Back in Thailand

By Sanne

So we made it back to Thailand. As far as border crossings go this one was really easy and no bribes this time!
Customs were a bit lazy when they filled out our Temporary Import Form as they put me down as Mr. and the weight of the bikes down as 350kg each (they're 130kg). On top of that it turns out they added on the form that export out of Thailand had to be at that same border. We didn't realise this until we were sitting in our shipping agent's office in Bangkok and he pointed it out for us. We are of course not going back to Cambodia but shipping out of Bangkok Airport to Kathmandu. Luckily our agent Mr. Thira managed to amend the document as otherwise we would have had to ride all the way back to the Cambodian border again!
Halfway from the border to Bangkok we stopped over in the hedonism capital of Thailand: Pattaya. As we are not sex tourists we are quite different from your usual visitor here. The place is packed with bars where scantily clad Thai girls flirt with old, gross, western men.
We did cause quite a stir coming into town riding past all these bars. Riding down one street we received loud cheering and whistling from all the massage girls. While Mark was inside a hotel checking out a room I was waiting on the street with the bikes. By now we're so used to people just stopping what they are doing and just staring at us. After a few minutes I decided to take off my helmet. The crowd was in amazement! The revelation that behind that helmet was a woman! Big smiles and thumbs up followed, "very good, very good!".
As in Phuket there is a huge population of Russians here. Why are they always to find in the seediest places?
On a side note Pattaya is one of the smelliest places I have been. This is caused by the 'open sewer' phenomenon. It literally stinks of shit. We were out of there the next morning.

Volkswagen Bar

Pattaya

I just had to include some pics of this pug wearing a helmet and diva sunglasses

I don't think he was too impressed though

A lovely family we met at a highway rest stop outside Bangkok. They gave us their bananas.

Cardamom Mountains

By Mark

We had been planning on a ride through the Cardamoms all the way back in Banlung and finally made our way through the dusty windy mountain roads on our last two days in Cambodia. Since there are now so many hydro power stations being built by the Chinese they have also made roads to access them. There is one main road that runs straight through the mountains and you no longer have to take the old logging track unless you are looking for a real adventure. With our heavily loaded bikes we chose the easy option but would love to go back one day on a light bike and give the track a go. With just a 100km ride in we took a leisurely pace and checked out a few side tracks along the way. Not too much traffic except for the trucks hauling gravel from the quarry to the work sites. These guys are only going slow but boy do they kick up some dust. Just check out Sanne's face in the photos. This was only just 50km's in! Our goal was to make it to the small village of Osom, and small it was. Surprisingly there were three guest houses there. We found ourselves a clean, little room and set off for a look around town. We were met with many strange looks but many smiles from the curious as ever kids. I think my look now with my beard seems to be getting me even more attention if that is at all possible. The only power in the village comes from generators and it doesn't come on until about 6pm and is off again not long after 9pm. This made for a quiet night. The following morning we hit the road early to get back down the mountain pass and get across the Thailand border. The roads were not so dusty as we had some rain that evening and made for a quick cool ride if not a little slick in places.

Runaway tanker that didn't quite make it round the bend

This gives you a pretty good idea just how dusty the roads are!

 

There are hydro power plants being built everywhere in the mountains

The guys are amazing at what they can carry on the back of a scooter

Just one example of the many basic homes you find in the villages along the roadside

Sihanoukville

By Mark

We headed into Sihanoukville with two main things in mind, the first was to catch up with the tour guides we met back up in Banlung and the second was to give the bikes a much needed service. We also ran into Frank who we first met back in Chiang Mai and again in Laos before catching up with the other guys. The main beach here is jammed full of backpackers and a handful of locals again trying to sell a cocktail of drugs! Was all a bit too much to take in and we were more than happy when Zeman said we could stay at his place. We stayed in town for three nights and got all the work done on the bikes we needed and stayed an extra day so we could have a look around and catch up with Mike who only came back on our last night. These guys are great and were so welcoming and open to take us in. We couldn't thank them enough and really hope to see them again when we get to Europe. Anyone who is keen on doing a bike tour in Cambodia should look these guys up under the 'we like' link list. While we were here we also got to experience first hand how corrupt the police are. Being pulled over three times in just a little over 24hr's was more than annoying to say the least. The reason, riding with our headlights on during the day! It doesn't seem to matter too much though that the locals ride around at night without any headlights on. On all 3 occasions we did manage to get away with not handing over any money.

Serendipity Beach

Giving the bikes their much needed service

Chillin with a couple of cold ones with Zeman

 

Kiki the dog

And the pups Diesel and Sprocket

 

Ream National Park

Bokor Hill Station

By Sanne

Bokor Hill Station was built in the 1920's as a resort by the colonial French settlers to give them an escape from the heat and humidity of lowland Cambodia. 900 people died in the 9 months it took to build it. Up until the early 1990's it was still one of the last strongholds for the Khmer Rouge. Now the entire area is being revamped with hotels, casinos and golf courses being built across the entire plateau. All in the middle of a national park! But that just shows the priorities of the Cambodian government - money.
It was a nice ride up and we enjoyed the cooler weather at the top as Cambodian temperatures and humidity had become unbearable. Up the top clouds moved in on us and at one point we drove in almost complete blindness...

Bamboo Train in Battambang

By Sanne

We caught the famous bamboo train in Battambang which is a mode of transport the locals have been using for years. It consists of two sets of train axles, a steel frame, a bamboo platform and powered by a small go-kart engine. It only goes for about 7 kms to a village and then turns back. It is not the most comfortable of rides on the overgrown and beaten-up railway tracks but it was pretty cool to have flown along the track at 40 kms/hour (although it actually feels like you're going quicker than that). As the track serves traffic coming from both directions the fun part comes when you encounter another train coming in the opposite direction. The rules then state that the car with the least amount of passengers/goods have to dissemble their car and get off the track and let the other one pass. It's a pretty quick affair for the drivers to do this as it is a very simple construction and soon you're on your way again.
Fun experience that probably won't be here for that much longer as the government are planning on building a new, modern railway that runs all the way to Phnom Penh.