An ancient statue of the Buddha in Angkor Wat. Picture: Alex Tilbury
The author and her sister pedal the back roads of Cambodia. Picture: Alex TilburyBy Alex Tilbury
http://www.news.com.au
February 05, 2012
THE plan, on this Travelling Tilburys adventure, was to cycle with my sister the 1000km from Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. We had two weeks. We were obviously off our heads.
We could have packed our togs and gone to a tropical resort to drop, flop and knock back a few mojitos, but where is the adventure in that?
Ho Chi Minh is chaotic and those on scooters seem to ride recklessly. When you have to cross the road, don't wait for a break in the traffic because it just won't come. Step off the curb and, fingers crossed, the scooters will weave around you. For us, they did every time.
I loved my big sister, Caroline, for coming with me. We laughed a lot and found plenty of bargains.
If anyone is even remotely considering a cycle trip but questioning if they can handle the ride, follow Caroline's example. She's not an athlete she hadn't been on a bike for at least 15 years but she's a total trooper and didn't stop even when her bum was sore from a day in the saddle.
"Riding is about your mental attitude," Caroline says.
"There were very long stretches of just me, the road, the smell, the heat and I was thinking, 'What on earth am I doing here, torturing myself?' But I loved it."
She is right, as with most challenges in life; it's how you handle it. We certainly pushed ourselves outside our comfort zone, and right into a 30km/h headwind.
We rode to the Cu Chi tunnels, a no-frills attraction, and not for those with a fear of tight spaces.
So who goes on these kinds of adventure holidays, apart from two sisters on a quest?
There's Jim from Newcastle, a semi-retired steel engineer who loves to travel and is very switched on; the savvy Lesley and her athletic, confident, 16-year-old son Rory, from outside Toronto; Simon from Manchester, who works as an IT contractor and raises money for the Alzheimer's Society; and Phillip, a company secretary from Sydney who had booked his trip the week before to get away and consider the next chapter in his life after having been made redundant.
The smell of Cambodia will offend and delight in equal proportion a blend of motorbike exhaust, fresh jasmine, ginger and fish sauce, dung, incense and rancid trash.
Many of the toilets we stopped at were filthy. Keep some tissues on you at all times, plus antiseptic gel and a sense of humour.
Caroline got the fright of her life when about eight water buffalo launched out of the rice paddock next to the road. She managed to brake quickly and avoid being gored.
We met our new guide Jackie at the border. He studied tourism at university and can recall highlights of King Jayavarman VII's reign (c.1181-1200) like it was last week.
The food in Cambodia was amazing. That night we ate snake fish and, for dessert, dragon fruit with its white flesh and black pips.
We were lucky enough to be in Cambodia on Independence Day, cycling 45km from Prey Veng to Kampong Cham, along the Mekong River with rubber plantations along the way. It's a good, flat road so my buddy Rory and I rode fast to complete the 15km in half an hour.
That night we had another beautiful dinner of soup, fish, chicken curry and the biggest Beck's beers I've ever seen 660ml for $US3. Can't drink the water, right? So have another beer.
The next day we cycled 45km then took the bus 75km via Skun or Spiderville where I tried deep-fried tarantula to Phnom Penh.
I instantly fell in love with the capital of Cambodia. It might have been the hustle and bustle or our hotel on the Mekong with the rooftop pool.
Maybe it was the Long Island Iced Tea at the Foreign Correspondents' Club, or the Russian Markets.
I'll never forget 11/11/11 at 11am. The Killing Fields, called the Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre, is about 15km out of Phnom Penh. I sniffed and sobbed as I walked around the fields; literally walking over exposed bones, teeth and clothing rags. It's humbling.
The Ho Chi Minh City to Angkor Wat cycle is graded moderate. Most cycling surfaces are well-paved roads but some days the cycling is over rough, ungraded surfaces and the climate in Cambodia is very hot and humid.
The writer was a guest of World Expeditions.
