Travelling Two: Journal Entries

Journal Entries

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Sat 23 Aug 2008

A humdinger of a stinger

Posted by andrew under Cycling Trips, Journal Entries, Laos
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144km Champasak to Tadlo

We are happily plodding our way through a 50 kilometer climb to the coffee plantations of the Bolaven Plateau when a scream from Andrew signals that all is not well. More of a shriek actually, followed by wild swerving and bike acrobatics while a whole village looks on with a mixture of amusement and bewilderment. It’s some seconds and a few choice words later before Friedel realises what is going on: a head-on collision between a bee and a knee has resulted in one wounded cyclist and, somewhere in the sky, one insect with a severe headache. After an initial check, we limp over to a roadside stand and order a cool drink to help us collect our thoughts. Soon Andrew’s knee is a red, swollen ball but he bravely decides to continue on. Like most bee stings, we expect this one will fade away by the evening.

As we go up the hill we wave to countless children and try to ignore the common but confusing shouts of “where you go?” from passing adults. “Ummmm, that way?” we answer befuddled and pointing in a vague direction. Half the time we have no idea where we are going and the rest of the time we wonder why they need to know or if there’s some disaster on the road ahead that will prevent us from going further. Later in the evening a local man will tell us that this is a perfectly normal thing for people to ask one another, although he can’t quite explain why. It just is. (more…)

Tue 19 Aug 2008

Happy under the clouds

Posted by friedel under Cycling Trips, Journal Entries, Laos
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140km Don Det to Champasak

We’ve never smiled quite so much at grey skies as we have lately here in oppressively hot and humid Southeast Asia. Under normal conditions we’re quickly covered in sweat and by the end of the day a rash spreads across our legs and backs from all the salt that sits on our skin. We get sunburnt too because we can’t seem to find a sunscreen that stays applied well when we sweat. Under cloud cover though it’s a different story. Feeling still a bit burnt from our journey through northern Cambodia, we breathed a sigh of relief when we pulled the curtains back on Sunday to discover the sun well hidden.

After a few days of relaxing it was time to leave the islands in the Mekong, the highlight of which was our journey across Don Som. It was a short trip that took only a couple hours, a way to branch the distance between two more populated islands, but our few hours on this completely untouristed patch of land were adventurous and fascinating. When we landed at the pier, just a five minute journey from Don Det, we immediately noticed the land all around was covered in a few inches of water. We’ve seen this many times now and it almost seems normal to start stripping off our shoes and socks as we arrive at a dock before plodding in bare feet through the muck to get to higher ground. (more…)

Thu 14 Aug 2008

Crossing into Laos

Posted by andrew under Cambodia, Cycling Trips, Journal Entries, Laos
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228km Kratie to Don Det

You’d think we’d be well trained by now after nearly two years on the road. We’ve been across our fair share of deserts and up high mountain peaks but the wilds of northern Cambodia still managed to give us a run for our money. Hot. Desolate. Almost no shade. One account we read online of this section even described it as a route without scenery. The assessment wasn’t far wrong.We started out in cool air at 7:30am from Kratie, with a packed lunch in our bags from the market. Soon the sun was rising and we were working against a headwind to cover the 150km to the next town. Slipping under a tree for a rest wasn’t easily done. Our first priority was to steer clear of landmines left over from the civil war and that meant sticking to marked paths but a bigger problem was finding a tree at all! Land had been intensively cleared for farming. When we eventually got to Stung Treng we’d see the heavy wood furniture made from these former forests – a profitable business for those with access to the land.

The day continued with little to distract us from the road. Normally we are surrounded by village life. Children yelling hello. Chickens being transported in their dozens, hanging off the handlebars and sides of a single motorbike. Men drinking iced coffee while staring transfixed at the latest boxing match in a local cafe. Women out working in the rice fields. (more…)

Sat 9 Aug 2008

Riding the back roads of Cambodia

Posted by andrew under Cambodia, Cycling Trips, Journal Entries
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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…)

Fri 1 Aug 2008

Putting in the miles

Posted by friedel under Cambodia, Cycling Trips, Journal Entries
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139km Chamkar Luong to Phnom Penh

Another day, another long haul on the bikes. We aren’t sure where we’re getting all our energy from lately but we seem to be able to put in the kilometers and still have enough get-up-and-go to walk around in the evenings. Maybe it’s all the flat terrain or maybe it was just the desire to be somewhere interesting after looking at the outside of a dilapidated guesthouse some way from Phnom Penh. We probably could have gotten a room there for $5 U.S. but instead we pushed on into the capital.

Once settled, we treated ourselves to a supper of that old British favourite Bangers & Mash for Andrew and a hamburger and fries for Friedel. This is the first time in our two year journey that we really find ourselves craving home comfort food and it’s killing our budget. A meal in a restaurant usually runs us $13 U.S. dollars. We don’t know why always $13 U.S. but that’s the figure we seem to keep coming up with. It’s not a lot compared with home but when you’re trying to travel on the cheap it’s more than enough and that’s just one meal a day. (more…)

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