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.