tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52233382814275184482024-03-20T01:34:53.377-07:00Cambodian WanderingsMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15431607021399857332noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5223338281427518448.post-19831654920399350092012-03-17T18:31:00.001-07:002012-03-18T05:53:04.258-07:00A quick introduction passage.<br />
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Firstly, this Blog/Journal is 20 days in total. As such it runs over 2 or more web pages, when you get to the bottom click the 'older posts' option at the bottom right of the last narrative.<br />
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What follows below is my account of Toms, Tonys and my own journey around eastern Cambodia. It was written quickly and roughly to give me an idea afterwards of what went on. My memory is poor.<br />
Some entries were written when drunk, but I left them in anyway. Others I've filled out from memory after.<br />
The whole lot was typed up the day I got home while it was fresh, after being awake 48 hours flying. There's going to be spelling mistakes and bits that don't make sense.<br />
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The photo's haven't been processed at all and it often shows, I removed any pictures that were rubbish, but if in doubt I put pictures in rather than leaving them out, so some parts are quite image heavy and maybe a bit repetitive.<br />
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Anyway. Enjoy<br />
<br />Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15431607021399857332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5223338281427518448.post-67945279906185544312012-03-17T18:30:00.009-07:002012-03-18T05:54:22.739-07:00Mapping<br />
A rough guide of the route we took around Cambodia. Both routes from the Western boarder down to Phnom Pehn should be in red to show the bus parts of the route. I just messed up and did the lower one blue. The rest of the route shows the motorbike main travel routes. The blue lines being the routes out, the yellow lines where we went back on ourselves.<br />
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Click on the Map to get a larger image<br />
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We hadn't considered we might need a map when we left, in fact we never really did. Why would we need a map in a country with barely any road signs and a pretty under developed road network generally.</div>
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Anyhow, sat in Phnom Pehn, a street seller came up to us, and amongst his books was a Cambodia map so we bought it. And for some reason trusted it and followed it for a good week or so. By which point it had been rained on, in a lake, lost and found many times, and we had firmly established that it was about as accurate as pointing in a random direction and shouting 'that way'</div>
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Anyhow, this is our map</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij4Q8jonb0YHp9v7VFJpVUpbLfRT4Xces8vaeNTLv_K-SYqJrfd_dNatqhcHcw4WaWOT4Rp7afxuNcZ6QPZG_KIrThViLy4ZyrwCSr_HxXjokH__VKF46R5Cd9d_Sdkf8r6PqsLeSuO3k/s1600/OUR+MAP%2521.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij4Q8jonb0YHp9v7VFJpVUpbLfRT4Xces8vaeNTLv_K-SYqJrfd_dNatqhcHcw4WaWOT4Rp7afxuNcZ6QPZG_KIrThViLy4ZyrwCSr_HxXjokH__VKF46R5Cd9d_Sdkf8r6PqsLeSuO3k/s400/OUR+MAP%2521.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15431607021399857332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5223338281427518448.post-12666805779024154952012-03-17T18:30:00.007-07:002012-03-18T05:55:17.307-07:00Day 1 - Monday + Day 2 - Tuesday<br />
Heathrow to Sri Lanka to Bangkok<br />
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If I'm honest this is going to be little but filler on day one. I havent written in any real form in a long time. It shows from the handwriting.<br />
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I can't imagine anyone really enjoys the first part of any travel like this. 10 hours on a plane, can it be anything but a seemingly endless chore? Nicholas Cage has made some reasonable films, but 'Trespass' certainly isn't one of them, and it's the sole film on loop.<br />
After numerous drinks at the airport and the discovery of Tonys artwork on his shirt the holiday seemed to be underway.<br />
Anyway, lets all sleep on a plane to the sultry sounds of Nancy Sinatra.<br />
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PS [end of flight] There's definately something going wrong when sleeping blankets, used for a few hours only, need to be collected by staff wearing enbow high plastic disposable gloves. Are customers really that bad??<br />
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Room one. Well, you get a mattress at least...</div>
<br />Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15431607021399857332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5223338281427518448.post-5783850616419418532012-03-17T18:30:00.005-07:002012-03-18T05:56:36.310-07:00Day 3 - Wednesday<br />
and we're having another day of major traveling. We've moved on from jet, to minibuses, to now 7 hours on a jalopy of a coach from the Thai border to Phnom Pehn in Cambodia. I fear this entry ends here as the road is too bad to write on the page. A first introduction to local travel though! I've had enough of sitting in cramped seats now, get us to the bikes!<br />
