We’ve just spent a week in Cambodia, and while most of the roads we took were sealed, there was still plenty of that distinctive Cambodian red dust around. Not nearly as bad as coal dust, but still, we were pretty filthy today. Every time a big truck went past I was enveloped in a cloud of dust, obscuring everything.
We ended up getting the bus from Koh Kong to Sihanoukville, and while it was definitely rideable, I’m happy we got the bus. The first 100km was a lot of up and down, and not a whole lot of places to stop for food/drink. We don’t have any real rules around where and when we should ride, so we just need to do what works for us.
Sihanoukville is a strange place, seemingly with a battle going on for its soul. Concrete casinos, dirty old men with Cambodian girls, backpackers, flashpackers, Filipino families, all sorts. There’s a ridiculous amount of development going on, and it’s hard to see how it can possibly survive. But it was a good place to have a few days off. With the amount of competition going on, it’s also reasonably priced, and service is far better than in places like Kampot. Get Anna to tell you the story of bad service in Kampot some time.
We spent New Years at a bar/restaurant in Kep, playing pool, and drinking overpriced beer and cocktails. $4USD for a Mai Tai?
That’s outrageous! You must be joking! Apparently not. But it was cool, the good thing about having a country that only has paper currency is that you don’t need to keep feeding coins into the pool table.
We did seem to be having a better time than the group of do-gooders at a table at the restaurant next door. Now, I am not making this up, but there was around 15 of them, all wearing the same blue/black shirt, with “VOLUNTEER” written in large letters on their backs. One poor sod had “LEADER” on their shirt. I’ve never been a big fan of voluntourism, but this was a particularly bad look. All earnest-looking do-gooder types, no doubt paying good money to come to Cambodia and tell 10th generation fishermen how to catch fish, or some such nonsense. Always be on your guard when people turn up and say “Trust me, I’m here to help.” I don’t know what they thought when someone told them they all had to wear matching shirts to their dinner party. I would have liked to have asked them if the shirts were made in a sweatshop, but perhaps some questions are better left unsaid.
We’ve now crossed into Vietnam, where we’ll be for at least the next week or so. Haven’t worked out the exact route, but I think it’s going to be off the map I’ve got. Everyone who’s ever been to this part of the world knows what the traffic is like, and can understand why I want to try and get off the main roads. I just don’t have the detail I need in my maps, so there will probably be a bit of compass work tomorrow. Ah well, I’m sure I’ll work it out. One minor problem though: I lost my speedometer off my bike today. Not sure if it was pinched, or fell off. Rather annoying though, since I’ve had that one for almost 40,000km. Can’t seem to find one in this town either. Should be able to get something in the next few days, but it does make it a bit harder trying to work out just how far it is to the next water/food/bed.