Paradise

Had a few complaints that the Subscribe/Follow by email links don't work, they should be ok now.

I'm having a lousy time in an awful place and don't feel like writing now, I'll let you know when I'm better. Till then...

Phnom Penh – Kampong Som (Sihanoukville) 240km

After spending some days in Phnom Penh, I decided to head to the sea. What better way to begin than a)starting late, b)being a bit sleep deprived, c)having drank quite a lot the previous night...

I started out at 2pm and after 2 bottles of water, 3 coconuts and 30 minutes of riding I was about to give up, thinking of buses,canoes,airplanes,double-sided beds,air-conditioners and the detrimental effects of alcohol and smoking on the human body...

The highway is well paved and apart from the first 40-60km where the traffic is a bit dense, its an easy ride. Both ways are single-laned and as long as you're on a 2-wheel vehicle you're expected to move over to the non-paved auxiliary lane whenever a car wants to surpass another car in the opposite direction. It's quite a hassle but thankfully didn't happen too often. The scenery switched between rice paddies,coconut tree plantations and small villages. Night comes early now, so I had to stop at about 7.30, after having covered the first 100km. The last hour or so while riding in the darkness, a magnificent thunderstorm was building up way ahead of me with lightning strikes every few seconds. I feel lucky being here right in the end of the rainy season, the sky can get quite dramatic at times and there is always thunders somewhere in the background, I just hope they stay there, don't fancy riding in the rain that much! I stayed in a small town-I think it was Traeng Trayueng-that had only one guesthouse that served as a brothel as well, I was even offered a girl as I walked in and after I politely declined I noticed that she didn't look older than 16.Maybe I was wrong, people sometimes tend to look younger than they are here, nevertheless underage prostitution is a big issue in Cambodia. I contemplated on watching an 80's dubbed b-movie at a nearby cafe but opted for a fish-rice combo in a food-stall served accompanied with a warm can of beer served in a glass filled with ice that of course melted a couple of minutes later. Then off to my moisty room, passing out almost instantly.

Next day I started early, by 7am I was on the road and did the last 140km. The most beautiful part of my ride so far is the amount of children I see in every village I pass, either going to school or just playing around, always laughing and almost always waving and hello-ing me, a thing that can get tiresome since in some villages I had to have my hand constantly up, hello-ing them back,like a president on a tour. This time I was a bit smarter than the day before, and by 1pm I was having a wonderful nap in the shade, waiting for the temperature to drop a bit,waking up just in time to start hello-ing the children coming back from school. The final stretch involves crossing the damrei mountains, making the ride a bit more interesting, the road gently ascending and dropping soon after, passing through forests and coconut tree plantations.

A few coconuts and various other fruits later I was in Sihanoukville, a large city built around a port, with an abundance of beaches on the south side. Wanting to hook up with some friends I went to Monkey Republic, a hostel situated in the party-side of town, not a bad place if you're into nightlife and endless bar-hoping, but not convenient for a cyclist, lacking the space I had to fit my bike under my bed.

Two important facts:

1.Cycling between 12 and 2-3pm at this time of year is a big no-no. If the locals stay in their hammocks in the shade, they know what they are doing. I couldn't measure the temperature but even for a Greek it was HOT.

2.Right about sunset the attack of the insects starts.If you're not wearing goggles and snorkel, half of them will end up in your mouth providing a free protein-rich meal and the rest all over your face. Not funny. Not tasty either.

Only a few shitty photos this time, will get better soon, I promise.

The Killing Fields

A couple of days ago I visited Choeung Ek, one of the 300 extermination camps operating during the Khmer Rouge era, more widely known as the killing fields. In this particular camp about 17000 people found a horrible death after having been tortured-sometimes for months-in a building close to the city center. Visitors are asked to be quiet as they walk around the mass graves where after the rain it's not unusual to see human skulls and bones resurfacing, or enter the memorial stupa that contains 8000 skulls of the victims. As I sat on a bench, I realised that I'm pretty much against preserving such locations. If it's for remembering the dead, then give them all a proper burial and seal the mass graves, if I had lost my loved ones there I wouldnt like to know that some of their skulls are on display. I would prefer to remember how they lived their lives before, not their final moments of agony, I'd prefer to visit the place and see nothing else but a memorial, knowing that their remains lay on the ground below it,not see clothes on plexiglass boxes or signs describing how heads of children were crushed on trees. If it's so that it will not happen again, well, this is the biggest joke ever. History unfortunately does repeat itself and the Pol Pots of this world don't have any respect for human life no matter how many memorials we build. As for the need to educate the rest of us humble humans, I can't quite understand how one visits a country without knowing some basic facts about it, and cambodia's recent history is very well documented, a quick search on the net will bring tons of material,but even for the lazy ones a museum should be enough. Worst of all, now that blood and guts are all over the news and the net, and sometimes even the most restrained photographers will prefer to show all than to imply, we've built such an apathy that an extermination camp might become nothing more than a tourist attraction.But then again it might be just me...

Phnom Penh: Cycling Madness

Cambodians seem to love bicycles. The moment I started unpacking and assembling it next to the airport entrance, I had an audience of 7 gathered around me, seemingly suffering with me as I sweated and moaned from the effort, smiling and noding to each other whenever a tire was inflated or a rack screwed. Then I was off to the city and its absurdly chaotic traffic, with tuk-tuks and mopeds all over the place driving too often against the current, everybody horning in the junctions thus declaring his right of way-except there is always too many doing it, in the end its a typical city where if you want to cycle you have to decide early on whether you'll be on-guard constantly, manuever and survive, or enjoy the scenery and probably die a horrible death. Funnily enough, the traffic lights have a countdown, and while it progresses the little green guy starts going faster and faster until in the final 10 seconds he's running his ass off.

Don't get me wrong, after spending a day cycling around the city I believe it's an experience worth having, and after you get used to it, it becomes really enjoyable. The only real hassle is the amount of dust and smoke in the air, so like most of my fellow Cambodian cyclists, tomorrow I'm getting a mask...

(sort of)A start...

A few months ago when I decided to cycle around SE Asia, I found out that there is not that much up to date info on the area about road conditions, interesting routes, cyclist-friendly hostels, etc. This blog will attempt to do just that, but also serve as a means for friends and family to read about my mis-adventures.I know I will fail on both for too many reasons, my forgetfulness and complete lack of discipline when it comes to writing down names and facts, my bad timing when it comes to taking photos-I always prefer to watch as events unfold and only when it's too late do I remember I'm carrying a camera, my inadequacy in writing with a few words what I want to say, to name a few,so stay with me and I'll do my best to let you down in every possible way!