"Roads? Where we 're going, we don't need roads."
After spending an uneventful night in
Andung Tueg, I headed off to Chi Phat. A local had told me it's a
beautiful place to visit and according to my map a road started there
and headed towards the central Cardamons-an extra incentive to visit.
The 17km to the village are pretty easy (the turn is 3km after the
bridge in the main highway) but I got so lazy on the way that I
didn't arrive before noon, plenty of spots on the way to doze off or
read a book. Chi Phat is an interesting experiment considering the
country's almost non-existent environmental policies. The area used
to be heavy on lodging and poaching, then in 2002 the locals were
encouraged by Wildlife Aliance to turn to ecotourism. There is a
central administration, by which every tourist is requested to pass
upon arrival and choose where he wants to stay. I opted for a
homestay thinking that some families probably don't make as much as
the guesthouses, forgetting that every Cambodian family has at least
one 1-2 year old child, practically meaning no sleep for me for the
next two nights.
 |
| Waiting to get across... |
 |
| Watching Khmer boxing with the locals, a noisy experience. |
 |
| Srei Tia's house, as friendly and warm as it gets. |
I bumped into James, an Australian
cyclist I had briefly met in Sihanookville who wanted to go north as
well. We were both told on different occasions that no such road
existed, or that if it did it was in bad shape but were determined to
try it. Lucky us, one of the guides who do treks in the area had all
the info we needed-albeit some of it a bit vague, like “remember,
you need to cross the river in Thmar Teoung”, “ok, what is that,
a village? If not, is there something specific about it?”, “No,
but you'll find it, it's Thmar Teoung.”.Rrright...
It was decided
we'd be leaving in two days.
Next day we did a 40km ride and managed
to almost get lost deep in the jungle, the path was hard to find
sometimes and we never got to do a roundtrip, nevertheless it was
highly enjoyable. Finished the day having beer under a waterfall.
 |
| Isn't it supposed to be the other way around? |
 |
| Falling, not so graciously. |
 |
| Where the hell is the way back?? |
 |
| Having a beer under the waterfall |
Early next morning, after having
breakfast and getting take-away lunch(rice, what else?) we were on
the road, or better said, on the trail. Sometimes so narrow that our
paniers would barely fit. The first 17 km upto the river crossing
were fairly easy, but then we entered a world of pain. We knew we
would be going uphill, but neither of us was prepared for what came,
sometimes so steep that all we could do was push, and then push some
more. After two quite high passes and a magnificent roller coaster
descent we got into a dirt road so wide, flat and easy that seemed
like a highway and did the few km to Areng, the first village of the
day just in time for our second lunch, a soup that had what seemed
like balls in it, no, not meatballs, the other balls. Tasty. Speaking
of balls, I think I left one of mine back in that roller coaster
descent, sometimes I was doing 35km/h, screaming both in ecstasy and
pain, gripping the handlebar so hard I almost bent it. We both had a
couple of falls, not too spectacular though. Apparently there is
crocodiles in the nearby river, we used children as bait but still
didn't find any.
 |
| Getting tighter... |
 |
| ...and steeper. |
 |
| The highway to Areng. |
 |
| Alright, where are the crocodiles? |
The next 16km to Thma Bang, our
destination for the day, were as hard as the previous ones. The trail
started ascending again, leading to more pushing every now and
then-only this time with a noodle and rice filled stomach.
It is bridges-galore all along the way,
from the two-rolling-branches, to full-blown
10-pieces-nailed-together-forming-a-squeaking-cross-me-if-you-dare
type. The trail was usually a maze of potholes or rocks and
occasionally muddy. During the whole day we met no more than 5-6
locals, always on mopeds, carrying either overwhelmingly big sacks of rice or
a passenger that would have to walk on the really steep parts, all of
them laughing at the crazy foreigners pushing their bikes. One would
think that a moped is a bad idea in such conditions, but seeing them
maneuver it made perfect sense, lightweight and small, they will stop
at nothing.
Conclusion? By far the best ride of my
life. Tough as hell, but rewarding to the extreme. A jungle so thick
that I felt it would swallow me in an instant. Apart from some
beautiful birds flying in the horizon and reptiles crossing the path
I didn't see much, but the sounds coming from either side of the trail were enough
to know that this part of the jungle is alive and kicking.
A few facts for those interested:
It's 17km from Chi Phat to Thmar Teoung
where you have to cross the river, another 28km to Areng, the first
village and then 16km to Thma Bang. Get some take away from Chi Phat.
Areng is a loong way, you'll be hungry before you get there. Carry
lots of water. I had 5 litres, drank most of it. Wear shoes and
helmet, the path is sometimes blocked by branches, bushes you name
it, it's going to make your life easier and remember that a nasty fall
going downhill without any of the above can mean bye-bye toenails at
best. I also had some fake clear glass raybans that came in handy.
