclists who rode as a pair didn't get that feeling at all. Hmm.
Long Hoa - 89 km -Kach San Kiem Hong. $9. Nice place, nice owners. They didn't speak a word of English but they were still quite accommodating. The road was fine and did become a bit smoother after crossing the border, but once off highway 22 it was hell. The road to Long Hoa was under construction and very dusty, rocky, bumpy, and fairly busy for the first while. Traffic got lighter as you got away from the main highway, but I ate an awful lot of dust that day!
HCMC - see above. Took a bus into the city. I had already cycled out of Saigon and felt no need to prove to myself that I could ride back in. Just tons of smelly traffic along the road but at least as you got closer to the city, for awhile they kept the trucks separate from the motos and cyclists.
Ho Chi Minh City - Nguyen Khang Hotel (nguyenkhanghotel@yahoo.com.vn). $12. Excellent place and highly recommended. Just off Pham Ngu Lao St in District 1 so everything is nearby, yet it is quieter than most places. Amazing people there. They also stored my bike box for me for a month while I rode so they are very bicycle friendly. You keep your bike in the dining room area along side the motos so it is very safe.
Mytho - 78 km - Rang Dong Hotel. Adequate. $9. Road was pretty hairy getting out of Saigon. Loads of traffic and fumes. Definitely wear a mask if you hope to keep your lungs working! It eventually got a little less chaotic away from the city but the volume of vehicles was still really high.
Vinh Long - 76 km - Kach San Nam Phuon $12. Very nice. Traffic was a bit lighter, but still heavy enough to wear a mask all day.
Cantho - 39 km - Kach San 31. Adequate, $8. There is one ferry ride involved which was not too painful at all. Line up with the motos and jostle for a spot on deck. Still decent paved roads but a fair amount of traffic.
Long Xuyen - 87 km - Hotel Long Xuyen. Quite nice but noisy, includes breakfast. $12. Lovely paved road and it became much more rural about half way there. The traffic is lighter now but won't get really light until Cambodia. If you are following the Lonely Planet cue sheet at this point, there is a turn that they have wrong. Can't remember which one, but it is within about 10km of the start. Watch the road signs and read your map instead.
Chau Doc - 61 km - Vin Phuoc Hotel. $5. The staff were great but you could likely do better. Room was rather disgusting. This was the best cycling so far. Much less traffic, lovely paved road and the people were really friendly. Felt less like a tourist with a dollar sign on my forehead and more like a person.
Phnom Penh - Here is where I cheated and took the boat to PP. Very civilized way to go. I had no recent information on the road into PP but eventually met some cyclists who rode that way and said it was fabulous. They rode from Chau Doc to Takeo and said the road was well paved and practically empty. The did bus it from Takeo into PP but thought the road looked fine. If you cycled HCMC then PP will be a cake walk, so don't worry about the warnings of crazy traffic. It is less crazy than Saigon. Here I stayed with Rob and Zarah of warm showers fame. They were fabulous hosts. I hope that some day some warm showers cyclists will stay with me so I can pay their hospitality forward!
Note, there is a little market and a basic guesthouse in Oudong if you don't feel like riding the whole way to Kampong Chhnang.
Kampong Chhnamg - 97 km - Prey Preheak Guesthouse. $5. Bad, try finding something else. Traffic thinned fairly quickly once outside PP and it became an amazing ride. The people were curious, friendly and treated me like a human. The chorus of "hellos" started and didn't stop till I returned to Vietnam.
Met some cyclists who stayed in Krakor and said it was disgusting that they should have just kept riding.
Pursat - 100 km - Than Sour Hotel Guesthouse. $11. Very nice and quiet. Even had a bathtub! Light traffic and still smooth pavement. As I got closer to Pursat I found the people to be a bit more aggressive. I wound up leaving dinner after dark and felt uncomfortable walking alone, there were several lewd sounding comments thrown my way, although my Khmer is pretty bad. This place is best visited with someone else or in daylight. This is the first place I had a bad vibe with and would only have one other day where I felt the same. Not bad really!