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Yesterday was spent in Khoa San Road. Mecca for people who want to dress up as stereotyped travelers for some reason. Fisherman style cotton trousers and Buddha teeshirts on white guys everywhere.<br />
An easy hub to work from but not somewhere to savor. Being traveller elitist already!<br />
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So in summary of the day, we got onto a minibus at 8am in Bangkok, arrived at the border at 12.30, got onto the jalopy bus around 4pm in Cambodia. That finally arrived in Phnom Pehn at 2am. After one of the side windows was smashed by some unknown missile from the pavement as we entered the city. And after the bloody bus stopped almost every half hour almost the whole way, often for no apparent reason.<br />
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finally we found a tuk-tuk to take us to the guesthouse Tom and Tony knew, which after lapping the city twice, asking other tuk-tuk drivers for directions twice (even after we showed him on the map where we wanted to go). Somehow we've ended up god knows where in the city in quite a posh hotel, that has a dirtbike in the lobby. Our sort of place! It's 3.30am, we killed the cockroach in the shower, All is Well!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Mu32rbf7rBEMgJXwHOBPPE-Y1R-urhTxWRvOzaq7XrVn_j9GC1nSv1ZqBD05Uxn7Y0XJXxD-2suAlUrGz8jtXnTMYNTJljdwHRN1ufPFV8tK8OC7nCXTOvXMccnzU5BAFre3xQdobZ0/s1600/P1010006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Mu32rbf7rBEMgJXwHOBPPE-Y1R-urhTxWRvOzaq7XrVn_j9GC1nSv1ZqBD05Uxn7Y0XJXxD-2suAlUrGz8jtXnTMYNTJljdwHRN1ufPFV8tK8OC7nCXTOvXMccnzU5BAFre3xQdobZ0/s320/P1010006.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15431607021399857332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5223338281427518448.post-47471016559311904402012-03-17T18:30:00.003-07:002012-03-18T06:05:24.689-07:00Day 4 - Thursday + Day 5 - Friday it would seem.<br />
I thought it was thursday but the clock says different.<br />
We sorted out the bikes yesterday, spent the day in town shopping at the markets, then hit the vaguelly touristy river front area. Which basically meant that in maybe a third of the bars you sat down outside, you were quickly surrounded by Cambodian girls. Less awkward after a few beers, and the made a good effort at teaching us how to count to 10 and other random topics of conversation, but still we went on to find a more traditional bar.<br />
Though what began as a few beers ended for me at a Karaoke bar (Cambodian...) at around 4am, for Tom and Tony, around 6 I think... Which meant the plan to leave on the bikes at 10am turned into 2pm.<br />
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As we rode along, we stopped for a load bang on the dirt path beside us followed by some horrible screaming. Parked up and went over, Tom was helping this guy upright his scooter, which had a basket on it containing 3 pigs then 4 or 5 ducks on top. All were fine and we got him strapped up and on his way. As we were walking off, Tom confessed 'as I ran over there and heard the screaming, I picked the bike up thinking "please don't be a child under there"'</div>
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We were aiming to get to Kratie but as the sun set into pitch blackness we were left with the choice of whether to push on, or backtrack to a pokey little town in the middle of Buddha knows where to a guesthouse we'd seen. The bikes had almost no headlights above a dim glow, and we only had sunglasses, so to ride at night we had to take them off and were reduced to about 40kph. It could have been a long night ahead so we went back. The town (Memout) was a real no-where town, luckily the guesthouse guide found us a tiny little restaurant as we could track down bugger all places to eat, not even street food.<br />
The days riding was good though, More near misses than I could have ever imagined for one journey. My favorite being my attempt to take to the dirt to undertake a bus, then a lady chose to just walk out of her drive in front of me without even thinking of checking if it was safe (motorbikes generally hop on the dirt to get round obstacles here). As i'm just about to lock the front wheel and say my goodbyes I just hear tony riding past on the road laughing out loud. Theme of the holiday was set then, and soon these unbelievable close calls just become routine parts of the journey that you soon don't even blink at.<br />
The bikes are reliable and start on the button, even if they're not 'new' as the sales rep had promised, but so far, so good.<br />
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After our stay in Memout, and the street food on the way up here, I think we've collectively given in and decided we're not going to worry about stomach bugs while we're here. Plans to only drink bottled water are scuppered when everywhere we stop they just present a big jug of local made iced tea to drink, and neither the veggie or meat option often either look safer than the other one. Oh well, bottoms up!Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15431607021399857332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5223338281427518448.post-66271654797522401802012-03-17T18:30:00.001-07:002012-03-18T06:06:59.932-07:00Day 6 - Saturday (beginning to lose track though!)<br />