Start early, it's a long day and worth doing breaks here and there.
It took us 10 hours, out of which 4 was cycling and 2 pushing.
Remember that when you think it's bad, it will only get worse, and
enjoy the ride!
As the sun set we reached Thma Bang and
met Peter, a Belgian cyclist coming from Koh Kong. James would be
going that way the next morning whereas I wanted to keep going north.
Peter was a bit indecisive, but it took me only a while to convince
him to join me. My reasoning was simple: All our maps were different
and generally untrustworthy, the Cardamons seemed to be filled with
trails and roads going everywhere and leading nowhere, if you asked
two locals about a place you'd usually get two different directions,
the names of some villages seemed to change every other day, it would
be hard, hot and humid, what else do you need?
 |
| Lunch-break up in the mountain |
Disclaimer: James was kind enough to let me use some of his photos. Well, he doesn't know yet, but he will be kind enough when he finds out!
After spending an uneventful night in
Andung Tueg, I headed off to Chi Phat. A local had told me it's a
beautiful place to visit and according to my map a road started there
and headed towards the central Cardamons-an extra incentive to visit.
The 17km to the village are pretty easy (the turn is 3km after the
bridge in the main highway) but I got so lazy on the way that I
didn't arrive before noon, plenty of spots on the way to doze off or
read a book. Chi Phat is an interesting experiment considering the
country's almost non-existent environmental policies. The area used
to be heavy on lodging and poaching, then in 2002 the locals were
encouraged by Wildlife Aliance to turn to ecotourism. There is a
central administration, by which every tourist is requested to pass
upon arrival and choose where he wants to stay. I opted for a
homestay thinking that some families probably don't make as much as
the guesthouses, forgetting that every Cambodian family has at least
one 1-2 year old child, practically meaning no sleep for me for the
next two nights. 
I bumped into James, an Australian
cyclist I had briefly met in Sihanookville who wanted to go north as
well. We were both told on different occasions that no such road
existed, or that if it did it was in bad shape but were determined to
try it. Lucky us, one of the guides who do treks in the area had all
the info we needed-albeit some of it a bit vague, like “remember,
you need to cross the river in Thmar Teoung”, “ok, what is that,
a village? If not, is there something specific about it?”, “No,
but you'll find it, it's Thmar Teoung.”.Rrright... 
Early next morning, after having
breakfast and getting take-away lunch(rice, what else?) we were on
the road, or better said, on the trail. Sometimes so narrow that our
paniers would barely fit. The first 17 km upto the river crossing
were fairly easy, but then we entered a world of pain. We knew we
would be going uphill, but neither of us was prepared for what came,
sometimes so steep that all we could do was push, and then push some
more. After two quite high passes and a magnificent roller coaster
descent we got into a dirt road so wide, flat and easy that seemed
like a highway and did the few km to Areng, the first village of the
day just in time for our second lunch, a soup that had what seemed
like balls in it, no, not meatballs, the other balls. Tasty. Speaking
of balls, I think I left one of mine back in that roller coaster
descent, sometimes I was doing 35km/h, screaming both in ecstasy and
pain, gripping the handlebar so hard I almost bent it. We both had a
couple of falls, not too spectacular though. Apparently there is
crocodiles in the nearby river, we used children as bait but still
didn't find any.
The next 16km to Thma Bang, our
destination for the day, were as hard as the previous ones. The trail
started ascending again, leading to more pushing every now and
then-only this time with a noodle and rice filled stomach.
Conclusion? By far the best ride of my
life. Tough as hell, but rewarding to the extreme. A jungle so thick
that I felt it would swallow me in an instant. Apart from some
beautiful birds flying in the horizon and reptiles crossing the path
I didn't see much, but the sounds coming from either side of the trail were enough
to know that this part of the jungle is alive and kicking.
It's 17km from Chi Phat to Thmar Teoung
where you have to cross the river, another 28km to Areng, the first
village and then 16km to Thma Bang. Get some take away from Chi Phat.
Areng is a loong way, you'll be hungry before you get there. Carry
lots of water. I had 5 litres, drank most of it. Wear shoes and
helmet, the path is sometimes blocked by branches, bushes you name
it, it's going to make your life easier and remember that a nasty fall
going downhill without any of the above can mean bye-bye toenails at
best. I also had some fake clear glass raybans that came in handy.
Start early, it's a long day and worth doing breaks here and there.
It took us 10 hours, out of which 4 was cycling and 2 pushing.
Remember that when you think it's bad, it will only get worse, and
enjoy the ride!
Τέλεια!
ReplyDeleteVerrrrryyyyyy niiiiiceeeeeee! xxx
ReplyDelete