Meanwhile, we have arrived in Laos, several days have past since my last post. Let's start by continuing with where we were first! Eum... where were we again...?
From Preah Vihear to Stung Treng was too long to cover in 1 day of cycling; it's about 140km, which is a lot on the heavy touring bikes in the hot climate. In fact, in all these years of tour cycling, I don't think we have ever done 140km in 1 day. So, we split it up in 2 days of riding. However, there is very little option to do so; the only place with some accommodation on that stretch is Chhaeb (the name of this town differs every time you see it written, but the most common is this way). Not that there is anything else to do in this town, but it has a guest house: Mey Mey Guest House. Very basic, badly maintained, but it does the job. They clearly abuse the situation that they're the only place in the region. We paid 15USD for a basic room, which is a lot to Cambodian standards for what you get. But again, it does the job.
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| Rooftop breakfast in Preah Vihear |
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| There had been some heavy rain previous night, so the land is pretty wet... |
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| Very few cars on the road, still a shared road though |
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| Coffee shop in Chhaeb |
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| Market in remote Chhaeb |
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| Outdoor dining |
The ride, still on the same RN64, remains pleasant but nothing special, not specifically inspiring or scenic. The next day, from Chhaeb to Stung Treng, was a bit more attractive, although still nothing spectacular. There are a lot of plantations along this road, mango but also a tree we didn't recognize. It turns out to be cashew - and it's really everywhere in this part of Cambodia. It seems cashew is a major export product for Cambodia, with nearly 1 billion USD of sales this year.
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| The guest house in Chhaeb, with some unexpected guests in the morning |
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| Cycling out of town, a slightly misty morning |
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| Along the road, people are drying cassava in the sun. I assume it is then used as animal feed. It has a specific smell, not bad but a bit fermented. |
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| Taking our morning break in a cashew plantation. |
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| And the lunch break in one of the small towns on the way. |
This region we were riding through was clearly pretty poor. People live in primitive conditions, we even saw several hand water pumps in the villages. Nevertheless, people are very friendly, and it seems that they have at least access to all the basics.
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| Typical scenery |
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| Can you feel the heat? |
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| The plastic store, coming to you soon. |
We arrived in Stung Treng after a good 86km of riding, the first "proper" cycling day. It went well, although the heat and humidity is still not to be underestimated. In Stung Treng, first of all (well, after a good shower and some cooling down in our aircon room), we went looking for a spare part for my bicycle. One of the derailleur jockey wheels was defect, I could still use it but not sure how much longer it would last. Not an easy task to find a replacement in remote Cambodia, but after some failed attempts we finally succeeded to find a place where they could help me. I basically had to buy an entire (cheap) derailleur, and take the jockey wheel out. It works - and pretty sure it will work for the rest of the trip. The rest of the afternoon was spent walking through town, having a good coffee, and a good (and sometimes painful) Khmer foot massage.
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| Colourful fruit stall at Stung Treng market |
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| Zoom in and you find... strawberries???!!! |
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| Picturesque |
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| My poor broken jockey wheel... |
We had been in Stung Treng before. Our first bicycle trip ever, over the Christmas-New Year holiday in 2014-15, was in Cambodia and up to Laos. Back then, we rented 2 bicycles in Phnom Penh, with paniers and everything, to try out tour cycling. I had done this before and knew I loved it, for Ellen it was the first time - and she loved it immediately. We only cycled for about 2 weeks, but it was enough to experience it, and to get inspired for what would follow - our 8 month cycling tour from Malaysia to Japan - and many others to follow.
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| On our first cycling trip, through Cambodia, in Dec 2014. |
Stung Treng is on the Mekong river, actually the confluence of the Sekong and Mekong rivers. The mighty Mekong river, running through China, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam - and we have cycled in all these countries along it! Good to meet our "good old friend" again!
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| The bridge over the Mekong - the longest and steepest climb of the day. |
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| Hello Mighty Mekong, it's been a while! |
Finally, a short word about this blog versus Polarsteps - where you can also
follow us. The blog is still what it has always been, our diary, which we use on the one hand for ourselves as a memory, and also for friends and family to follow our travels in a bit more detail. Polarsteps does pretty much that as well, but it is more limited in how and how much you write. It is easier for a quick daily glance, to see what our route is, to see some photos, but I don't intend to write much text there. So it depends what you prefer - or possibly you even follow both. I'd be interested to hear what you think about both.
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| Hardly started our trip, and I'm already running behind on the writing! We've been in Laos since yesterday, but more about that in a next post - tomorrow, or the day after... If you can sit in this kind of location, with that backdrop, and a cold soda water, it's a great pleasure to write however! |