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Our first day of properly getting out there. We smashed the road miles up to Kratie, stopped for some food then aimed to follow the Mekong river north along dirt roads to Stoeng Treng. Our plan to avoid the main roads failed after about 2 hours of riding when the wide dirt road turned into a smaller dirt track, then a footpath, and ended up at a house. So we said hello, then turned round and back-tracked 2 hours toward Kratie for the night.<br />
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Great days riding though, started getting the hang of the bikes in some good rocky and sandy sections. Only to drive past a moped doing the same thing with 3 people on board. Damn Honda Waves.<br />
We stopped to swim in the river near Sandon, but didn't spot any of the famous local freshwater river dolphins. We did get into a good water (us) and then mud slinging (them) fight with some local kids though.<br />
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Most of the comedy of today came from being the last of the 3 bikes and not being able to see your own front wheels, let alone the trail for the dust coming up off the other bikes. Most of all we learnt to accept the constant swerving to avoid dogs, pigs, cows and chickens running across the road, even worse than the local drivers and pedestrians! Got lots of waves and shouts of 'Hello' from the kids in the villages as we road through though, no begging, just happy to come and shout Hello at you, none of them could do 'Bye-Bye'.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15431607021399857332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5223338281427518448.post-87217933265520494222012-03-17T18:29:00.003-07:002012-03-18T06:09:17.994-07:00Day 7 - Sunday + Day 8 - Monday<br />
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Slacking in the Diary keeping, and struggling to remember what happened in the last day! We left yesterday morning early before the sun came out to avoid the heat, anticipating many hours on rough unmade roads to Bang Lung. However almost all of the roads have now been tarmac'd to some degree so we smashed the journey averaging 90kph. All in, about 4 hours riding.<br />
By far the most excitement came from the fact that you would ride 10 to 15 minutes on perfect smooth empty roads, day dreaming away or chatting at each other, then the road would just fall apart for 20 yards into two foot deep sand and rock sections with no pre-warning. Keeps the concentration up! It's like inserting the occasional off road section into the M25, wouldn't be so much fun at night.<br />
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All across Cambodia so far we'd been paying for fuel with either Dollars or Riel, however out of the way, so we pulled over here, had a laugh with the young girl filling up the bikes, waved at all the kids in the hut behind it, then tried to pay and she didn't want dollars. And we didn't have enough riel left.</div>
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We're not the sort to drive off and short change a young girl, and it all got a bit awkward. Then a random young guy on a scooter pulled up and said hello. No reason it would seem other than he saw our strange lot and wanted to say hello and practise his English. So with his help we managed to accept the girl to take dollars if we over-paid her a little bit and all ended well. Deus ex machina!</div>
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We stopped at a waterfall as we got towards Bang Lung and had a shower on the rocks at the bottom, then had to ride 3km of soft dusty tracks back to the road soaking wet after. Didn't end up much cleaner..,<br />
Found a guesthouse on the side of a lake in the town, and befriended a French girl called Virginie (did I spell that right? From here-in to be known as V, as she was to us). We all headed up to a nearby lake on the bikes for a swim in the afternoon, A perfectly circular ex-volcanic crater it turned out.<br />
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Monday was spent in Bang Lung, myself and Tom explored the local market for the morning, then grabbed some lunch and we picked up Tony and V and headed back to the lake for a swim. Next up was an explore of nearby dirt tracks on the bikes, some proper hill climbing in loose soft sand. Once again to be shown up by a young lady on a scooter climbing the same track on her way home.<br />
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After which, we found another picture perfect waterfall we could swim in, then onto another smaller one for a beer and a relax.<br />
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Here's a tree frog we found in the bathroom</div>
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A good a day in the tropics as you could wish for.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15431607021399857332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5223338281427518448.post-73984856539604420232012-03-17T18:29:00.001-07:002012-03-18T06:16:44.010-07:00Day 9 - Tuesday<br />
Another day in paradise. Bang Lung is just great.<br />
The morning was spent in the local market, buying fresh fruit for lunch. We loved the many little motorbikes and scooters just riding around the stools in the middle of a packed marketplace.