Battambang - 109 km - Chhaya Hotel. $10. Reasonably cheap and decent. Road was good and although traffic picked up a bit nearing the city, it was still easy going. There was a slight rise in the road once but still couldn't call it a hill!
Siem Reap - Took the boat ride into SR. There is about a 16km ride from the boat into town. The first 5 km are nasty, sandy, dirt road with tons of motos, tour buses and tuk-tuks all fighting to get to town first. Once you hit the pavement it is easy going. Here is where the pavement becomes a little less smooth and stays that way until you get back to Vietnam. Not bad, just not as smooth as highway 5. Angkor Voyage Villa Hotel. $12?
Kampong Thum - 121 km - Arunas Hotel. $5. Great balcony for drying laundry. I did take a pickup truck ride for about 30 km, so if you are a purist and want to ride the whole thing it will be closer to 150 km. Lovely ride, flat, friendly and paved but farther than I wanted to ride in a day.
Kampong Cham - 49 km - Mekong Hotel $5. Fan room was actually rather nice.
This time I took a minibus to Skuon and rode from there. It is 148km if you ride highway 6 to highway 7, but it is paved the whole way. You can go the more direct route (at least it looks more direct on the map) which is starting on 6, veering left onto 21 and then turning left on 7. Sounds easy enough and according to Stuart it was about 110km. However, there is about 30km of dirt roads in the middle and a few unmarked turns that don't show up on my map. I didn't trust my sense of direction and was a little low on energy so I took the easy route. However, he said it was a fabulous ride and that the scenery was great.
Prey Veng - 81 km - Angkor Thom Hotel. $10. Nice enough although my hot water heater was broken. There are actually a few tiny hills along this section! Wahoo. Nothing to make you sweat but I did at least have to change gears. Made it interesting. The road goes through rubber plantations for a long section which is awesome because there is a ton of shade on the road. Much nicer than the hot sun! The pavement was rather rough for the first 30 or so km but improved after that.
Svay Rieng - 99 km - Tonle Waikor Hotel. $10. Hard to find but quite nice. Nice roads again. However, the people seemed a bit more aggressive as I got closer to Svay Rieng. This was only one of two days where I felt a tad uncomfortable riding alone. Other cyclists who rode as a pair didn't get that feeling at all. Hmm.
Long Hoa - 89 km -Kach San Kiem Hong. $9. Nice place, nice owners. They didn't speak a word of English but they were still quite accommodating. The road was fine and did become a bit smoother after crossing the border, but once off highway 22 it was hell. The road to Long Hoa was under construction and very dusty, rocky, bumpy, and fairly busy for the first while. Traffic got lighter as you got away from the main highway, but I ate an awful lot of dust that day!
HCMC - see above. Took a bus into the city. I had already cycled out of Saigon and felt no need to prove to myself that I could ride back in. Just tons of smelly traffic along the road but at least as you got closer to the city, for awhile they kept the trucks separate from the motos and cyclists.
Labels: Cycling Summary
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Going Going Saigon!
Well this is it, the end of the road for this trip. My plane leaves at midnight tonight and I understand I will be going back to some pretty cold weather. That part bites but I am looking forward to seeing everyone again.
Rover is napping in the bike box and everything is packed and ready to go. That left me with the whole day to play tourist. I checked out the War Remnants Museum which gave a very different take on the "American War" than what the Americans reported. I am sure the truth lies somewhere in between both of their accounts. Still, there were some pretty horrible things that happened. I also went to the Cu Chi tunnels yesterday. The Vietnamese were pretty clever and extremely determined dragging supplies and themselves through these little, tiny tunnels. They really are hard workers and that hasn't changed even though many other things about the country have changed since then.
