Well, let’s face it, I was sick – therefore this post is up for grabs? We had one thing going that was not blobbing and sleeping: We went out to a very nice restaurant and had a very nice dinner before hitting the road again the next day. I was feeling better and better and was pretty sure it would be ok to ride again, come tomorrow. The restaurant was on the other side of the Nam Khan, reached via a rickety dry season only bamboo bridge. Nina was not convinced, but the bridge held – both ways. The food at Dyen Sabai was outstanding – easily the best fusion food in Asia so far.
This rickety bridge is only there during the dry season. Water levels rise too high in the wet
Jewelry and gift shop on the other side
Hungry dork with a platter full of amazing food: Mekong seaweed, chili-tomato-salsa, garlic mushrooms, smoked eggplant dip
with sticky rice and a red curry with tofu to share
Nightly lanterns on the way home…pretty
Alright, so now, Cambodia. Why Cambodia and not Thailand? Well, since we are going back to Thailand once more, I thought of doing that one as a single post.
Looking out of the guest house first thing in the morning…we had cow visitors on the other side of the road
We got up early, packed all our things in a way that would let us get to passports and carnet easily at the border and went off in search for breakfast. The same restaurant where we’ve had lunch yesterday was open so we had more baguette and muesli. 🙂 The other two tables were filled with employees of an NGO and their kids who talked to us about motorcycle travels and the like. In the end, they were even able to give us direction to a printing place so we could print something off that we needed for the Iranian visa.
Having done that, we made sure to have exactly the right amount of US dollars before heading north. From Stung Treng, it is another 60km to the border. The Lonely Planet warns that it is in the middle of nowhere but we hadn’t expected that much nowhere to be honest. First of all, it was the worst road we have been on in Cambodia. Big chunks of it are missing, at stretches the seal has created mountains in the middle of the road and there was literally NOTHING around so we even stopped and checked if this was really the road or if we had taken a wrong turn without noticing. Nope, this was the road. Leading to the only border crossing between Cambodia and Laos. Continue reading →
There was only a brief debate, but the rustic charms of our “shack” had worn off and I did not feel like needing another full day to recuperate. Thus, we hit the road again. Baring due north. Until very recently, there was no road, let alone a sealed one, connecting the eastern regional capitals of Sen Monorom and Ban Lung directly. Travelers would genuinely get lost trying to navigate a vast maze of cart and oxen tracks and some payed a handsome “thank you”-fee to a local guide getting them out again.
Huge areas have been transformed to palm plantations made possible and accessible by the new road
None of this anymore – a fully sealed road winds gently down the plateau and through the Lumphat Wildlife Sanctuary connecting the provinces of Mondulkiri and Ratanakiri. But other than this one black strip of tarmac and some trappings that come with such infrastructure, there was still not much else out here. Especially now in the dry, it all is one long savanna / light forest as far as the eye can see. During the whole 150 km journey, we encountered maybe 30 other vehicles. It reminded us at times of the Australian outback. Only the 110cc bikes and rice tractors underscored that is was not that.
Crossing one of many tributaries to the Mekong
We enjoyed the ride, the solitude and the encounters with the hardy Cambodians living out here. We also made immensely good pace – so good that we hit the turn off to Ban Lung a good time before lunch time. With only 100 km to go and such easy riding, we decided to skip Ban Lung and go directly to Strung Treng. Another provincial capital of the province baring the same name, the Mekong town of Strung Treng is the launch pad for early border crossings into Laos.
One of many fires we’ve seen in Cambodia
We booked into a brand new Chinese (as in ethnicity, not nationality) owned guest house a kilometer out of the town center. It was cheap and we could book via Agoda. The room was lovely, clean and, best of all, motel-style on the ground floor with direct motorcycle access! The only downside really was the lack of a restaurant, but the ride to town was short enough.
We went to town that night to a forgettable Chinese restaurant and headed home early to get everything in order for the border crossing tomorrow. We even found a post office to drop off Nina’s next batch of post cards.