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We rate £30 desert boots a lot, tough, comfy, really light and really quick drying.</div>
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And the locals in Bangkok kept trying to buy them from us. God knows why, they could probably move a family into mine.</div>
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We rate hammocks a lot too.</div>
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Tony reckon they're real, I'm more doubtful. But either way large Stihl saws with no hand guards.</div>
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The road warriors gain a new member</div>
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Oil change and lube up</div>
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First trick learnt, standing on the saddle one legged. Very 80's.</div>
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Then we had the bikes serviced on the roadside before heading off to a waterfall miles from anywhere. Our reception from the locals implied few westerners made it that far, lots of new friends who wanted to pose in pictures.<br />
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We thought he was washing his bike in the pools which made us laugh. But in hindsight, the waterfall was about 30km of dirt track from anywhere so that'd be pretty pointless. He might have been doing an oil change. eep.</div>
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Rubber Tree plantations are taking over the countryside, but in this situation took our breaths away as we rode round the corner to see their rows disappearing into the sun.</div>
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Thirsty</div>
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After washing, swimming and eating the fruits from the morning we hit the dirt road back, Stopped for a beer in a little village on the way through and there was a volleyball game going on round the corner so we grabbed our beers, and got invited to come in and watch. Made more friends with the locals kids, dogs and all the people trying to bully us into playing. We wimped out, they looked pretty good, V didn't and got involved. Impressed.<br />
Learnt to officially jump a motorbike today as well, with a good pre-bounce you can almost bunnyhop these 250's, so with a bit of a lump in the ground they take off well. Started getting wheelies too but too cautious to get them up high.<br />
Tomorrow, out into the wild proper, not even dirt roads, just the bush!Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15431607021399857332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5223338281427518448.post-17803939326393644062012-03-17T18:28:00.001-07:002012-03-18T06:22:46.535-07:00Day 10 - Wednesday<br />
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Jeesh, where to start? Breakfast. Bacon and egg in a baguette. Then Suits. Suit day at last! We headed out into the wilderness. Then Tom fell off and broke his clutch lever and ego. I was leading and didn't realise this for a good few miles when I noticed I was on my own. So I waited, and waited, then started heading back, then saw Tony who I knew had been at the tail, and I worried a bit. But Tom was fine, headed back to a garage nursing a clutch lever stump. So we followed and met him in town where all had mostly been fixed at a local garage. easy!<br />
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The extent of the crash damage.</div>
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New clutch lever, same ego, wilderness Take Two. To cut a long (3 hour?) story shorter, we got lost. So lost we did a knee deep river crossing (managed to keep my boots dry, skills!). While an entire tiny local village came to watch. There was a bridge over the river, but it was a tree trunk with some very loose planks fastened to it, about 5 foot high in the air and 15-20 foot long. We opted for the river crossing. Got through, celebrated, got stared at blankly by the locals, then watched a middle aged man on a Honda Wave scooter roll in over the bridge. Those bikes do everything. We did get the impression riding away from their little village that they may all rub their eyes 20 minutes later and start to question whether the 3 white men in suits on old dirt bikes who just did a pointless river crossing into the town, shouted hello to them all then rode off towards not much, did really exist or not.<br />
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Then we hit the jungle tracks proper. Got some vague directions to a town name we were after, had a dodgy market bought compass we half trusted, and we headed south into nothing really, just singletrack paths that often split 2 or 3 ways, sometimes re-converging, sometimes not. We headed south as best we could.<br />
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Then we realised we were going to run out of fuel. We could go back to that little village, where we hadn't seen any fuel for sale, or keep going onward for a completely unknown distance. Never before had I potentially had to use a compass to save my own life, we were a bit fucked. And we had a compass from an asian market and we didn't know where we were, even roughly, on our shitty tourist map which had no accuracy in the first place. But as is the way in these situations, a lone van rolled up and pointed us on our way.<br />
To clarify the situation for you, I had to (I was nominated) stop a pick up truck, on a deserted forestry track, full of maybe 8 Cambodian men. Walk up to them, wearing a suit, and cheerfully say 'A'ight?'. They loved it, and we got directions. sort of.<br />
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Where I stopped the truck.</div>