I also went for a swim in a posh pool. It was nice finding a cushy resting place for my little rubber duckie. I was likely the only cyclist pedalling around South East Asia carrying a rubber duck and noseclips but there was method to my madness. My swim team, the Master Ducks, has a habit of hiding little rubber duckies at pools that we visit. This little guy has ventured the farthest from home so far. It was quite fun taking photos of him at various spots around the country. I am hoping (likely against all hope) that if I got a few good photos and stashed the duck in an exotic place that my coach will take some mercy on me for my first practice next week! A month out of the water can be a long time.
Anyway, enough rambling. I will post a few photos when I get home. Thanks to everyone who has followed along the blog. It has been great fun getting your comments along the way! Until the next trip... Tam Biet.
Labels: Vietnam 2007
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Back to Vietnam
What a wild day. It was a riot riding with Nikki and Scott. They are both really good riders, he races and she guides mountain bike tours. One look at their legs and I didn't think I would ever keep up to them. Luckily they are really nice and didn't leave me far behind. In fact I drafted behind them all day which was great because we had a pretty decent headwind. It was a real treat riding with them, they are funny, observant and added a new perspective to riding through Cambodia. The locals react a bit differently to a group of 3 riders than to 1 so it was kind of fun to see the difference. We made it through the border with no problems, they just soaked us for a few bucks here and a few bucks there. Definitely back in Vietnam. Nothing like that happened at the Cambodian border.
We decided to stop for a quick bite of lunch before tackling the bumpy ride north to Long Hoa. What a fortuitous decision. We went to a little roadside restaurant and were immediately treated like rock stars. Before we even made it to our table, a customer handed us some of their food. Everyone gathered around us and showed us how to eat it all. Next thing we knew a huge feast was being laid out in front of us. They all helped us figure it out and it was absolutely delicious. I have no idea what some of the things were but seafood was a strong possibility. One man dragged Scott off to see his prized bird... he appeared to be into cock fighting which is alive and well in this part of the country. They took our pictures and we took theirs. It was a regular party on the side of the road! They wouldn't let us pay although in the confusion when we left I think Scott managed to leave them some money. Nikki and I gave them a few souvenirs. It was such a riot. Something that could only happen when travelling by bike!
Eventually we made it to Long Hoa, got cleaned up and checked out the Caodai temple. This is the big cheese temple of their religion, which is an amalgamation of several other religions. They think Victor Hugo is a saint. It was like Disney gone bad. They whole church was bright and colourful with what can only be described as evil caricatures. They looked like little Disney cartoons with mean expressions on their faces. Not all looked mean, but enough of them did to be a little creepy. There was also a huge globe at the alter with an eye in the middle of it. There were eyes in prominent places on the outside of the building too, presumably so the big cheese can keep an eye on everyone! I will post a few pictures when I get back home because words don't do this justice. It was interesting though. There are lots of things to see in these countries if you are into religion.
Anyway, after a fun evening drinking sweetened iced coffee and pigging out, we got up early the next day to hop a bus to Saigon. We made it in and once I took a deep breath of smog I was extremely happy that we decided to bus it instead of riding in. It looked like a really nasty bike ride and since I had already cycled out of the city I felt no need to prove to myself that I could do it again. Instead I went to Sozo and had a mango shake to toast the end of my ride. I guess I will be taking Rover apart and packing him up tomorrow. Hard to believe that it is almost time to go home!
Long Hoa - Kach San Diem Hong - hot water and air con for 150,000 Dong. Not too shabby and directly across from the main Caodai Temple. Interesting decor though, some decorative tiles with a Disney theme across the middle of the wall with a large calendar picture of a hunk and babe suggestively hanging off a motorcycle! Seems like an odd combo... Disney and soft porn!
89km
We decided to stop for a quick bite of lunch before tackling the bumpy ride north to Long Hoa. What a fortuitous decision. We went to a little roadside restaurant and were immediately treated like rock stars. Before we even made it to our table, a customer handed us some of their food. Everyone gathered around us and showed us how to eat it all. Next thing we knew a huge feast was being laid out in front of us. They all helped us figure it out and it was absolutely delicious. I have no idea what some of the things were but seafood was a strong possibility. One man dragged Scott off to see his prized bird... he appeared to be into cock fighting which is alive and well in this part of the country. They took our pictures and we took theirs. It was a regular party on the side of the road! They wouldn't let us pay although in the confusion when we left I think Scott managed to leave them some money. Nikki and I gave them a few souvenirs. It was such a riot. Something that could only happen when travelling by bike!
