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236km Phnom Penh to Kratie

Wednesday was one of those days. We woke up late, struggled to get our bags packed and after we rode away we realised that Friedel’s glasses were still at the hotel. When we remembered that our health insurance was about to expire it was the final straw. Cycling without good medical cover isn’t an option so we aborted our departure and laughed as we returned to lug all our stuff back up the stairs and check in for another night.

We were in much better shape on Thursday and even a few early showers couldn’t put us off. We cycled along the waterfront, took the Japanese bridge over the Mekong and started the journey north to Laos. Just a few years ago this route would have been a tough ride on almost entirely dirt roads. Things have improved a lot recently where Cambodian roads are concerned and our spirits were lifted when we turned off the main road and found the asphalt continuing ahead. This didn’t last long, of course, but even when the dirt road appeared it was reasonably smooth and hard packed. We rode happily along the river, through strings of villages and waving to the hordes of children who appeared out of nowhere to shout “hello” at us. Add to that the crowing roosters, squealing pigs, men watching movies at top volume in crowded cafes, the general buzz in markets, Buddhist monks chanting and Muslim calls to prayer and you’ll understand why we could call these villages just about anything but tranquil! Fascinating they certainly were but not as peaceful as you might expect for rural Cambodia. At lunch we must have been the talk of the town. No sooner had we sat down at a roadside stall when four locals arrived to stare at the strange foreigners. We never knew we were so enthralling. Maybe they were just hoping for a bite of our rice and tofu. Well, it was some of the tastiest and cheapest Cambodian food we’ve found yet. We couldn’t blame them for being envious. (more…)