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We made it to the next town, checked the map and realised that in 4 hours or so, we had done the easy quarter of our days route. So we binned it off and headed back to Kratie.<br />
Onwards, we burnt it up, down the half built tarmac roads. 120kph max out. Then it rained. So hard it nearly washed the contacts out of my eye. So hard that Tom tried to wipe his Biggles style glasses to clear his vision, then realised they had filled up over his eyes. Seriously, what the??<br />
Also, even slowing down to 30 or 40 kph, rain really hurts on your bare face!<br />
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The day was finished in style by riding through a small but long Cambodian village, 3 in a row, close formation, in suits, standing on the pegs, wearing sunglasses. Such a movie moment, the photo's should show how fucking awesome we looked.<br />
Arrived in Kratie, ate two dinners + 3 beers a piece, watched the rain flood the street, had a couple more beers, then rode back to our old guesthouse. Where we found V again (Not illustrated, that was Tom stealing my camera and stealth perving)<br />
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To summarise; Suits, Crash, River Crossing, Near death in Wilderness, Hope, Rain, looking cool, food, pub.<br />
Perfect Day??<br />
<br />Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15431607021399857332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5223338281427518448.post-55424642433324740232012-03-17T18:26:00.001-07:002012-03-18T06:26:41.397-07:00Day 11 - Thursday.<br />
Suits again today, keeps the sun off nicely, and it's just a great way of starting every conversation with a stranger with a smile on both sides.<br />
Road miles mission today Kratie to Senmonorom.<br />
After a reasonably early wake up, we got on the road south from Kratie. 2 hours, 1 tank of fuel and a sign for a turn off we need that doesn't exist. We finally find it miles later, confirming how bad our tourist map is, and how random Cambodian signs are. 2 major roads on our map, one isn't there and the other is a good 20-30km from where it is marked. Better map next time might save all the back-tracking.<br />
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Gotta get an overloaded bike picture in somewhere eh?</div>
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This is how we filled up most of the time in Cambodia, litre coke bottles filled up with fuel on the side of the roads. They often smoked while filing the bikes up.</div>
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Then onto a brand new road for another 2 hours up to Senmonorom in the hills (Cambodia has been very flat so far). Picture perfect new twisty mountain tarmac, where is the sports bike?? Then it rained again. Ho Hum.<br />
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Get to town, get a beer, head over to the 'Nature Lodge', an eco guesthouse from the guidebook. It turns out to be Very picturesque, carved natural wood buildings, private chalets, orchards and all. A bit of a posh travelers haunt judging by the clientele, but not so posh you don't get attacked by ants in the outside loo. Those things have a savage bite! Luckily we all got one each (sharing is caring) so could all sympathise.<br />
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A bit colder here too, burnt again after the massive heat of the mornings riding. Expensive here, but the beds are good so we will probably spend another day and heal the motorbike beaten bottoms. Lots of waterfalls round here, more chances to shower and swim.<br />
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Also, after 2 days of rain the large flying ants came out in massive force, which presented us in the bar, the sight of a huge Gecko feasting on them by a wall light. Like a comfortably 15" long, heavy lizard, stuck on a wall, scoffing big ants. Very cool, and made a good loud 'GEK KOO' noise.<br />
<br />Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15431607021399857332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5223338281427518448.post-12640653068719474242012-03-17T18:24:00.003-07:002012-03-18T06:29:16.786-07:00Day 12 - Friday<br />
Probably a huge days riding to Phnom Pehn tomorrow, so chillaxing is the plan today.<br />
American dirt biker next door did the dirt run we got lost on the other day. He made it over two days, we had completed all the hard bit it would seem, 'Death Highway' (his words) through the jungle. Then we bailed before the easier remaining dirt roads. Bugger.<br />
Then he offered us bong access at 10am. We passed and went to breakfast.<br />
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As seems to happen often in Cambodia (to us at least), we set off on a simple trip to a waterfall, signposted, and ended up riding an hour down increasingly bad paths, until it eventually turned into riding a boulder field down an old river bed. None-the-less it was probably (definately) the toughest and best off-roading and of us have ever done. Epic. No camera though!<br />
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We also hadn't filled up the bikes from the previous days journey and all hit the small reserve tank around 20 minutes from town. Eco-riding from then on!<br />
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Shaky, Drippy and Thirsty.</div>
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If you're gonna have a private pool and showers, it may as well be scenic.</div>
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Note the multi-purpose suit coming into its own again.</div>
