Back on the Bike

It's a bit more than 7 years ago since I started this blog. 223 blog posts went online over those years! Nevertheless, it had been a very long time ago (more than 3 years!) since my last story - and that one was not about cycling at all, it was about our compulsory quarantine in Malaysia upon returning from Belgium in September 2020: see here. The last bicycle trip was also in 2020: the one in Taiwan which we needed to interrupt due to the covid outbreak, and then another one in France once the borders reopened in Europe. Plus a little side trip in Belgium itself.

Let's go! @Brussels Airport

So anyway, more than 3 years of non-activity here. So much has happened since then. We've had the entire covid saga; almost seems like a long forgotten thing of the past meanwhile, except for the face masks that staff still wear in restaurants in Asia. We've moved back to Belgium - at least part time. I've been doing quite a bit of (project) work as well since 2021. And also, we bought ourselves a nice little campervan in Belgium, in which we are touring Europe when we're not in Asia. Way too much to catch up on everything, so let's not look back but look forward again: a new bicycle trip in Asia!

"Vanessa", a new member of our family, on our tour in the Spanish Pyrenees.

While "home" is officially back in Belgium, Asia remains our "second home". We've spent so much time there, and travelling to Asia truly feels like coming back. In winter 2022-2023 we spent more than 5 months in Asia, and also this winter we are staying here for quite a while. This time our trip also includes a cycling tour again! We left Belgium on 2 November, and our first destination was - surprise surprise - Kuala Lumpur. Talking about second home... Time to go back to our friends, to hashing, to good food and warm weather!

Hashing... I missed it a lot, happy to be on the trails again!

With our hash "family" after the run

KL is nice, and especially to be with our friends, however some days out of the big city are great - we're not really city people. Enjoying a short stay at Avillion in Port Dickson.

And Langkawi! We've been so many times, and it still seems to get better every time we go. @ Tanjung Rhu beach.

Happy couple

OK, now let's get into the cycling tour! So happy to be back on our bikes! We've come back to ride in countries we've been to before: Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. We flew into Siem Reap (Angkor) to start. From there, we will cycle to the Laos border near Stung Treng, then north along the Mekong river in Laos. At some point we will cross into Thailand and continue our way, with final destination: Chiang Mai! We plan to reach Chiang Mai by mid January, although the timing is very open. The only thing we know: towards the end of January Sander and Vere will come to Chiang Mai, so then we will definitely be there!

Departure from KLIA2

And arrival in Siem Reap

We did not go to Siem Reap town itself; the new airport is quite far outside of town, in the direction we'd have to cycle to anyway - we didn't want to go back and forth, and had been in Siem Reap and Angkor several times before. We were lucky to find a homestay not too far from the airport, in Beng Mealea, and they also arranged to send a tuk tuk to fetch us (forgot to take a picture with our 2 huge bicycle boxes in the tuk tuk!). This way, we could just comfortably drive to the homestay, and I could assemble the bicycles there peacefully. The homestay was a true homestay; very basic but very nice. It brought us immediately fully back into Cambodia, without first going to the Siem Reap tourist circus. Fantastic! Some pictures say it all:

Assembly of the bicycles

The homestay. Our room is the first door to the left. No aircon, mandi for shower, but oh so nice and authentic.

Before setting off in the early morning, around 7am. While this time of the year the heat is less overwhelming in this region, it is still preferable to enjoy the cooler morning for cycling.

But not without a little brekkie first

We've only been in Cambodia for a day, but have been reminded a lot about how nice this country is! Super friendly people everywhere, modest and a bit shy but ever so helpful. 1000 hellos along the roadside from enthusiastic children. Great food; we've already had lok lak, Cambodian sour soup, boklahong, fried pineapple beef - all very Cambodian and very tasty. Look it up, Google knows everything - and you might find yourself a nice meal for this evening.

For some more inspiration: the menu!

Welcome to my little restaurant.

Today was our first day in the saddle. We made it a relatively short day, as it has been a while since we were on our tour bikes. Also, in terms of planning, it worked out best to keep it a bit short today. We did 48km (view it on Strava), easy almost flat riding with a few little bumps on the way. There is only 1 route we can take, all the way from Beng Mealea to Stung Treng; the NR64. It's a rather rural road, fully sealed and in mostly decent condition. There is quite a bit of traffic, but nothing really heavy and not disturbing at all for a good bike ride.

Happy early morning cyclists

On the NR64, with the typical tractor; this is actually the most common vehicle on these roads

Short stop at the market to buy fruits

Coffee stop without coffee but with fruit - longan, mango and persimmon. Shock to our long time followers: we did not bring our little gas stove and Bialetti coffee maker on this trip!!!

So after a relatively short and easy ride, we arrived at the I AM Koh Ker resort - near Koh Ker. Tomorrow we take a "rest day" (???) to visit some temples in this area - and for a little bit of work (!!!). Then onwards we go! The resort is nice, very comfortable chalet style accommodation, at 20USD per night quite reasonable. We travel light this time, no camping nor cooking gear, because in these countries there are always some options to stay overnight, at a reasonable cost. To have a good shower and bed for the night are surely welcome after a day on the saddle! So we each have our 2 back paniers for our luggage, and that's all!

It surely feels great to be out here again, cycling remains a fantastic way to travel. Slow but fast enough, good to enjoy where you go, feel and smell your environment, and it gets you to places you would otherwise never go, and meet people you would never meet. It's a pleasant and fulfilling activity without having to search for it, it's so much more about the journey than the destination. And the best part: it's also a good excuse to eat a lot!