Siem Reap…temples and toilets!

Angkor Wat is one of the 7 wonders of the world, so it was with respect to that title I discarded my usual disregard of touristy ‘things’ and headed to the main temple. First you need to buy a ticket at the official (and only) ticket office, which bizarrely isn’t near the temple complex! So I jumped in a tuk-tuk, got me a ticket ($US37 ….ouch) and got to experience the incredible temples up close. Built in the 12th century, they are mind blowing in terms of the sheer intricacies of every etching on every stone ….and I mean every stone. Quite extraordinary. I understand they were initial a bright red stone but with centuries of wear, tear and rain the whole complex is a rather dull grey/black…..such a contrast to the explosions of colour in more contemporary temples. Three hours of that and I was done as the heat started to really ramp up. But I’m glad I went…it’s odd being without the bike and simply being another western tourist….I guess that’s what I’ve always been but the bike brings something different to the hoards! What I have noticed is how children shout ‘hello’ to you on the bike, and school kids going to and from school on their bikes jump in and ride a while.

There is a yawning inevitability when travelling that you’ll end up with the runs – In Africa we had such endearing (and not so subtle) terms like the ‘Casablanca kick-step’, the ‘Rabat revenge’, or my favourite…the ‘Tuareg trickles’. Not sure what term to use here – Siem S*^ts’? Cambodian Craps?? Anyway….they duly arrived! I think it’s more a case of heat exhaustion than food poisoning of any description. So I’ve done the sensible thing (I know, right, who’d have thought..me…sensible!) and booked myself a longer stay here in Siem until I’m recovered. Quietly, I’m not unhappy to have an ‘excuse’ – I’m not liking the riding here one bit, and with temperatures in the ‘feels like) range of 40-45, I’m getting agitated whenever I’m in the sun for any time at all. Plus….I have to wait for my visa to Vietnam to come through so I can print it off….once I leave here there’s no major towns until vietnam (or accommodation options but I’ll meet that challenge when I have to!).

I’m keen to get to the Killing Fields museum here soon – I hear it’s gut wrenching, but I want to learn more about this country’s brutal past, and to pay my respects to the challenges contemporary Cambodia has to face in coming out of the shadows of that collective trauma.

Thailand Part Deux!

I have a confession to make….I’ve been doing absolutely nuffin for the most part on my return to the Land of a Thousand Smiles (that really should be ‘roadworks’ not ‘smiles’.) I hibernated in a small motel about a K from the beach in Sattahip which is predominantly a military base for Thailand. I arrived in time for the Loi Krathong – the Thai Lantern Festival – quite an assault on the senses but magical to be part of it. You can buy a lantern or a small floating flower boutique with a candle which is then lit and sent out to sea- I did the latter. There was also a feast of food opportunities and Thai boxing. As I approached the boxing ring there was a familiar red Corcaigh GAA shirt on a young lad, so I said hi….turns out he’s from Ballincollig…where I lived for many years 🤣.

I was able to rent a moped so drove to the beach, went swimming, went to the open markets and popped in to Pattaya to try find some US Dollars for Cambodia visa on arrival…..not so easy as it turns out.

I also immersed myself in my reading and listening to Gabor Mate – he’s a feckin legend!

Trauma isn’t what happened to us, it’s what happens inside of us as as result of what happened to us

On Saturday I kitted up for the first time in a week and threw my leg over Bob to realise that those pains in my hip/leg….were still very much present 🥲. I eased in to the riding with an opening day of 70k, then a 90, and then a 110, before the final push to the border of only 60k. The winds were very unfavourable and at times the rain was pretty full on but overall it was a straight forward ‘transfer’ to the Cambodia border. Bobs tipping away quietly – probably just so happy he’s not back in France! On Sunday for the first time I met two groups of cyclists – one group at a coffee shop who treated me to breakfast, and another large group I jumped on to – I got a ‘free’ ride for nearly 20k but it was too fast and I was starting to cramp in the 35 degree day. So, uncharacteristically for me, I simply pulled off and twiddled my way to my next stop.
I stayed at a Warm Shower host on Tuesday night – she put me in a small Thai house all to myself, which was a real experience to live right in the community…all except the dogs which barked all night! I got to go to small Thai eateries snd really savour the true Thai lifestyle, which was wonderful.
On Wednesday I set off for the border not really knowing what to expect. It was, actually, very easy….except I had to get me and Bob upstairs to the passport control which was hilarious fun, with border guards helping lift Bob over turnstiles and up escalators and down stairs….they haven’t really thought that through!

