Week 1 back in Thailand - updated 29/5/11

Ta Phra Ya - Arrived 23/5/2011

So today I experienced the joys of riding without the front panniers and unnecessary extras.  It was funny to ride and look down at my bike and just see bike – no gear.  It’s not until you look behind that you see what you are carrying.

Haven’t quite mastered the kick stand on the bike yet with all the weight at the back it’s really unbalanced standing still.  Not much of concer though as the payoff was loosing 5½ kg and a whole lot of bulky wind catchers!

Here’s a story for you… wandering through the market at Ta Phra Ya getting some food supplies (too much again – the eyes bigger than the belly as usual) and I spot a banana pancake man.  I have to get one of these they are fatty deliciousness.  A bunch of guys were standing around the cart so I just stood alongside and waited.  Then the pancake maker started packing up. What?! Why? I want one.  One of the guys standing around the cart gives me a discrete wave on.  I’m a bit confused so just stand there.  Then they start to escort pancake maker away.  Oh. Somethings going down – well actually already gone down. He was getting arrested.  Illegal banana pancake making…. I’ll never know.  No banana pancake for me, stink!

I witnessed a Cock fight where I was staying.  Man they really go for each other and quite addictive to watch!

Lahan Sai – Arrived 24/5/2011

Thai work force clearing the shoulders. All manual labour no tractor

The rain clouds chasing me

Mini playground

Stayed in a mosquito ridden room that night.

Surin – Arrived 25/5/2011

One of the bigger days so far and I actually felt good for the most of it.  The bike blazed along the roads – the benefits of downsizing!  On my way over I thought I’d pass by Phanom Rung Historical Park and check out the couple of temples there.  Well this involved climbing a small hill (maybe 200m) but literally it was straight UP no sidling, it was fricken steep!  I reckon parts of the road got to 20% it was mental.  I was down into granny gear and actually sweating out of the palms of my hands it was intense.  The descent was cool – a little bit out of control at the run out!  Oh and the temple (Phanom Rung) was at the top, I stopped and checked it out for a while.

Phanom Rung

Muang Tam

In Cambodia they just called it a Bamboo Stick a-rei.
It's just a simple treat no need for a full blown research centre 

You would think this is a motocycle convention
but it's just parking for the market.
 Both sides of the road and for about 100m.

Suwannaphum – Arrived 27/5/11

The unbeatable shooting range

Well I thought this was just going to be another stopover town but I was wrong.  I got some directions then ended up being led to some accommodation by a nice young lady and was invited to come back to their restaurant and look at some maps of Thailand with them.  Sure why not. Talked maps for a while, then got shown around the market, got some food, checked out the local festival and got ripped off trying to shoot cans and toys off a shelf that I’m pretty sure they were glued to because I hit one can square on and the bullet bounced back at me! 

So that was the start of the night.  Met a bunch of her friends, drunk a lot of Leo (Thai beer) with them and had many disjointed conversations.  Had a very funny comment made about me:

“You have a big nose and a small mouth.  You look like an alien.”  Classic! I just laughed it was funny to know what people/cultures think of one another!  Marcus you would really stick out over here.

After feeling pretty tipsy we went next door where her family was having dinner so I met all of them and was made to make a fool of myself on stage.

I have no idea what I'm doing

Rocking it out with Yan (the Father)

More Leo.

Thinking that would be the end of the night as everyone was leaving but no, it was to a random place about 10km out of town to a karaoke restaurant.  Also made a fool of myself here as I had to go on stage and stand next to Yan (father) while he sang in Thai.  Hilarious night and made for a slight hangover and late start the next day.

Me and the family

I also found out what Tesco Lotus is – a supermarket!!!  It felt like home wandering around it, I wanted to buy so much food!  All the times I had passed Tesco Lotus and not realised what it was, I could have stuffed my face and got all the luxuries I wanted…but that wouldn’t be getting amongst the culture.

Phon Thong – Arrived 28/5/2011

So I was struggling to find some to stay here.  There was a hotel a few k’s out of town but didn’t really want to be so far from town.  I pulled into a beautiful tree covered place that I was sure was a guesthouse or something.  Wandered around and found the owner.

“Hello.”

“Bungalow?” Pointing at the place.

He looked at me and said laughing

“No, this is a school. Kindergarten.”

“Oh, do you know where a bungalow is?”

“Sit down and rest first, have some water and we’ll talk.”

Many discussions later (he spoke good English which was fantastic) and he decided I should stay in one of the classrooms for the night if I wanted.  Free so the decision was made, I slept at the kindergarten.