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Filled up bellies and tanks and we hit up another waterfall with a lone bored looking elephant and a decent swimming area. Saw a local man visiting the falls with a megaphone, not sure why. Gave a guy a lift back towards town on the back of the bike, then hit up even more dirt tracks on the way to another signed, but ultimately non-existant waterfall. Great last days dirt biking, and good use of sticks and cow dung to make a tripod for bike pictures.<br />
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Finally, heading back into town, we hop onto the abandoned dirt airport runway and entertain ourselves and the local teenagers with drag races, burn outs and poor donught attempts. And I still haven't got much better at wheelying.<br />
<br />Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15431607021399857332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5223338281427518448.post-72513438163497440962012-03-17T18:24:00.001-07:002012-03-18T06:39:44.507-07:00Day 13 - Saturday<br />
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Long ride today, well 350km of good roads back to Phnom Pehn, mostly uneventful. Well, eventful, but not for Cambodia!<br />
The sun though. Oh My Buddha! Even in suits our hands, arms and ears and noses just cooked. You could almost feel them bubbling whenever the speeds slowed. Toms calves looked cooked to edible amounts following him along the road. We arrived though.<br />
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Getting the hang of this shooting from the hip on the bike...</div>
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Maybe not so while weaving traffic.</div>
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Mike</div>
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Tony</div>
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Tom</div>
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I abandoned my jacket and shirt at this stage. It doesn't even look as bad in this photo as it did in the flesh...</div>
2000km in 10 days, mostly roads (of wildly varying quality!), but very uncomfortable seats. XR250's aren't long distance cruisers by design! Sitting in chairs now even hurts a bit.<br />
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Tom's off early tomorrow, Tony and I will remain and return the bikes. Tonight though, the Town, Dream Bar and maybe Coughy?<br />
<br />Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15431607021399857332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5223338281427518448.post-44398603372486279962012-03-17T18:23:00.003-07:002012-03-18T06:41:56.289-07:00Day 14 - Sunday<br />
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Tom left early doors this morning to head back to Bangkok to give himself time to get his tattoo done. 12 hours on a bus for him today I believe...<br />
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Myself and Tony took a more leisurely breakfast then took one last bike trip to see the Phnom Pehn Killing Fields. After we failed to find suncream we unhappily accepted our inevitable future burnt states and got on the road.<br />
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Without giving the whole background to the Khmer Rouge genocide it is hard to explain the Killing Field story, but in an area the size of maybe 2 football fields, 17,000 people were executed over a period of mainly 5 years. Lorries were bringing in up to 300 people a day to be tortured and killed, all without the locals knowing the use of the area. What really put it in perspective for me, is that the worst period was from '78 to '79, and the minibus we took to Siem Reap this afternoon had maybe 2/3rds local [passengers who would have lived through it, lost family or been taken away to work.<br />
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Anyone who may be a threat to the state was taken, anyone educated; teachers, doctors, engineers, and then their entire families, down to children and babies who in this location were killed by being swung against a large tree before being thrown into a mass grave.<br />
Not many pictures here as it didn't appeal to me to take them, but I'll find a concise link to the history to share.<br />
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Phnom Pehn Killing Field - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choeung_Ek<br />
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S21, and old school in central Phnom Pehn taken over to use as an interogation and confession turture centre - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuol_Sleng_Genocide_Museum<br />
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Khmer Rouge - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge<br />
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Anyway, 5 hours on a minibus, fake headphones from the market were rubbish (shock!) and now in Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat Temples tomorrow. It's like Ibiza here, neon lights, banging clubs. Each to their own...Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15431607021399857332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5223338281427518448.post-74462243256766693102012-03-17T18:23:00.001-07:002012-03-18T06:44:49.429-07:00Day 15 - Monday + Day 16 - Tuesday<br />
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All this time eating and drinking from dodgy road Vendors, we get to the tourist capital of Cambodia and I'm woken with stomach cramps! Joy!<br />
In fact monday and Tuesdays breakfasts involved eating half of the meal, running to the room to puke it back up, then returning downstairs to actually enjoy the second half of the food. Odd.<br />
