Battambang

First stop in Cambodia was the city of Battambang where I spent a day sight seeing on the back of a motorbike. This meant being whisked off to a couple of hill top temples, one dating back to the 11th Century AD, going for a ride on a bamboo train and a visit to the old Pepsi bottling plant abdandoned when schhh, you know who came to town (no, not Coca Cola. Or Schweppes). Oh, and a close encounter with a Khmer rouge.

Wat Bayan, an Angkor period temple

Civil war hill top temple addition

The kind of Khmer rouge I like. Rough round the edges but basically benign.


On the bamboo train.
These are lightweight carts made of bamboo slats on a wooden frame that sit on two freewheeling boggies, the whole lot being driven by a 6HP engine. When you meet another bamboo train coming the other way the lightest train is dismantled to make way for the heavier train which takes about two minutes. If you have a motorbike on your cart that's a trump card. Sadly these will soon be gone when the train line is upgraded.

Entering Cambodia

After I left Ayutthaya it took a couple of days to get to the town of Aranya Prathet on the Thai border. On the run into Aranya I had a great tail wind with an early start to the day so I was beginning to think about carrying on over the border that day and heading for the Cambodian town of Sisophon. This would have seen me do a metric double century (over 200kms in one day) for the first time. As it was though I had problems with my expensive XR "expedition" tyres (which cost 45 pounds a pop) blowing out again. Put paid to my 200km day and to be honest it was probably just as well, that kind of thing makes walking afterwards difficult. As for the tyres I'm beginning to suspect that they just can't handle heat, something of a drawback for an expensive product marketed at people cycling in rough overland terrain given that most routes tend to be through hot countries. Luckily I found a shop in Aranya and got a cheap "Made In Thailand" replacement that has held up perfectly well so far.

Poipet, Cambodia

All this palaver meant that it was the next morning when I went for the border crossing. Now, I had one or two reservations about this particular border post as it has a reputation for various schemes and scams. It seems, however, that going through on a bike one can just float past various tricksters offering false visa services and once through the "taxi mafia" are a worry only for people without their own wheels. Through for US$20 in thirty minutes without needing to use the "special express service" offered by the Cambodian immigration police. Result.

A roadside warning poster. Avoid biker gang parties?

Many of the borders I've been through seem to be just lines, with places only changing slowly over time. Through Europe and down into Asia most of the time whilst you can easily tell you're in another country the changes are quite gradual. Different languages and food, yes, but not the complete step change you get going from Thailand to Cambodia. Thailand is quite a developed modern South East Asian country. Cambodia is most definitely a "Third World"country (although the preferred term nowadays is Less Developed Country or LDC).

One immediate change was no more lovely cold water from the fridge in garages, now it's lukewarm water from a roadside cool box that even though it's bottled I have to hope is OK to drink. Ice cream outside of a big city? Forget it. Road rules are out the window as well, if you have money you drive how you want and don't worry about little things like number plates. Worst drivers I've seen so far, which given medical services here is really really worrying.

But what does one do with ones jewel encrusted pistol?

Please don't think I'm complaining, I'm just trying to give a flavour of what it's like here. The people are truly wonderful, some of the most beautiful smiles in the world and wherever I cycle I'm greeted by a constant chorus of children voices shouting "hello's" from the roadside and waving arms. At one point I cycle through a village and ended up almost spinning round with so many effusive greetings, leaving both me and the adults laughing out loud.

Templed out in Ayutthaya

Stopped off in Ayutthaya, the ancient capital of Thailand, for a day of sightseeing. First came here in 1999 and I must say it's developed a bit more for tourism from what I can remember. Still full of incredible ruins though.



Having said that, it took me all of two hours to get templed out here. Seriously. I'm beginning to think it may be a permanent condition. I was taking a photo of a line of Buddha statues and suddenly it just wasn't worth it. I'd taken similar in India a few weeks ago, and again in Sri Lanka some years ago. As for the ruins, well, nice but after Angkor Wat the whole Khmer style is kind of done.



Although the old Buddha head in the tree roots is pretty damn cool no matter how jaded you are!

Bridge over the river Kwai

# Da-da da da da dah dahhh...

So, after a few days cycling time for a break in Kanchanburi, a town in central Thaialnd made famous by the book Bridge Over the River Kwai which was then turned into a film. I hardly need remind you about this film, unless you're American in which case forget about it.