Man, I was excited for this day. Getting up at 6am and chomping down our breakfast pancakes so we could go meet the pick-up van at 7am in front of Cafe Hefalump. When we arrived at 6.50am, it soon dawned on us (mostly me) that the instruction email might have had some mistakes in it. Ours stated to be at the cafe at 7am for a 7.10am departure, so please have had breakfast already…which we had. All the other participants, however, arrived at 7am to sit down in the cafe, have their coffee and a breakfast cookie/cake. Luckily, departure was at 7.30am so we didn’t have to wait too long but I was slightly jealous of the cake for breakfast.
Instruction speech in the morning
A Dutch girl, Sabine, from our guesthouse showed up, too, so we had someone to talk to on the way to the Elephant Valley Project. The ride in the van was bumpy and very dusty, at least in the back row. All the dust from the 4WD seemed to be sucked up through the air vents to slowly settle down inside the car. When we stopped, I was happy to leave the dust trap and meet our guide for the day: John. He looked to be about 20 years old and is a volunteer at the project for one year.
The project offers different deals on seeing elephants; Flo and I had decided to go on a full day of elephant spotting instead of volunteering in the afternoon which would have made the whole thing cheaper but we would have seen less elephants. Continue reading →
Waking up, Flo felt like having a cold coming on. Given that we had booked our 10 hour elephant experience for tomorrow, I wanted him to rest in bed rather than visit a waterfall. Said waterfall had turned into a tourist attraction anyway with the zipline company advertising a spectacular line over the waterfall. That might have been fun but was too expensive for us with US$70 per person.
So instead, we had a very slow day at the Happy Elephant Bungalows. Flo spent most of it in bed, as requested, while I sat on the terrace/dining area in the afternoon to enjoy a breeze and some jungle views. I also tried the hammock in front of our own bungalow but while it was only at an ok comfort level, I got insect bites all over my back and so abandoned it again pretty soon.
We literally only went out for lunch which seemed to be very exhausting for Flo already and had an underwhelming dinner at our guest house before going to bed early.
deflated in bed in our spartan little cabin.
In lieu of proper photos of the place – have this. I was sick, after all!
Hanging out at the “restaurant” for a little while.
our little box, with the boardwalk leading there. Everyting swayed a bit.
The silver dolphin statue of our Silver Dolphin guesthouse. Didn’t I say they look like mini pot whales?
Leaving Kratie behind feels a lot like leaving the more “developed” part of Cambodia behind. As with the little shortcut we took to get here, the road leading east to the provincial capital of Sen Monorom was all but deserted. For the first half, still in the low lands, it was an almost exact copy: Very little traffic, small patches of settlement with mostly wooden buildings. But there was something else, something very subtle at first.
The ground got ever so slowly uneven – compared to the vast flatness of the lowlands. The occasional turn sneaked its way into the otherwise endlessly straight black ribbon. It really took off when we re-joined the southern road, following the Khmer-Vietnam border at a distance of about 50 km.
But before that, we hit one of those strange places you find on the wayside of all countries. At first, without proper context, we thought it was rather pretty. A monument clad in black marble, sitting on its island of red earth amidst the suddenly green bush all around. We stopped, took some photos and then I decided to go up to find out a bit more. I am still not 100% sure what this monument commemorates, but it was obviously not the appropriate place for happy selfies. The concrete murals at the base show the suffering of the Khmer people at the hands of Angkar and then some soldiers coming to liberate the people. I think. Definitively more “lest we forget” than “Remember that fun old King”.
That almost looks like jungle!
From here on, the environment changed rather drastically. The ground rose and the road became one of the most enjoyable rides on our trip so far. Long twists and turns through a green jungle on the slopes, then cool and otherworldly up on the plateau. Plus, virtually no traffic. Brilliant!
We made really good progress and decided to stop a bit before lunch time and only 40 km before our guesthouse. We actually only thought of having a drink of water, but got gently persuaded to have some lunch as well. When my weak defense of “we only eat vegetarian” got turned around on me and the lady of the lot produced fresh veggies with a friendly nod, we decided to stay. What a brilliant little coincidence again.
