Monthly Archives: March 2017

Julie

Nearly 90

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When ever I pass one of these tractors, I feel like someone left half of it at home. They putt along the roads going about 20km/h. They sound like a diesel generator on wheels. 

Huge day. Nearly 90km. We are all tired with saddle soreness but feeling content with the distance we covered.  

We headed out this morning with a vague destination but due to the heat out on the open road we had two long stops in the middle of the day.  This meant that by the time we got back on the road at 4pm it was starting to cool down. The boys decided that they wanted to push on as far as we could.  We reached the 70km mark and started looking for accommodation.  We discovered that the next guesthouse was nearly 20km away. There was no option but to get back on the bikes and push on. We arrived at sunset and Robert and Patrick collapsed onto the beds. Allister and I went out looking for dinner.  

The options for dinner were not great.  Deep fried frogs, cockroaches or mealworms. 

We eventually found a lady selling bread.  She indicated that we should try these long thin bagettes. I thought it was just going to be bread but had a pleasant surprise when I broke one in half.  It was filled with sweet shredded pork. Yum. 

Heading on to Phnom Penh tomorrow. 

Allister

Day 56 – Kep to Ang Ta Saom

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Feeling very tired after our longest day yet, so will keep it short. We have been following the coast since Surat Thani, which is over 1000kms, so it was a bit of a shock to the body to head inland. It was much hotter all day, so we had lengthy breaks in the middle of the day. Luckily we had a good tailwind so we made good progress and everyone was keen to make the most of it. 

At our lunch stop at a roadside vendor the boys were a big hit as per usual. 

At the 65kms mark we decided to start looking for a guesthouse. We had passed a few in the previous 5kms so thought it wouldn’t be long. One kilometer later we spotted an impressive looking building, but it had closed down. At the 72km mark we called into a busy car wash and was told that there was not one for another 16kms. Rather than backtracking we pushed on and arrived at our destination at 6pm with the sunseting.

Check out my ride on Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/898643986/

Allister

Day 55 – Kampot to Kep

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Nice short day. Had a relaxed breakfast with Camila and Matias, Chilean cycle tourers. It was sad to part ways because we had an instant connection through touring and similar experiences. Hopefully we will cross paths again because we are going similar countries.

Speaking about that we stopped by Kep markets while cycling through Kep and bumped into Manuela and Julien, cycle tourers we met in Penang. It is amazing to think what the chances of bumping into them would be. We have travelled about 2000km over 45 days since last seeing them.

The old bridge in Kampot only allows two wheeled vehicles so it was a nice relaxed bridge to stop on and take pictures.

There was a very wide road entering into Kep that had mountain on one side and ocean on the other.

Being a Sunday it was very busy along the esplanade of Kep, with many locals having picnics on the side of the road. As a car would drive by, people who wanted to rent out their picnic space would jump out onto the road furiously gesturing for them to use their space. For some reason they ignored us while we rode by, presumably because we were on bikes.

Check out my ride on Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/896726386/

Julie

Kepmandou (the name of our hotel)

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We said good bye to Matteo and Camilla this morning.  We may have the chance to meet up with them later on the road as we are heading in a similar direction.  Sadly, overnight, Matteo and Camilla had their pump and Phone holder stolen from their bikes. It has made Allister and I a bit more aware of our possessions.  We have only had one thing stolen so far. Robert’s sling shot was lifted off his handlebars somewhere near the border.

Easy ride today from Kampot to Kep. Kep is a small fishing / crabbing village on the Cambodian coast. The distance was only 30km and even though we had head winds, the kilometres flew by.

The roads varied a lot but we encountered the best quality road so far. It olny lasted for about 3 km.


We crossed a bike only bridge also.

When we arrived in Kep we stopped at a food market to have a look around.  Amazingly we bumped into a couple of cyclists that we met back in Penang at Titi Teris, Julian and Manuela.  We are going to have dinner with them tonight. It really is a small world.

Allister

Beyblades 5

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Cambodia sucks it doesn’t have Beyblade so far. So we’re stuck with the same old ones. So Patty and I are really looking out for some more. We’re hoping we can find some in the next big city which is called Phnom Phen.

In the meantime I have bin getting two like relaxing in hummocks it is awesome. I want to buy one I love them so much.

P.S. no more Beyblades until I get more 🙁

 

    Julie

    What we do when we are resting.

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    Had a nice rest day in Kampot. Woke up early even though we were supposed to have a sleep in.  Hung around in hammocks and swam in the natural pool.


    Had a jenga challenge and fuzball championship. 


    Climbed a mountain and went caving.


    Made new friends. 


    And again, marveled at Cambodian roads.


    Brilliant. 

    Julie

    Cambodian roads

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    Well, I was expecting bad roads but it is hard to imagine how bad they can be until you are riding them. 

    Gravel as far as the eye can see, which isn’t very far because the dust is awful.  The dust gets in your eyes and in your mouth. It coats your lips, tongue and teeth. Your eyes are gritty and you start to blink frantically because there is a truck honking it’s horn behind you to warn you to get out of its way. The only problem is you have cows crossing the road in front of you and they are not in a hurry.  You have motos (motor bikes) every where.  They only seem to take the road rules as a suggestion not a rule. There are tractors pulling carts full of wood. Some of the motos also have cargo. One yesterday had at least 10 live ducks hanging from the bike. Adding to it all, people on the side of the road are calling out to you to wave to their children. It is crazy. I love it. 

    Allister

    Day 54 – Veal Rinh to Kampot

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    Pretty much highway the whole way today with no choice for side rides. However, highways in Cambodia aren’t quite the same as the previous countries. No shoulder in sections or the shoulder is gravel, single lane with on coming traffic overtaking with no consideration to us (get off road quick) and sections that are all gravel. On the bright side they aren’t nearly as busy either.

    We got up early and were on the road by 7am to avoid the heat and head winds. We made good progress and cycled 20kms by 8am.  At that time the roads were quiet and cool. Deliveries of ice and bread being made by people on scooters. We bought some fresh bread and Patrick polished off a couple of rolls in no time.

    Just after our first break we started to follow the mountain range. Below is a temple with a view of the mountain range in the background. There was 5km section of road that was gravel and there were times that visibility was down to less than 5 metres. After that section we all had a thick coating of light brown dust.

    The cows are free to roam anywhere in Cambodia. It freaked me out at first, but he cows seem unconcerned by bikes and mostly move out of the way slowly.

    Met another great couple of tourers from Belgium going the opposite way.

    Then another couple of Chillian’s arrived on their touring bikes at our accommodation. It was very relaxed compared to a chat on the side of the road, so were were able to share many stories. They even hung out with the boys while Julie and I went into Kampot for dinner and book our rest day trip of climbing and caving.


    Check out my ride on Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/894184309/

    Robert

    Bungalows!

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    Where we staying tonight has a natural pool and lots of cool Bungalows. The one we and staying in is circular shaped and has two bunk beds. Patrick and I are on the top and Mom and Dad are on the bottom beds.