My classroom.  I learnt to count, and the alphabet
but it finished at X for some reason

Boonruam (owner of the private kindergarten) took me to the market and introduced me to a whole range of new fruits – there are just so many tropical fruits around here but it is hard to know if you are looking at fruit sometimes and especially what’s going to be good.  We had a feast for dinner and way to much fruit for dessert, breakfast was much the same literally – rice, meat and fruit with the addition of an omelette.  Can be hard to stomach some of that stuff in morning.

Very tasty. The wee fella looks like a baby potato with it's skin on

Our dinner table and Surit's bedroom

Me and the school drivers. Surit (I think that's how you spell it)
on the right. Didn't really meet the other two.

Me and Boonruam.  He's a character!  So happy and positive and eager for conversations and he loves planting trees.  His Kindergarten is like an adventure jungle for the kids!

I now have directions to see one of Boonruam’s friends who is more or less on my so will hopefully be able to find his place and stay with him too.

Phone number, good.  I'll probably use that when I'm lost.

I'm happy he drew me a map because I'm not sure
 where I would have ended up if I followed the description.

Cambodia Cycle Log

Heading back to the Thai Border

20/5/2011

So I got myself briefly lost leaving Siem Reap, you have to keep to your eyes peeled for road signs around here or maybe I should just pay more attention!  100km to Sisophon well I made it 115km.  A head wind the whole way and I went  23kph….20…19….18….16…14kph it was slow progress and straight, super straight.  And refreshing warm turning hot water to hydrate.

Straight, flat, hot, head wind

Sisophon!!!!! Yay!

Well It has taken 7 weeks and two trips to a post shop but my bike has gone on a massive diet and lost it’s ‘front bum’.  After repeatedly seeing other cycle tourist carrying half of what I have, multiple comments of “you have a lot of gear”, continually wonder what I can loose and finally a skype session with the comments passed:

“Have you got a tent?”

“No.”

“Do you cook your own food? Have you got a cooker?”

“No.”

“Oh.? Man I’m just trying work out what you are carrying around?”

“hmmm, I don’t know.  One bag I don’t even really use.”

downsizing - the pile centre back slowly grew

And that was it.  Time to get ruthless. The front panniers go, my pack that I have only used three times (once being on the flight over) is gone, and a stack of random stuff that I just haven’t used.  It feels good and really looking forward to the first day riding without it all.  My legs will hopefully be well rewarded!

It is interesting to find out just how little you need when cycle touring.  I had back-ups of everything it felt.  Why?  You’ll find a solution if something runs out or breaks.  I could still cut back if I wanted but have kept a few luxuries for myself.

22/5/2011

My last day in Cambodia.  Just like any other and funny enough very similar to a couple of days ago with a head wind again.  It was not until I was about 15km out of Poipet (border crossing) that it struck me that it was my last day in Cambodia, well for the mean time anyway it will be nice to come back.  A few thoughts on my time through Cambodia:

• poor country but very giving for what they have
• Cambodia grew on me over my time there. Ups and downs and breaking wheels but things just seemed to work out at the end of the day.
• An easy enough country to travel around (even for a beginner). I have experienced and enjoyed local and rural lifestyle and some of those nice treats of tourist areas.
• I only found hills in the south and the rest of the time it was remarkably flat. I’m looking forward to some hills to enjoy the descents again!
• Cambodia has an incredible history – The Temples, the Khmer Rogue, the wars, the landmines
• The Poipet border crossing is a confusing shambles but fun to go through.

The border crossing:

Khmer, Khmer, Khmer, Casino

Departure easy – filled out the departure card and stamped out.  Now where do I go, follow the 64 signs in different directions and multiple options to get to other side.  Being on a bike I mixed things up between following vehicles and foot traffic.  Didn’t quite get it right… I almost made it through the border without getting a visa.  Stood in one queue labelled ‘Visa on Arrival’ I’m pretty sure that’s what I need?  Apparently not.  I’m told to stand in the ‘Foreign Passport’ and I’ll just get stamped another two weeks.  Sorted.  Go back outside and get my bike and ride down the vehicle lane and come up to the vehicle border pass office.  Nah stuff that I’ll just jump back on the footpath and walk through to freedom thanks.  For being a major border crossing it’s confusing, I don’t know if was just me but there were a couple of other foreigners that were all over the show too.

The border crossing

The Casino in the middle of the crossing - right

I actually feel sad saying farewell to Cambodia.  There were days I was happy to leave and be somewhere else but looking back I can only really think how everything I did and what happened to me was a really great adventure.  There will be lots that I’ll miss.

Aranya Prathet was my destination of the Thai side, about 6km from the border.  Being back into Thailand was a weird feeling.  All the things I remembered started to appear again: the yellow roadside shelters, 7-11 stores, being on the left hand side of the road, smooth roads with your own moto/cycle lane and spicy food!  I had forgotten about the last and dived into my dinner then shortly after began a fire in my mouth!!! Stay calm and drink water, look like you're fine... eyes watering, nose starting to run I don't think I look very normal!