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We hit up Angkor Wat Monday morning. It really is a hell of a sight/site. I'll let the pictures talk, but the most impressive thing is just the scale of the whole place.<br />
Any one of the temples would be magnificent on its own, and there are seemingly miles of them. You can walk 5 minutes off the beaten track in any direction and find countless more temples with no-one near them, each as intricate as the main ones on the tourist trail.<br />
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Bats ^^^</div>
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For more information:</div>
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat</div>
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Temples soon blend into temples in your mind though, and we headed back to town and wandered into the night markets.<br />
This town (siem Reap) really is a tourist hell hole though (well, the centre part of it anyway) Huge neon signs pointing the way to 'Pub Street' and spotlights into the sky and all that gumpf.<br />
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As it was we hit the beers at a quiet bar and spend the night drinking with a couple from Edinburgh and Belgium, listening to their tales of living in Egypt. Sounds like somewhere to avoid!<br />
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Tuesday was spend hunting for a bookshop (success!) and in the markets again, and now found a swimmming pool to chill out at, like a real holiday! but mid-city, and we're missing the bikes...<br />
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No swimming trunks so I've cut the legs off of my suit trousers. I left the jacket and shirt in Phnom Pehn. Good 'ol multi purpose suits, they've done well!<br />
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Our second evening in Siem Reap was also spent with the couple we met the night before, Shaun and Camille. Must visit them if they set up here! They took us back to a (not very) gay bar near their guesthouse, told us it wasn't far from ours where we had been drinking previously, so we walked off bare footed. They then hailed a tuk-tuk...<br />
We walked home I'm sure, no idea how we found our way or what, if anything, happened on the journey, neither I nor Tony remember anything past saying our goodnights at the bar. Feet seem fine though!Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15431607021399857332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5223338281427518448.post-66064226816347308262012-03-17T18:22:00.003-07:002012-03-18T06:45:42.698-07:00Day 17 - Wednesday<br />
[Authors edit: the first part of this was written late at night, very drunk. I could leave it out, but it would be missing out my opinion of the time. I should add though that Tom and Tony at times, and lots of other people, love Khoa Sans nightlife. It makes me laugh typing this out though, as the handwriting is as slurred as I imagine my words would have been]<br />
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Travelled from Siem Reap to Bangkok. Drunk(ish) entry, but please just avoid Khao San Road. It highlights all that is bad in tourism. Just stay away for your own soul!<br />
I really hate to be an above my station pretend experienced traveler know it all elitist, but why come to Thailand or Angkor Wat for a Chelmsford style yob nightlife experience. Where is our motorbikes and freedom?? I miss you Cambodia!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSsYzc9AGyw2kB4WgKeXzpfn3Y0osJ94lLAK65hr5mantMbXCLZVpYuLItB_-HP387xj9Z-B-pAyBswOJ4d2G1sLNCoPZyMuevy3pUyg9P_8wbo72cMhevqwWhO6wgdtGhBNcPh8I4t7Y/s1600/P1010008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSsYzc9AGyw2kB4WgKeXzpfn3Y0osJ94lLAK65hr5mantMbXCLZVpYuLItB_-HP387xj9Z-B-pAyBswOJ4d2G1sLNCoPZyMuevy3pUyg9P_8wbo72cMhevqwWhO6wgdtGhBNcPh8I4t7Y/s320/P1010008.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Imagine this but busier and much more illuminated in the evenings.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdWJiOZNL6u-5eKn7Oun3OunAnhisQ1VycdkCIMg0iXKNTb3xdoI4ZLi5aT-kbHJ0qQoF9XQB1yCkZi66dlSMW34Tt62rx-bgMf3T5Ms1BLlRl8PKVNB8ajJtgM0fT5cmLPv0IEJbfthE/s1600/P1010011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdWJiOZNL6u-5eKn7Oun3OunAnhisQ1VycdkCIMg0iXKNTb3xdoI4ZLi5aT-kbHJ0qQoF9XQB1yCkZi66dlSMW34Tt62rx-bgMf3T5Ms1BLlRl8PKVNB8ajJtgM0fT5cmLPv0IEJbfthE/s320/P1010011.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I do massively love Thai citys' approach to electricity though.</div>
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<br />Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15431607021399857332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5223338281427518448.post-71284818545813699722012-03-17T18:22:00.001-07:002012-03-18T06:46:15.675-07:00Day 18 - Thursday (night, drunk)<br />
A day stuck in Khao San Road!<br />
Woke up late, ate, read, met the guys about 1pm. Hit up a local park, watched a lot of French guys be very impressive at circus type stuff. Must Learn?!<br />
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Khao San Road is just not my scene, another day of Diary bitching but chatting up young Thai girls and sitting in noisy packed bars aint my thing. I want the road or home [Authers Note: I didn't mean home], this tourist street is my inbetween torture. No photo's, nothing good to see. If you have nothing good to say, say nothing!Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15431607021399857332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5223338281427518448.post-57677821555653510932012-03-17T18:21:00.001-07:002012-03-18T06:46:52.444-07:00Day 19 - Friday<br />