Kanchanburi is a nice place to spend a couple of days, got a little backpacker ghetto which means it's not difficult to find a cheap room (150 baht, about 3 pounds, with swimming pool) and plenty to see and do. The main attraction, as already mentioned is the bridge over the Kwai constructed by the Japanese in WWII using PoW and local labour. Also called the "death railway" as many of the workforce died during it's construction from a combination of malnutrition, over work, lack of medication and just plain brutality. There are some sobering museums here chronicling these events.



The bridge in Kanchanburi itself isn't that exciting, unless you suffer from vertigo, so I'd intended to bike it up to Hellfire Pass today to see the sections cut through jungle and mountains but in the end decided that 80 km there, a four hour walk then 80 km back was probably pushing it in 40c heat being twelve hours of physical effort. Now, think on this, I'm healthy, well fed and watered. People who were working up in Hellfire pass had been doing so on less than 1600 calories a day for weeks or months, working up to twenty hours a day during the "speedo" period.



Of the 60,000 PoWs who worked on the railway around 16,000 remain in a number of cemeteries in the area, just one of which is above. Of the 180,000 Asians who worked on it 90,000 died although they don't seem to warrant a cemetery.

Chumphon to Kanchanburi

When I last posted I mentioned the cyclists I'd been meeting of late, almost all of whom had been going the other way. Well, when I reached Chumphon I did meet one chap heading northwards but as I there to head out to Koh Tao for a couple of days diving I didn't think of teaming up at first. Then on reflection I decided that I'd rather get more cycling in than go diving and we did indeed join together for a few days.

So, Dillon is the fellows name, an American from Minnesota touring SE Asia by bike for a few months. As ever when there's another cyclist there we made good time on the road. Well, when we were on the road. Dillon had a couple of punctures, a bee stung his lower eyelid allowing me to use my Swiss Amry Penknife to remove the barbed sting (OK, OK, it was only the tweezers). Oh and I got a stick in my rear wheel. All on the first day. Still, as I say, we made good time when we cycled.



Also managed to find some nice beachside places to stop off in for the first couple of days. Nothing quite like a dip in the sea after a long days cycle and puncture repairing (yep, the punctures continued for a second day).



Another nice seaside halt and then we were looking at what we'd do the next day. Dillon was heading to Bangkok whilst I'm planning to skirt round it for now. We'd ended the day in a place by the name of Prachuap Khiri Khan, a pleasant little seaside resort, so we were looking maybe hitting Hua Hin or Cha Am the next day. Hua Hin is around 100 Km away, Cha Am 130 km or so. Plan was to reach Hua Hin then decide. However the wind was suddenly with us! From days of sapping headwinds suddenly we caught a beauty of a tailwind and sailed past both of these places to end up in Phetchaburi, a not too touristy place of wats and old teak buildings, some 162 km from where we'd set out. And we covered that in six hours fifteen minutes of actual cycling time. w00t as I believe the youth of yesteryear used to say.

This, however, meant that our ways parted a day sooner than expected although we still had 35km to go before they did. And we'd have done it if Dillon hadn't had an accident in a Thai bar involving a bottle of whisky. As it was I set out on my own and had another long day, this time with mixed wind and a torrential downpour on the way. Luckily there was a cowboy bar (of course) for me to shelter in for half an hour.



I leave you a shot of what happens when bees attack. Dillon, great cycling with you man!

Fellow travellers

Heading northwards up Thailand and for the first time in months I'm starting to meet fellow cycle tourists again! In fact, I'm meeting them at a rate of more than one a day. Interestingly, for almost all of them I'm the first cyclist they've met in days, but then it does seem that the flow of traffic is heading south. Hmm. Wonder if there's a reason for that?

Anyway, a few pics are in order. First up, Tim, a Brit. He's cycling pretty much the reverse of my route. Met him on the road between Krabi and Khao Lak.



Next day I met Silvia, an American lady on a recumbent bike named Myrtle the Turtle, on the road north of Khao Lak.



Later that same day an English couple, Jan and John, ended up staying in my guest house in Kura Buri. They lived in Wigan and by golly, John had the accent! They must have been in their 60s but they were still out there cycling. Probably a good job they met me, as when we had a quick chat I discovered that their visas ran out in two days time, which was news to them! Luckily they were heading to Ranong the next day, as was I, which is a place to do a visa run over to Burma and back. I went to sleep hearing Jan explain to John why this was a good idea (the 500 baht a day fine for visa overstays for example) and John in broad Wigan accent not really getting it. No pics unfortunately.