Eventually we made it to Long Hoa, got cleaned up and checked out the Caodai temple. This is the big cheese temple of their religion, which is an amalgamation of several other religions. They think Victor Hugo is a saint. It was like Disney gone bad. They whole church was bright and colourful with what can only be described as evil caricatures. They looked like little Disney cartoons with mean expressions on their faces. Not all looked mean, but enough of them did to be a little creepy. There was also a huge globe at the alter with an eye in the middle of it. There were eyes in prominent places on the outside of the building too, presumably so the big cheese can keep an eye on everyone! I will post a few pictures when I get back home because words don't do this justice. It was interesting though. There are lots of things to see in these countries if you are into religion.
Anyway, after a fun evening drinking sweetened iced coffee and pigging out, we got up early the next day to hop a bus to Saigon. We made it in and once I took a deep breath of smog I was extremely happy that we decided to bus it instead of riding in. It looked like a really nasty bike ride and since I had already cycled out of the city I felt no need to prove to myself that I could do it again. Instead I went to Sozo and had a mango shake to toast the end of my ride. I guess I will be taking Rover apart and packing him up tomorrow. Hard to believe that it is almost time to go home!
Long Hoa - Kach San Diem Hong - hot water and air con for 150,000 Dong. Not too shabby and directly across from the main Caodai Temple. Interesting decor though, some decorative tiles with a Disney theme across the middle of the wall with a large calendar picture of a hunk and babe suggestively hanging off a motorcycle! Seems like an odd combo... Disney and soft porn!
89km
Labels: Cambodia 2007, Vietnam 2007
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
What is that bump in the road?
I thought it was a mirage at first, but as I got closer I realized that it was actually a ... drum roll please... HILL! Well, not exactly a mountain but I actually got to change gears for once! It was rather fun to be able to go up and down. I have been enjoying the flat terrain this trip but a hill is always good for a thrill, even if it is pretty tiny. I rode through a rubber tree plantation which was fabulous. They have trees on both sides of the road so you get shade most of the day. Not only does it feel good to be shaded, the water doesn't get as close to boiling as usual. I am now used to drinking very hot water during the day without ever having to turn on a kettle! :-)
Prey Veng was a pretty sleepy little town. Seemed odd to see a cow wandering down the main street poking through the garbage looking for food. The chickens do that too which gives a whole new meaning to "free range". Don't think I will be paying extra for that marketing ploy any time soon!
I watched Terminal on HBO and they kept shooting scenes in front of Starbucks. For two days now all I can think of is a nice big cup of chai tea!!! Guess where I am going next week when I get home...
This morning was a completely different ride. I was actually on the road by 6:20 which is the earliest start by far. I watched the sun rise over the rice paddies and it was spectacular. Even though many of the fields are brown due to lack of irrigation it was a sight to behold. The tone of the people changed again today and the usual shouts of hello were louder and a bit more aggressive. Maybe it was just such a contrast to the beautiful, peaceful scenery around me. There is also more traffic now... the peace and quiet is now officially behind me as it will only increase as I get closer to Ho Chi Minh City. I guess I am a bit sad to see the quite countryside slowly disappear. That is my favourite kind of riding, nothing but nature and open spaces.
My early start paid off because I pulled into a town just as a pair of American cyclists were getting ready to start riding. We had a chat and they seemed very nice. Nikki and Scott are from Philadelphia. We are going to meet up for dinner tonight and then ride to Long Hoa together tomorrow. After that we will try to hire a taxi or minibus to take us and the bikes into HCMC to avoid the traffic. I am delighted with that idea as the ride out of the city was enough for me. That will leave me plenty of time to see the War Remnants Museum, the Cu Chi tunnels and go for a swim in a pool so I can finally hide my little Master Duck Mascot. I have to admit hanging on to the little guy for the whole trip because I have been having fun taking pictures of him in all kinds of places. I am hoping that if I do a good job of hiding the duck and take funny pictures of him, that my coach won't be tooooo hard on me when I get back into the pool! I expect that first practice will hurt a lot! Of course, it will be a different kind of pain than my butt feels after 121km on the bike!