Clean Pants Day (Tom read this entry and proclaimed "Really? me too!")<br />
That's right, saved one clean pair of pants and socks for the flight home. Turned out to be a wasted effort after sweating all day in Bangkok before going to the airport.<br />
Off up and down Khao San Road to do a little shopping and eating, and maybe a little park chilling. Then onto a plane this evening and land in the morning.<br />
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Massive suspension bridge crossing Bangkoks river.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUIu55t5Tg4sgMvxbGh7NYodeNeSolhgvG1u_hCwFlbsk8KRyblFcW4XuiVNGGmIpjEWfPCKERtdHu4Lsc23PTm4-MD3CeU8fUaMjKCF9b190pca4u-xljdsJrMNJyJyZG8cmobW-E1Nw/s1600/P1010014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUIu55t5Tg4sgMvxbGh7NYodeNeSolhgvG1u_hCwFlbsk8KRyblFcW4XuiVNGGmIpjEWfPCKERtdHu4Lsc23PTm4-MD3CeU8fUaMjKCF9b190pca4u-xljdsJrMNJyJyZG8cmobW-E1Nw/s320/P1010014.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Sitting in the park watching a group of French circus artists practicing, Tonys inelegant sleeping positions always made sure no passers by mistook us for members of their group.</div>
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Temple by the park. All the knowledge I have of that...</div>
<br />Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15431607021399857332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5223338281427518448.post-57256628366428775502012-03-17T18:19:00.001-07:002012-03-18T06:47:39.046-07:00Day 20 - Saturday<br />
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It's 2am, in Sri Lanka, at the airport. Well, this is fun!<br />
4 hours of flying dealt with, 3 hours sat here in the airport, 10 hours flying to go!<br />
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Just taking this free time and opportunity to give a final little summary of the bikes we were riding, their quirks and how we came to all fall totally in love with the little Honda XR250's.<br />
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Mikes </div>
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Nicknames - Thirsty/Clocky</div>
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It seemed to always use a half a litre or so more fuel than the other bikes when we filled up, whether down to my heavy hand or bad tuning. Also, it was the only one of the three bikes that had a working speedo or Odometer. 120kph clocked at one point, not bad for a 250 dirt bike with all-terrain tyres on.</div>
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Issues - Back brake occasionally jammed on when messing about doing skids. Could be fixed by kicking the pedal till it released.</div>
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Toms</div>
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Nicknames - Shaky/Wobbly</div>
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The back end seemed to fishtail around worryingly whenever Tom took it over about 90kph. Tony was determined this was because he tied his helmet to one side of the bike. We never conclusively decided whether this was the cause.</div>
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Issues - Tom crashed it in the dirt on a loose left hander, low side. Clutch lever snapped off, spare fitted. $5</div>
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Tonys</div>
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Nicknames - Drippy/Coughy</div>
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The first one being the obvious, it dripped some oil when parked. Thirsty did too, but not so bad. Coughy came from a Thai girl tony befriended in a bar (by playing 'it' with...) the night before whom had a concern causing cough, so the story and name followed him to the bike.</div>
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Issues - Same brake problem as Thirsty, also Drippy fell off its sidestand in soft soil in San Monorom, breaking the mirror. $2</div>
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Where's next?? </div>
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For my own benefit reading this back later: Being away is amazing. Do it whenever possible!</div>
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2 x pants</div>
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2 x socks</div>
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2 x tee</div>
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1 x vest</div>
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1 x shorts</div>
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1 x trousers</div>
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1 x flipflops</div>
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1 x boots</div>
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bits and bobs</div>
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That's about all you'd need for a month traveling anywhere warm really I reckon</div>
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[Tom adds in "1 x Suit - Multi Purpose!"]</div>
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So good moving around with our little packs watching everyone else dragging horse carts around.</div>
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Cambobo is great, I'd personally miss out Angkor Wat if you've seen big temples before, head out to Bang Lung, Kratie etc and get in them lakes and waterfalls. Still got Eastern Cambodia to explore though!</div>
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Europe on a motorbike Solo soon?</div>
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<br />Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15431607021399857332noreply@blogger.com0