The next day, yesterday, brought a bumper crop! First was some chaps cycling with a local outfit and support van. They kindly gave me ice cold water and shared their snacks with me.



Then a few minutes later I bumped into a couple of English gap year students who'd been making their way round the world mostly by bike. Er, thingy and Fin. Turns out I'd missed meeting them in Agra when I met a cyclist there: he was changing money whilst they were in their guest house. Small world.



And lastly I've met an American by the name of Dillon who's cycling the same way as me for a few days. No photos as yet but we are hooking up for the next 500km or so of cycling. Hopefully.

RIP Bill's sunglasses.

A separate blog entry to mourn my sunglasses going on to a better place. Well, I say a better place, I dunno, they went missing on a rainy evening in Trang. I'd had them for, what, six or seven years, a pair of prescription Oakleys. Sure, the insurance should cover the cost but that's not the point. It's like losing an old friend. And I'm left squinting to boot.



This picture above is the last one I have of them, taken on the very day then went. RIP old buddies.

Penang to Ko Lanta: a post on water and bonking

After picking up my Thai visa it was time to saddle up and head north. First a gentle ride up to Alor Setar, a nice enough little place, made even nicer by being in mango growing land in the middle of mango season. Yum!

Then twas just a half days ride to the border and another half day to Hat Yai in Thailand. I say "just a half days" but added together it made for a one bloody long day and the weather hadn't got any less hot. However, I did feel like I was acclimatising, which was just as well as I was starting to cover longer distances again.



Didn't take long from crossing the border to realise I was in Thailand.

From Hat Yai it was another long days cycling, some 150km, up to the town of Trang. I mentioned the heat once or twice before, didn't I? I'm sure did. Well, it's OK provided I eat and set off early and can drink enough liquids to keep going. It's the second one I'm going to mention now, the need to keep even vaguely hydrated. I was in the saddle for some seven hours for the day, and I have to admit I did loose track of exactly how much I was drinking. However, I can say it was around 1.5 liters an hour and even so my urine was the day-glo colour of a full on raver under UV lights. 1.5 liters an hour, or thereabouts. You know what that is? That's slightly under a pint every twenty minutes. For seven hours. Plus stops.
I have learned some things now though... when I stop for more water I down a bottle of fizzy drink, and I stop for water often as now matter how cold it is, it's hot within half an hour making it less than palatable. Every couple of hours I'm making up a bottle of hydration solution to keep up with salt loss. Oh, and you know the advice never drink the local ice? Well **** that, whenever they have it when I stop I make sure my water bottles are packed with full of it! Seriously, makes for drinkable water for almost 45 minutes!

Which all meant my long day involved lots of liquid and still I was parched. Then at the 120km mark came the hill stage. Fantastic scenery but bloody hell it was hard work pushing it over a series of undulating hills.



Interesting to see Trang again, I'd passed through back in 1999 and was surprised to still vaguely recognise it. However, I did have one of my darkest moments of the trip so far there, for which I'll be posting a separate entry later

Finally from Trang some 130km to make on the last day to Ko Lanta. Oh boy, now that was a days cycling. I've trying to deal with the liquid intake but I fear I've not been eating that much due to the heat during the day Started late so missed the cooler part of the day. After a couple of hours though I got started to get bonked. Sounds good, no? No. For a cyclist this is not a happy thing, it's what marathon runners call "hitting the wall". You basically run out of glycogen, blood sugar. It's unpleasant. I went for the usual remedy, one of precious stocks of museli bars, a bag of dried raisins, a bottle of coke and peanuts. Didn't really work this time and I spent the next four hours almost literally limping to Ko Lanta, stopping whenever I felt I needed it and not making it off of the ferry until late in the day.



Ah, Ko Lanta. Helen and I were here back in 1999 when it was a lovely little place. Bloody hell though, it's changed! Still, I found the place we'd stayed at (well, the next door place, apparently the other place burnt down four years ago), checked in, grabbed a beer and watched the sunset above. The Sanctuary is still that, but even so I can't help but marvel at the wisdom of Don Henley when he sang "Don't go back you can never go back...". The bit about the Dead head sticker on the Cadillac I can almost relate to, although I'm still waiting to see a Hawkwind sticker on a Jag.