Anyway, looking forward to having some cycling companions tomorrow. I hope you guys start to warm things up over there because after a month of weather in the 30s I think the cold may be a bit hard to take!
Prey Veng - Angkor Thom Hotel. $10 with air con and a broken hot water heater. Still was a nice room though. Not too many bugs although when I went to put on my cycling shorts this morning a little lizard came running out of them... you never know what lurks around here!
81km
Svay Rieng - Tonle something hotel. $10 with air con but no hot water. Seems nice although there are a ton of bugs caught in the spider webs. Definitely a mosquito net kind of room.
99km
Prey Veng was a pretty sleepy little town. Seemed odd to see a cow wandering down the main street poking through the garbage looking for food. The chickens do that too which gives a whole new meaning to "free range". Don't think I will be paying extra for that marketing ploy any time soon!
I watched Terminal on HBO and they kept shooting scenes in front of Starbucks. For two days now all I can think of is a nice big cup of chai tea!!! Guess where I am going next week when I get home...
This morning was a completely different ride. I was actually on the road by 6:20 which is the earliest start by far. I watched the sun rise over the rice paddies and it was spectacular. Even though many of the fields are brown due to lack of irrigation it was a sight to behold. The tone of the people changed again today and the usual shouts of hello were louder and a bit more aggressive. Maybe it was just such a contrast to the beautiful, peaceful scenery around me. There is also more traffic now... the peace and quiet is now officially behind me as it will only increase as I get closer to Ho Chi Minh City. I guess I am a bit sad to see the quite countryside slowly disappear. That is my favourite kind of riding, nothing but nature and open spaces.
My early start paid off because I pulled into a town just as a pair of American cyclists were getting ready to start riding. We had a chat and they seemed very nice. Nikki and Scott are from Philadelphia. We are going to meet up for dinner tonight and then ride to Long Hoa together tomorrow. After that we will try to hire a taxi or minibus to take us and the bikes into HCMC to avoid the traffic. I am delighted with that idea as the ride out of the city was enough for me. That will leave me plenty of time to see the War Remnants Museum, the Cu Chi tunnels and go for a swim in a pool so I can finally hide my little Master Duck Mascot. I have to admit hanging on to the little guy for the whole trip because I have been having fun taking pictures of him in all kinds of places. I am hoping that if I do a good job of hiding the duck and take funny pictures of him, that my coach won't be tooooo hard on me when I get back into the pool! I expect that first practice will hurt a lot! Of course, it will be a different kind of pain than my butt feels after 121km on the bike!
Anyway, looking forward to having some cycling companions tomorrow. I hope you guys start to warm things up over there because after a month of weather in the 30s I think the cold may be a bit hard to take!
Prey Veng - Angkor Thom Hotel. $10 with air con and a broken hot water heater. Still was a nice room though. Not too many bugs although when I went to put on my cycling shorts this morning a little lizard came running out of them... you never know what lurks around here!
81km
Svay Rieng - Tonle something hotel. $10 with air con but no hot water. Seems nice although there are a ton of bugs caught in the spider webs. Definitely a mosquito net kind of room.
99km
Labels: Cambodia 2007
Sunday, January 21, 2007
bye-bye, ok, hello
Hello everyone. I have been on the road for two days now after leaving Siem Reap. It was quite the experience seeing the temples and all that jazz. Glad I saw them but I don't feel bad for not checking more of them out. I think I am suffering from "ruin fatigue" or something. It feels great to be out riding away from the hordes again. I cheated a bit and hopped on a pick up truck for about 30km between Siem Reap and Kampong Thum. I still wound up riding 121km that day so I don't feel too bad about it. They were shocked when I asked to hop on the pick up... apparently foreigners are supposed to travel in the expensive, air conditioned buses. The folks in the back all got a giggle out of me and many of them timidly touched my arms to see what white skin felt like. They can't believe I ride without long sleeves to protect my skin. If I did that I would collapse from the heat!