Local girl bottle feeding her pet monkey
The food was really good, plus our hosts were lovely and even commanded a bit of English. Enough to once again surprise them with our age and the fact that we still have no kids. She had a little boy and was looking after her sister’s daughter, because both her parents had gone to Phnom Penh to earn a living. The little girl had adopted a baby monkey and was nursing him with a bottle of milk. These tiny glimpses into other peoples’ lives are half what keeps us going. There are no easy categories – no lazy brown people here. Complex humans with lives that we sometimes can not understand at all.
Our guesthouse in Sen Monorom turned out to be the rustic kind we like, but lacking the hipster twist. It could be amazing, but for now it has to resign itself to being very affordable. After a very adventurous ride on their driveway and lugging our 50 kg of luggage another 20m downhill on a rickety wooden gangway, we settled into our bungalow for the next 3 nights. A bed, one light, no visible insects – $5 US a night.
To round off the day we walked into town to check how long it would take us to get to the pick up for the Elephant Valley Project the day after tomorrow. The answer turned out to be 15 minutes, so we grabbed a coffee / tea at the project’s little cafe before heading across the street for our dinner in the lonely planet recommended guesthouse.
A French traveller we met, riding a Cambodian bike (with a Cambodian helmet…)
The silver dolphin statue of our Silver Dolphin guesthouse. Didn’t I say they look like mini pot whales?
No one seems to be going east…even though it is getting greener
Suddenly, there was this giant monument next to the road
Pulling up at the steps to check it out
Atrocities by the Khmer Rouge would be my guess
Amazing contrast between the red earth and the green
That almost looks like jungle!
Local girl bottle feeding her pet monkey
Lovely people running a roadside eatery
Approaching some hills
The drain had been
Riding down the drive way
A strip of concrete in the middle meant no stopping is possible with the bike. Flo couldn’t reach the ground.
An abundance of benches along the main road
One of the commonly spotted rubbish bins made out of lorry tyres
Today was our full day in Kratie. Travelling slowly means you get a bit more time in each place which is actually very cool at the moment. After breakfast, with the temperatures rising to another hot day, I pushed for a visit in Kampi.
Kampi is about 15km north of Kratie but there is almost no tourist infrastructure there so everyone needs to stay in Kratie. But Kampi is interesting because at its location next to the rapids in the Mekong River. Tiny rapids, however, they seem to have the side effect that dolphins like to hang out around there. Yes, around here, there are freshwater dolphins here. Theoretically. The Lonely Planet states that there are under 100 left so that seemed like there is only a small chance of actually seeing one. I wanted to try anyway.
the boat and the small sandbanks in the river.
We took Rocinante out and found the place soon enough. It is quite well organised. For US$9 per person, Flo and I got a fisher boat with a driver for ourselves and off we went onto the river. While we still looked around the rapids and islands, I saw the first dolphin jumping out of the water. It took me by surprise that a minute in, I would see the first dolphin. Also, they look quite funny with a bulbous head…like a mini version of a pot whale.
From here on, we paid close attention. Our driver who stood in the back of the boat would also try to spot more dolphins and then point them out to us. We saw many, including at least four of them swimming and playing together, but it’s really hard to take any good pictures.
The Mekong still has its usual brown grey colour here but if you look into the water, you can see quite a lot of smaller fish swimming around. Our driver also kept an eye on the rubbish level in this section and asked us to fish out a blue plastic bag that was floating around at one point.
The best shot we got … not too shabby, I’d say.
After an hour, the trip was over. We had seen so many dolphins! Walking back to the bike, it was incredibly hot. Well, it was noon by now. Shortly before we reached it, a minibus exploded next to it and spew forth at least 20 local tourists who all gathered around the big bike. It was so funny that I took a picture.