CYCLE ASIA
The 12-day trip costs $2150 a person, twin share (land only) and includes 11 breakfasts, seven lunches and seven dinners; airport transfers on Day 1 and Day 12; bilingual guide; medical kit; accommodation; private airconditioned vehicles; 21-gear bikes; support vehicle on cycling days; national park fees; sightseeing; and some entry fees.
We could have packed our togs and gone to a tropical resort to drop, flop and knock back a few mojitos, but where is the adventure in that?
Ho Chi Minh is chaotic and those on scooters seem to ride recklessly. When you have to cross the road, don't wait for a break in the traffic because it just won't come. Step off the curb and, fingers crossed, the scooters will weave around you. For us, they did every time.
I loved my big sister, Caroline, for coming with me. We laughed a lot and found plenty of bargains.
If anyone is even remotely considering a cycle trip but questioning if they can handle the ride, follow Caroline's example. She's not an athlete she hadn't been on a bike for at least 15 years but she's a total trooper and didn't stop even when her bum was sore from a day in the saddle.
"Riding is about your mental attitude," Caroline says.
"There were very long stretches of just me, the road, the smell, the heat and I was thinking, 'What on earth am I doing here, torturing myself?' But I loved it."
She is right, as with most challenges in life; it's how you handle it. We certainly pushed ourselves outside our comfort zone, and right into a 30km/h headwind.
We rode to the Cu Chi tunnels, a no-frills attraction, and not for those with a fear of tight spaces.
So who goes on these kinds of adventure holidays, apart from two sisters on a quest?
There's Jim from Newcastle, a semi-retired steel engineer who loves to travel and is very switched on; the savvy Lesley and her athletic, confident, 16-year-old son Rory, from outside Toronto; Simon from Manchester, who works as an IT contractor and raises money for the Alzheimer's Society; and Phillip, a company secretary from Sydney who had booked his trip the week before to get away and consider the next chapter in his life after having been made redundant.
The smell of Cambodia will offend and delight in equal proportion a blend of motorbike exhaust, fresh jasmine, ginger and fish sauce, dung, incense and rancid trash.
Many of the toilets we stopped at were filthy. Keep some tissues on you at all times, plus antiseptic gel and a sense of humour.
Caroline got the fright of her life when about eight water buffalo launched out of the rice paddock next to the road. She managed to brake quickly and avoid being gored.
We met our new guide Jackie at the border. He studied tourism at university and can recall highlights of King Jayavarman VII's reign (c.1181-1200) like it was last week.
The food in Cambodia was amazing. That night we ate snake fish and, for dessert, dragon fruit with its white flesh and black pips.
We were lucky enough to be in Cambodia on Independence Day, cycling 45km from Prey Veng to Kampong Cham, along the Mekong River with rubber plantations along the way. It's a good, flat road so my buddy Rory and I rode fast to complete the 15km in half an hour.
That night we had another beautiful dinner of soup, fish, chicken curry and the biggest Beck's beers I've ever seen 660ml for $US3. Can't drink the water, right? So have another beer.
The next day we cycled 45km then took the bus 75km via Skun or Spiderville where I tried deep-fried tarantula to Phnom Penh.
I instantly fell in love with the capital of Cambodia. It might have been the hustle and bustle or our hotel on the Mekong with the rooftop pool.
Maybe it was the Long Island Iced Tea at the Foreign Correspondents' Club, or the Russian Markets.
I'll never forget 11/11/11 at 11am. The Killing Fields, called the Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre, is about 15km out of Phnom Penh. I sniffed and sobbed as I walked around the fields; literally walking over exposed bones, teeth and clothing rags. It's humbling.
The Ho Chi Minh City to Angkor Wat cycle is graded moderate. Most cycling surfaces are well-paved roads but some days the cycling is over rough, ungraded surfaces and the climate in Cambodia is very hot and humid.
The writer was a guest of World Expeditions.
CYCLE ASIA
The 12-day trip costs $2150 a person, twin share (land only) and includes 11 breakfasts, seven lunches and seven dinners; airport transfers on Day 1 and Day 12; bilingual guide; medical kit; accommodation; private airconditioned vehicles; 21-gear bikes; support vehicle on cycling days; national park fees; sightseeing; and some entry fees.
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