The riding was amazing though, extremely friendly locals and hardly any traffic. The hardest part was finding somewhere quiet to pull over and have a snack. It seems that every bit of shade has a kid lurking somewhere who wants to come out and say "bye-bye, ok, hello"... usually in that order! The next favourite thing to yell is "what is your name"... which if answered, completely confounds them! Still, the best parts of the trip have been the moments when I pulled over for some sugar cane juice or coconut milk and interacted with the locals. We always wind up laughing a lot somehow or other. In fact, when I stopped for a drink at one little stall they had lots of questions for me. They asked if I was tired and I said not really but that I was very hot. The girl disappeared for a moment and came back with a piece of cardboard and started fanning me with it!!! I felt like a queen being pampered! It was so funny... we were all in stitches when she did that.
Today I was very weary and my knees have still not recovered from yesterdays ride, so I wimped out and took a minibus part of the way. Thought it would be better for my aching knees but I didn't count on being sandwiched in there for 3 hours to go a mere 58km! We had to cruise around town for over an hour before the bus was full enough for them to go so it turned out to be a very long ride! I am still glad to have only done a shorter ride today though because I am pretty wiped. I think I need to eat more food now that I am back in the saddle. I see some noodles in my immediate future!
I met a couple of cycle tourists in Kampong Thum. Stuart is on his first tour (solo) from Japan and will finish up in Thailand. I am so impressed with undertaking this long jaunt for his first bike tour! Japan, China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand - that takes guts!!! Why is it the hot, cycling dudes are always going the other direction anyway??? I met another Aussie cyclist as I was leaving this morning. He is heading south but stopping in Phnom Penh so our paths won't cross again. Seems like this is quite the popular destination with the cycling crowd! Maybe because it is so flat??? I am enjoying it but I still prefer South America to Asia.
Kampong Thum - Arunras Hotel - $5. Pretty good. Fan, broken TV, cold water. No bugs and fairly quiet. Even had a balcony which was great for hanging laundry on! Stuart stayed at the Arunras Guest house next door and said it was good. He only paid $4 for a fan room.
121km
Kampong Cham - Mekong Hotel - $5. Nice fan room. TV, cold water, nice staff. There is a great view of the Mekong River but I forgot to ask for a room with a view so I don't look over it. Still, it is nice that there is a little park right in front of the hotel to hang around at later.
49km
There are 2 routes from Kg Thum to Kg Cham. The best roads are highway 6 & 7 which apart from only a few tiny patches of dirt are reasonably good. That route is about 148 km though. You can take road 21 which works out to about 120 km but it is a bit more complicated than it looks on the map. There is about 10km of dirt road in the middle and you have to take a few turns at that point. Ask around to make sure you are on the right path. Stuart said it was a really nice road. I thought about taking it so I could see the killing fields but they aren't marked and I likely wouldn't have found them, so I took the bus/bike combo on the main roads instead.
The riding was amazing though, extremely friendly locals and hardly any traffic. The hardest part was finding somewhere quiet to pull over and have a snack. It seems that every bit of shade has a kid lurking somewhere who wants to come out and say "bye-bye, ok, hello"... usually in that order! The next favourite thing to yell is "what is your name"... which if answered, completely confounds them! Still, the best parts of the trip have been the moments when I pulled over for some sugar cane juice or coconut milk and interacted with the locals. We always wind up laughing a lot somehow or other. In fact, when I stopped for a drink at one little stall they had lots of questions for me. They asked if I was tired and I said not really but that I was very hot. The girl disappeared for a moment and came back with a piece of cardboard and started fanning me with it!!! I felt like a queen being pampered! It was so funny... we were all in stitches when she did that.