Flo, then, had the idea to visit a temple on the way back. In theory, I was all for it but when I saw the 500 steps that we had to climb in the heat, my enthusiasm dwindled. Anyhow, we made it to the top of the hill, next to the temple where I, once more, got upset with tourists. Before you tackle the last flight of stairs, there is a note on how to behave and please, do not disturb the monks. Thus, please keep silent. But no, people on the top were chatting away quite happily. Cultural insensitivity, anyone?
booze with views
Back in the guest house, I looked up online what the temperature in Kratie was supposed to be today. Flo remained stubborn that it is “around 30 degrees, as always” which I couldn’t believe because it was so hot. Turns out that it was 37 degrees. That was the excuse we needed to just chill for the rest of the afternoon. 🙂
Only when we realized that the sun was about to set, did we leave the guest house again. It was still so hot that a simple stroll to the riverfront resulted in sweating. Here, I convinced Flo that we should sit down in the fancy as “Jasmine Boat” restaurant, have a cocktail and simply enjoy the view. Which we did. It was enjoyable. We ended up having nice neighbours (once again that the best Americans are to be met outside of the USA) to chat with and then had Khmer food, which wasn’t even that expensive here.
A promenade runs along Kratie’s riverfront.
Obviously not sea sick
We opted not to do the kayaking thing – too hot!
the boat and the small sandbanks in the river.
First one caught on camera.
The best shot we got … not too shabby, I’d say.
There must be an easier way to steer …
These are not all people coming out of that one van.
This is half way up the first flight.
Wrong steps, there were the living quarters.
statue at the top
The view was pretty good, although with trees in the way
Not sure, but there were a lot of monk statues following a snake lady
The river took a bite out of the road – this is the first bit of major un-repaired damage in all of Cambodia.
Cambodia = epic sunsets
Little boats ferrying the tourists over to the sandbank
booze with views
I guess this would look epic with a tele-converter
Today, we made it almost all the way off the main tourist trail and poked our noses into rural Cambodia. The ride from Kampong Cham to Kratie was pretty short, only 130 km. We decided to take a bit of a back road – the lowest category that is still sealed. The turn off came about 40 km in. There was almost no traffic on this road, a real plus, and we finally saw the return of turns. On the other hand, for the first time really (other than the dirt roads) we also saw the return of potholes.
Other road users…
The houses here are simpler, a good bunch of them still traditional wood – all built on stilts and many with carved stairwells leading up to the first floor. Oh, and a brief return of mosques. The minority of the Cham practice a local variety of Sunni Islam.
Hitting the Mekong once more (there will be many more times traveling up Laos) instilled us with awe once more. The Mekong is truly mighty, even in the dry. It almost feels like an elongated lake rather than a flowing water. A short while later we checked in to our guest house – with river views, of course. The room was huge and still quite cheap. The only downside was that we had to lug all our stuff up three flights of stairs all the way to the “rooftop”.
Lazy and still a bit cooked from the road, we gave the guesthouse lunch a try. Which was – moderately edible. The oddest thing of all, though, was that we both had to change our order after half an hour because they apparently ran out of rice. To be honest, I would not have thought that possible to happen in a country where “eating” literally translates to “eating rice”.
I like that the river fronts are still accessible for the public. Best sunset spots ever
Later that night we went out to enjoy another majestic river sunset. The red orb sank right at the opposite side of the river and we had front row seats on the city’s long promenade. We went to one of the lonely planet recommendations for dinner, but for once it was rather forgettable and we hurried back to the guesthouse. With a last beer / Baileys on the rocks, we finished up a blog entry and retreated to our room. Not much, really, but a nice and well rounded day on the road.
Crossing the Mekong in the morning. Our hotel was the one next to the tower 😉
The Old French lighthouse on the other side of the Mekong
Exchange trucks for potholes
Detour over dirt. The normal road was a construction site
The detour had some interesting bridges like this wooden one
Other road users…
Lovely rural scenes left and right
Sunset over the Mekong
I like that the river fronts are still accessible for the public. Best sunset spots ever
Gym class on the footpath. All you need are speakers with really loud music and an enthusiastic crowd
Crossing the first of the two great rivers in Phnom Penh
Time to get moving again. After two days in Kampot, we now looked northwards…and to the East. Distances are not too great but since 80 kmh is the fastest we usually can go, it still takes time. For now, we ended our stint to the South and went back up again. Not wanting to end up in Phnom Penh for the night, we had set our eyes to Kampong Cham instead.