Found the post shop in Aranya Prathet and that was the end of the front panniers... a bit on the expensive side for postage but it's for the better! 

Before

After

Siem Reap

Arrived 17/5/2011

Which way would you go to get to Phnom Penh? Head east?

  

Or head West?

Day one from Battambang to Siem Reap was a biggy.  Arrived at my initial destination quicker than expected so thought I’d continue on and find somewhere 10km or so down the road.  50km later and some reasonably smashed legs I found a guesthouse, the only one before Siem Reap I reckon.  Most of that afternoon I kept thinking about the ferry ride I should have taken!!! Slow but relaxing.  Oh well I ended up coming across a couple of cycle tourists so there was a payoff for the long slog.  One of these guys was Mike Schademan who was heading for Siem Reap that day.  I was wasted enough and wasn’t going to be able to make it that far so we parted with intentions to meet up in Siem Reap.

Day two was made much smaller from the long day previous which was good because my legs didn’t want to pedal.  Siem Reap emerged and is a full on city, bustling with tourists which is both nice to meet people but also very in your face and I starting missing the peacefulness of small towns.

So I caught up with Mike and we partyed to the wee hours at the Angkor What? Bar (see what they did there) with its great range of pop music and I think cheap beers.  Mike got some local rocket fuel so mixing that in you didn’t need many beers anyway!  Yarned away for ages and exchanged stories but he has a lot more than me!  He has been going for something around 2 years and the stories he had were incredible.  He started in New York and is making a slow track around the world.  He has a budget of next nothing and has progressed from home stays to sleeping in a tent to now sleeping in a hammock wherever he may end up – middle of a jungle, side of the road or invited into a local’s house.  He has a great belief in himself and peace about what he is doing, nothing fazes him anymore.  He has waded out a case of malaria in the middle of nowhere in Borneo, I would not be a fan of that!

The Temples:

Angkor Wat Sunrise

There are so many around the Siem Reap province it’s not funny.  This place back in its hay day use to be a big city of something around 1 million people with a large number of

I had sorted myself a tuk tuk for the day starting with the sunrise at Angkor Wat – after too many rocket fuelled beers the night before.  An early start and when I got up it was pouring down.  I went out to meet my driver and I couldn’t see him so I just headed back to bed and had a nice big sleep in thinking he would have thought it was too wet to go anyway.  Well I saw him later that day and he said he had waited for me until midday… whoops.  I had already paid him so don’t think he would too mad and we arranged it again for the next day. 

  

Where there's a sunrise people will flock to it!

The staircases - you have walk sideways
down them

Clear day, 5:15am we arrive at the ticket office… and I have forgotten my wallet.  We putt-putted back to the guest house with every minute passing it getting lighter and lighter.  I think I missed the initial part of the sunrise but I still managed to see some of it.  The next 10 hours it was temples galore.  A long day wondering around all the temples (well the ones I saw anyway) but having a tuk tuk to take me around was a saviour as I could have some sneaky naps between sites.  There were moments of it’s just another temple but each temple has its own character and uniqueness and then there is age 1000+ years!  A difference in carvings, size, layout, design, how many stupidly steep staircases you could put in, it was all just incredible really.  Being able to walk through and touch these pieces of history was an amazing feeling.  Seeing them up close and personal gave me a huge appreciation of the unfathomable work force, time and precision put into constructing them.

One that I visited looks completed but apparently it got close then it was found the sun didn’t pass through one of the towers so it was abandoned.  You’d be gutted after sooooo much work.  They should have spent some gold on a surveyor!

Angkor Thom - Bayon Temple

The Budda face carvings all over Bayon

The row of Khleangs - 7 all up I think

Although Angkor Wat is the most famous temple my two favourites were Ta Prohm and Banteay Srei. 

Ta Prohm is known for a whole lot of trees growing through it (and where Tombraider was filmed) largely causing it to collapse but making it look cool in the process.  Succumbing to nature even though it is destroying history.

Banteay Srei was a very small temple but had incredibly intricate carving details all over it and the whole area was a rich orange colour – different to all the other temples.  Also being so much smaller you felt you could take longer looking around and it made you appreciate it more.

On my way back from all the temple viewings I stopped in at the Cambodian Landmine Museum.  Previously it was a couple of shacks then it got some recognition and they built a proper museum - well close to anyway.  The walls were filled with stories of young kids and those who fought in the war against the Khmer Rogue and their encounters with landmines.  It changed so many people's lives and they continue to take lives today.  the number of unaccounted for landmines in Cambodia is scary! You don't want to be ploughing a farm in the back lands.

The entranceway - old bombs lining the path

Petanque with hand grenades

The centre piece -all types of bombs and landmines

Find the landmines...