Today I was very weary and my knees have still not recovered from yesterdays ride, so I wimped out and took a minibus part of the way. Thought it would be better for my aching knees but I didn't count on being sandwiched in there for 3 hours to go a mere 58km! We had to cruise around town for over an hour before the bus was full enough for them to go so it turned out to be a very long ride! I am still glad to have only done a shorter ride today though because I am pretty wiped. I think I need to eat more food now that I am back in the saddle. I see some noodles in my immediate future!
I met a couple of cycle tourists in Kampong Thum. Stuart is on his first tour (solo) from Japan and will finish up in Thailand. I am so impressed with undertaking this long jaunt for his first bike tour! Japan, China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand - that takes guts!!! Why is it the hot, cycling dudes are always going the other direction anyway??? I met another Aussie cyclist as I was leaving this morning. He is heading south but stopping in Phnom Penh so our paths won't cross again. Seems like this is quite the popular destination with the cycling crowd! Maybe because it is so flat??? I am enjoying it but I still prefer South America to Asia.
Kampong Thum - Arunras Hotel - $5. Pretty good. Fan, broken TV, cold water. No bugs and fairly quiet. Even had a balcony which was great for hanging laundry on! Stuart stayed at the Arunras Guest house next door and said it was good. He only paid $4 for a fan room.
121km
Kampong Cham - Mekong Hotel - $5. Nice fan room. TV, cold water, nice staff. There is a great view of the Mekong River but I forgot to ask for a room with a view so I don't look over it. Still, it is nice that there is a little park right in front of the hotel to hang around at later.
49km
There are 2 routes from Kg Thum to Kg Cham. The best roads are highway 6 & 7 which apart from only a few tiny patches of dirt are reasonably good. That route is about 148 km though. You can take road 21 which works out to about 120 km but it is a bit more complicated than it looks on the map. There is about 10km of dirt road in the middle and you have to take a few turns at that point. Ask around to make sure you are on the right path. Stuart said it was a really nice road. I thought about taking it so I could see the killing fields but they aren't marked and I likely wouldn't have found them, so I took the bus/bike combo on the main roads instead.
Labels: Cambodia 2007
Friday, January 19, 2007
More temples
Holy comoly, there are a lot of temples here! This morning I went to Angkor Wat to catch the sunrise. Sadly, a gazillion other tourists had the same idea. As the sun started to rise I got frustrated listening to all the chatter so I went in and wandered around in the temple. It was brilliant because there were only a few of us there so we had it to ourselves for awhile. I saw a few other temples and climbed a lot of stairs. This time I took a tuk-tuk there so I didn't have to worry about locking the bike up. Bike is a great way to explore the ruins though, but I figured after 2 days of biking around I would try a different approach.
Later I went off to a silk farm. There is a school that trains rural youths in manufacturing silk amongst other things. It was really interesting to see the process. The organization was awesome, they were very professional and well trained. This gave them decent jobs and a few more choices in life than they would have had in their villages. It was also the first place where there was no hardsell! Whew. Siem Reap is brutal for kids trying to sell you stuff constantly. The minute you look like you might be ready to leave a restaurant, someone tries to get you to take a ride on their motorcycle or sell you more postcards. It gets quite wearisome after a few minutes. I don't have much patience for that kind of stuff.
Now I am just gearing up for the long ride back to Saigon. I have 6 days to get there and will have to ride all 6 days to make it on time. I may take a taxi or two to shorten the ride (tomorrow's ride will be 130km if I don't shorten it... ouch). It seems that the northern route is now pretty much all paved so it should be pretty decent riding. Only a few years ago it was a terrible dirt road. Thankfully that has changed!
Still staying at the Angkor Voyage Villa and loving it. They are really friendly and helpful. They even washed Rover for me for a small tip. The rooms are a great value and I am happy to spend a few more bucks now since I will have basic rooms for the next week.
Jan 17/07 - 26 km
Jan 18/07 40km
Labels: Cambodia 2007