It was a good day for riding even if the weather is back up to over 30 degrees. Most days are okay as long as you are in the shade but riding on the roads, perpetually having the sun shine on your helmet makes you heat exhausted and drowsy quite quickly. So we stop for water breaks every now and then. Though Cambodia doesn’t have the always convenient warungs of Indonesia, it has small, garage-sized shops everywhere along the roads. These shops sell everything you might lack: From cold drinks to soaps and shampoo, a pen, some cookies, you get the jest. They all have an ice box (often literally) outside; the fancier ones sell ice cream, the more regular ones just cooled drinks.
Almost there, but the fatigue has hit pretty hard.
So after an hour, we stopped at one of these and bought two bottles of cool water. The owner made some chair appear for us in the shade, so we plopped down and downed our water. Since this is also the “break from the bike” time, we hung around. So the owner came to talk to us. His English was really good and he was very interested in what we had seen so far in Cambodia and where we still planned to go. It always makes people happy when they realize you are actually interested in seeing their country and are not just stopping at Angkor Wat before being lorried out to Laos. He recommended the East to us again and said people are even more friendly there. When we asked him about his English, it turned out that he had worked with an NGO, had to speak English all day while helping former drug addicts. But now he’s more of a businessman and advocate for Cambodia.
We left him to continue our journey but stopped in Phnom Penh for lunch, then continued. It took us until 4.30pm to arrive at the Mekong Hotel. There, the most amusing thing was the security guard, trying to help us carry in our luggage. The panniers are too heavy for most but he still tried without complaint, although the 40 kg obviously nearly broke him. Dinner was had in another training restaurant with lovely staff. It was yummy, even though it was out of its signature black pepper squid dish, to Flo’s dismay.
Crossing the first of the two great rivers in Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the one capital we came through that still feels less developed.
On a rural road in eastern Cambodia
Almost there, but the fatigue has hit pretty hard.
Hard to see, but see the IV on the scooter – not the first time we’ve seen this,
Dragged ourselves out in our “sleeping” cotton shirts 🙂
We had planned to go on a little ride-out to find a lookout and hill station in the Bokor National Park. But once we had taken our breakfast at our still lovely guesthouse (we had decided to stay one more day, by the way) did the stomach demon strike. And that was it, pretty much.
We dragged ourselves out two more times to get food – Lunch at the Epic Arts (no experiments) and dinner at a more forgettable expat pizza joint in town, but that is it. A lot of sleeping, a lot of watching youtube.
No – honestly, that is it. So why don’t I use this to give an update on our more recent thoughts on the route from here on out and on our changing plans?
Why?
We had no illusions that all big plans we might have come up with in New Zealand had to have a level of flexibility when it comes to execution. Over the last two months, this has evolved and grown a bit beyond minor details. So, what are the issues? Why change?
First, because frankly, we have run out of money. Even though we have received incredible support to keep us going, we felt that we should at least consider cutting it a bit shorter to reduce our future outstanding obligations.
Further, we have felt an increasing pull to “come home” – to a single place for a good long while. Not so strong that we want to pull the plug entirely, but strong enough. We are both pretty sure that this will be a once in a lifetime trip and we would cut future adventures down to 1-3 months maximum.
Most importantly and urgently requiring a change of plan though was the fact that we realised that we do not want to go to Pakistan. Most importantly through Baluchistan. After a lot of talk it boils down to this: We do not want to risk our lives and more importantly the lives of some poor soldiers just to draw a line on a map. We, for now, have no pull towards Pakistan and would only be there to get to Iran.
There are other, minor bits: Nepal, our other big highlight, is in crisis right now with no clear end in sight. Myanmar required an expensive guide and can be well done some other time on smaller bikes. India is a mixed bag, but the long list of horror stories from the road (including fatalities) are playing into it as well.
The Plan 2.0
Right. So our new plan is to complete the Cambodia – Laos – Northern Thailand loop, then do Bangkok and fly either from there or from Kuala Lumpur to Dubai. Then we would do a little loop through Oman to visit Nina’s best friend and her lovely husband and come back to Dubai to take the ferry into Iran. Persia is, after Laos, the big “want to go there” item on our list.
After that, we would travel on to Istanbul, as a sort of unofficial end point and dash, broke as we are, back home across Eastern Europe.
All of this will probably cut two months out of our trip, making a perfect early summer return date. If all goes according to plan … 😉
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