March 6, 2006
March 6, 2006
Thompong Cham to Skun (51km): On the morning of March 5, Jodi and I packed our things and rode from Kompong Cham to Skun, a.k.a. “Spiderville.” Our map showed a 37km ride from Kompong Cham but it was actually 51km. Leaving town we were pleasantly surprised to discover the best and smoothest road we had seen since leaving Thailand. About 15km outside Kompong Cham we saw a road leading up a hill to a temple at the top. We turned off and found a really nice Buddhist temple that was called Wat Nokor. We a couple of other tourists who were visiting what the significance was and they replied that there are two hills where two teams had a contest to see who could build the nicest temple. One team was of women and the other men and after one day the women were declared the winners. We all had a good laugh when I said “doesn’t it always go that way.” The tourists then said they were from Spain and one of them was making an educational movie about tourism for his students. He asked if he could interview us about cycling in Cambodia. We of course said “yes.” After answering his questions he asked us for some action shots of us riding around the temple and through the gate. Once out the gate we headed back to the main road.
Continuing our journey to Skun we found the road conditions deteriorated due to the installation of utilities. I began to joke that the road must have been to good so the Cambodian government decided to dig it up. We encountered sections of dirt, mud, potholes and crappy pavement but overall it was much better than our previous rides.
We rolled into Skun and I had trouble finding a guest house, not because there were not any to choose from but because they were all dirty. They all reminded me of Malaysia but without the expensive price tag. We settled on one above a restaurant even though it had a pile of cat dung in the corner and a bathroom that hadn’t been cleaned since it’s installation which looked like many years ago. I then assembled our laundry in hopes the guesthouse would wash it and as I was walking down the stairs I saw Colette (a Swiss woman that Jodi and I had met the day before). Her riding partner had become ill and rather than wait in a hotel for him to get better she decided to ride to Siem Reap with us where her and her partner would meet up again.
The three of us sat downstairs in the restaurant all day eating various things. We had fried noodles with vegetables, lychee and peanuts. I also tried a deep fried spider and found that it tasted like chicken. Later in the evening I went for a walk around the guesthouse and found that the guestrooms located in the back were coming to life with young men and women getting ready for the evening. I then concluded that the place was a brothel but it didn’t really bother me since we had stayed in so many throughout SE Asia. Jodi and I went to bed at 8:00pm and were able to get some much needed sleep.
Skun to Kompong Thom (91km): This morning we awoke early and had breakfast at the guesthouse/restaurant/brothel. Colette joined us and all three of us made the journey to Kompong Thom at a very brisk pace between 23 to 25km per hour. We had a tailwind and we were riding north so the sun wasn’t in our face. We made our destination in a little under 4 hours. We cruised!!! It was an uneventful ride but we did see some really nice looking Wats and encountered some Japanese cycle tourists on the road. They were a good bunch of guys and I enjoyed meeting them. We also saw a village where every residence had men chiseling away at large pieces of sand stone making stone sculptures. They had lions, and Buddhas, and bears...oh my (no bears but is sounded good). I enjoyed seeing the sculptures and they reminded me of the village that sets up every summer in Marble Colorado.
In town we found a fabulous hotel. It had air conditioning, mini-bar, hot water and shower and most of all it was clean. We had a nice lunch at the hotel restaurant and then walked the market where we found the best spicy green papaya salad we have had since leaving Thailand. We returned to the hotel and came upon this Swiss cyclist we met in Don Khong. I was surprised to see him since when we saw him last he was two days behind us. He had ridden consecutive 140+ km days. He was his usual cheerful self and appeared none the worse from the long journey and even insinuated that we were wimps for not making it all in one day.
Jodi and I then retired to our room to do some laundry and take a nap. Tomorrow we will ride 60 to 70km to Kompong Kdey.
Thompong Cham to Skun (51km): On the morning of March 5, Jodi and I packed our things and rode from Kompong Cham to Skun, a.k.a. “Spiderville.” Our map showed a 37km ride from Kompong Cham but it was actually 51km. Leaving town we were pleasantly surprised to discover the best and smoothest road we had seen since leaving Thailand. About 15km outside Kompong Cham we saw a road leading up a hill to a temple at the top. We turned off and found a really nice Buddhist temple that was called Wat Nokor. We a couple of other tourists who were visiting what the significance was and they replied that there are two hills where two teams had a contest to see who could build the nicest temple. One team was of women and the other men and after one day the women were declared the winners. We all had a good laugh when I said “doesn’t it always go that way.” The tourists then said they were from Spain and one of them was making an educational movie about tourism for his students. He asked if he could interview us about cycling in Cambodia. We of course said “yes.” After answering his questions he asked us for some action shots of us riding around the temple and through the gate. Once out the gate we headed back to the main road.
Continuing our journey to Skun we found the road conditions deteriorated due to the installation of utilities. I began to joke that the road must have been to good so the Cambodian government decided to dig it up. We encountered sections of dirt, mud, potholes and crappy pavement but overall it was much better than our previous rides.
We rolled into Skun and I had trouble finding a guest house, not because there were not any to choose from but because they were all dirty. They all reminded me of Malaysia but without the expensive price tag. We settled on one above a restaurant even though it had a pile of cat dung in the corner and a bathroom that hadn’t been cleaned since it’s installation which looked like many years ago. I then assembled our laundry in hopes the guesthouse would wash it and as I was walking down the stairs I saw Colette (a Swiss woman that Jodi and I had met the day before). Her riding partner had become ill and rather than wait in a hotel for him to get better she decided to ride to Siem Reap with us where her and her partner would meet up again.
The three of us sat downstairs in the restaurant all day eating various things. We had fried noodles with vegetables, lychee and peanuts. I also tried a deep fried spider and found that it tasted like chicken. Later in the evening I went for a walk around the guesthouse and found that the guestrooms located in the back were coming to life with young men and women getting ready for the evening. I then concluded that the place was a brothel but it didn’t really bother me since we had stayed in so many throughout SE Asia. Jodi and I went to bed at 8:00pm and were able to get some much needed sleep.
Skun to Kompong Thom (91km): This morning we awoke early and had breakfast at the guesthouse/restaurant/brothel. Colette joined us and all three of us made the journey to Kompong Thom at a very brisk pace between 23 to 25km per hour. We had a tailwind and we were riding north so the sun wasn’t in our face. We made our destination in a little under 4 hours. We cruised!!! It was an uneventful ride but we did see some really nice looking Wats and encountered some Japanese cycle tourists on the road. They were a good bunch of guys and I enjoyed meeting them. We also saw a village where every residence had men chiseling away at large pieces of sand stone making stone sculptures. They had lions, and Buddhas, and bears...oh my (no bears but is sounded good). I enjoyed seeing the sculptures and they reminded me of the village that sets up every summer in Marble Colorado.
In town we found a fabulous hotel. It had air conditioning, mini-bar, hot water and shower and most of all it was clean. We had a nice lunch at the hotel restaurant and then walked the market where we found the best spicy green papaya salad we have had since leaving Thailand. We returned to the hotel and came upon this Swiss cyclist we met in Don Khong. I was surprised to see him since when we saw him last he was two days behind us. He had ridden consecutive 140+ km days. He was his usual cheerful self and appeared none the worse from the long journey and even insinuated that we were wimps for not making it all in one day.
Jodi and I then retired to our room to do some laundry and take a nap. Tomorrow we will ride 60 to 70km to Kompong Kdey.
posted by Kirk & Jodi Roberts at 6:43 PM
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