From the relatively polished streets and towns of Thailand, we moved on to the decidedly less developed country of Cambodia.
We weren’t sure what to expect. We’d been told all kinds of stories about landmines and miles of dirt roads that left cyclists covered in a fine layer of bright red mud. We were also told to expect requests for bribes at the border.
Happily, none of these things turned out to be true. There weren’t as many paved roads as in Thailand, but the dirt road riding was not only manageable – it brought us into fascinating contact with local Cambodians in rural areas. Landmines turned out to be almost a non-issue (not that you’d know it from all the tourists sporting ‘Danger! Landmines!’ t-shirts. And the border crossings went exceptionally smoothly.
Our only complaint was the food. It wasn’t a patch on dear old Thailand. Rarely fresh, often unidentifiable, we turned more often than we’d like to admit to tourist restaurants, for hamburgers rather than local creations.
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