Siem Reap, Cambodia to Saigon, Vietnam

Heading out of Siem Reap was hard as it was a cool little city but being back on the road and cycling again felt great as the roads were heaps better and I was starting out early to beat the worst of the heat. To add to the experience the scenery was fantastic with rice paddy fields and local farmers ploughing them in the century old ways using water buffalo. Again the locals were friendly and if they weren't laughing at me they were waving and cheering which kept me going each day as it got hotter and hotter. After three days of riding I rolled in the the chaotic capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. After finding a hostel and getting cleaned up I was off checking out the local sights and some of the sad history which this country has been through. During the 1970's the Khmer Rouge took over the country and for a number of years inflicted some horrific atrocities on the Cambodian people. The genocide museum which was old school converted into a prison for interrogation and torture plus the mass graves of the killing fields were interesting but truly saddening sights to take in. To lift my spirits headed out for a few beers and had a great night hitting a few of the local bars with a bunch of other travellers. It was lucky my Vietnam visa took an extra day to come through as the next day I was more than happy to chill out glad I wasn't on the bike in the heat with a hangover! The following day I was back on the bike heading for the Cambodian/Vietnam border which was another two long days in the saddle. My new Khmer head scarf was proving a winner in the heat as well so I was happy to be back on the road. As I rolled into another little Cambodian village I saw a foreigner at a house so decided to stop and ask for directions. He happened to be a kiwi as well and after giving me water and shade showed me around the town where I was going to spend the night. Another crazy little encounter showing me yet again that there are Kiwi's all over the world doing good things as he was there with his family helping out all the local families affected by war and poverty. Anyways, the next day I headed over the border and into Vietnam where I met a local cyclist out on his Sunday ride. We rode together for a number of km's and then had some lunch before we hit the city of Saigon. With some local knowledge and directions I continued on to find a hostel and was introduced to the scooter madness of Saigon, 5.5 million people and over 3 million scooters! Well, I've got a couple of days here before heading to the coast and north up Vietnam. It has already proved interesting so hopefully the next month of riding in this narrow but long country lives up to it's reputation as a great country to travel in.

Riding Stats
> 17th August - 151km
> 18th August - 93km
> 19th August - 81km
> 23th August - 129km
> 24th August - 119km
Total - 1048km

Bangkok, Thailand to Siem Reap, Cambodia

Well after the first two hard days on the bike I think my body is finally getting over the shock of actually having to do something physical each day and I seem to be getting into a little rhythm again. The only problem is that it is just so hot and humid that being outside in the heat and sun all day takes its toll and I've been dizzy and faint on numerous occasions in the last 5 days of riding. On day three out of Bangkok I arrived at the Thai/Cambodia border earlier than expected so decided to cross over and spend my first night within Cambodia. Things are just never that straight forward as on the way to the border I got another puncture which was annoying then when I got to the Cambodia visa office they tried to scam me for extra money to enter the country!! The stand off and arguing went on for about half an hour before they finally processed my visa for the stated fee and not the additional charges they had just made up. Great, but by this time the monsoon rains for the day had decided to unleash their fury and I had no option but to get back into it, luckily for only a short time until I found a hostel for the night. Up early the next day but after all the rain, the dirt road, which was supposed to be the main highway was now a street which looked more like a mud wrestling pit! Oh well, I thought it would only last until I got out of town then hopefully I would hit the 'real' road. Well, it kind of worked like that for a while anyways, then straight back into even worse stretches of some of the worst mud streets I've cycled to date. The routine went like this, cycling in mud for maybe 100m then stop and find a stick to clean out mud guards and brakes so bike could go again, push bike, clean bike, ride for 10m, clean bike.....until finally sections of the road started to dry out in the sun and again it was back to hard packed dirt roads, which weren't good but better. That night I rolled into a sleepy little village and crashed out for the night hoping the next day the roads would be considerably better. They were and they weren't! The mud was mostly gone but the dirt road was now full of potholes which jolted me all the way into the city of Siem Reap. A pretty cool place with a lively tourist scene due to the temples of Angkor being a couple of kms up the road so I took the opportunity to explore them today and it is truly an amazing site. Anyways, the riding as been hard but lots of fun and has been made even better by village after village of smiling and waving people along the way and an assortment of different foods which included duck blood soup amongst some other shockers. Plans from here? Head south to the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh then after a few days there into Vietnam which should take awhile to get through. Comments and emails are always appreciated whilst on the road so don't be shy!! New photos are in, plus an updated route map so I guess the blog's all back up and running.

Riding Stats
> 11th Aug - 101km
> 12th Aug - 101km
> 13th Aug - 60km
Total - 474km

Thailand & Laos - Holiday Mode

Hey all, I'm back on the bike!! Well, I've finally finished being a lazy guy on holiday and managed to get back on the bike. In the last month and a bit I'm spent time in Bangkok, northern Thailand then crossed over into Laos for a couple of weeks before I headed down to the beaches of southern Thailand. All of it has been amazing but it was a long time to spend off the bike!! Anyways, I departed from Bangkok early yesterday morning and after a very hard first day on the bike I managed to roll into my destination town absolutely shattered! Getting out of Bangkok proved to be the challenge I was expecting and after 4 hours and over 50kms of getting lost and going around in circles I finally got on the correct road and out of the big bad city. Oh, I also got my first flat tyre which certainly didn't help. Feeling sore and warn out I found a hostel and crashed out. The next day didn't start much better and after about 30kms into the ride I started to throw up...not good but after a rest and something to drink I was back to it, all but very slowly. Finally reached my destination and again crashed out for a couple of hours before heading into the local markets for some food. I'm hoping the riding is going to get easier as my fitness gets back up to scratch and I get used to riding in this heat but until then I think it is going to be extra hard work. Well, from here I hope to cross over into Cambodia either tomorrow or the next day and head for the city of Siem Reap and the famous temples of Angkor Wat. Stay posted as again I will be updating the blog regularly from here on out.

Riding stats
> 8th Aug - 107km
> 9th Aug - 105km
Total - 212km