Well….talk about borders magically transforming a place across a line – Boom….within 10 seconds of getting to Cambodia you bloody well knew you were…in Cambodia. The roads were atrocious, the traffic beyond comprehension, the noise deafening and the poverty right in your face. Poipet, where I crossed, is quite simply a nightmare! I got on the road after catching my breath – and within 60k nearly got obliterated on the road on three occasions. There was no hard shoulder, and traffic simply did whatever it bloody well liked. The danger isn’t from behind – it’s what’s coming at you from in front. At one point a lorry was overtaking a motorbike coming toward me….and in turn the lorry was being overtaken by a car…all on my side of the road….whilst I was being overtaken from behind. I shate myself! It happens over and over – quite simply, madness. All you can do is get off the road as these guys ain’t stopping for you, or anyone! Or anything. After two days of this I figured out that the rule is this -“I’m going to overtake even tho I know there’s no room..,it’s you who has to take evasive action, not me..,.I’m coming through, it’s up to you if you hit me or not!” That’s it.

I have been riding for 6 straight days now, and by Thursday night I’d had enough and was suffering from heat exposure as I pulled in to Siem Reap, the town adjacent to Ankhor Wat, one of the 7 wonders of the world. So I have booked myself in to a cheap hotel for a few days to recover. To be honest, I’m ‘over’ Cambodia-it simply is too dangerous. The heat is oppressive and the wind has me doing 14/15kph so, it’s miserable! I’ll head to the Vietnamese border as soon as I’ve applied for my visa 😊.

After a very lazy start to Tuesday, always made more pleasurable by talking to Niamh, I wandered off to a ‘boutique’ bike shop to buy a new chain and ogle at their collection of vintage bikes….an amazing place. The owner made me coffee and we chatted all things bikes (as us cyclist are want to do) then bade then adieu and got instantly lost – damn you Maps!! Anyway, nursing my very painful leg I found the right track and headed for Switzerland. A pretty uneventful ride to Basel and an even more uneventful border ‘crossing’ – there really wasn’t one! Just an ordinary bridge with cars, bikes and runners going back and forth. Once on the other side, like a light switch, everything changed. Signs in a different language, people talking and sounding different, everything clean, neat, organised- even the public toilets were so clean you could eat your dinner off the floor….not that I’m willing to try or even recommend but you get the picture! I sat on the banks of the Rhine and had a sandwich and just pondered how an arbitrary line demarcates not only country but culture, language, ‘feel’. I had a Warm Showers host for my stay in Rheinfelden, so I pushed on to get there before dusk. Rheinfelden is an incredible town with eons of history and incredible Swiss architecture. There’s a bridge there where you simply walk over to Germany….no border, but a completely new country. My hosts were incredible – both retired now, with Tomi an ex bike shop owner and Maria a teacher. They had done an incredible job on renovating a centuries old Swiss house over 4 floors. A true delight to be a guest in, and they were excellent hosts.

The following day Tomi rode with me to his old bike shop called Bike Point (ever in this neck of the woods….be sure to pop in). We sorted a few things on my bike and then Tomi rode with me another 20+ k toward Zurich. Whilst I was sad to say goodbye, I was also quietly relieved…..he was a powerful rider and even tho it was a block headwind, he sat on the front and motored on!

After leaving him, I had to add additional layers as it was really quite cold. I stayed on the EV6, which varied from road to gravel to grass tracks then that horrible ‘bang’ when you bust a rear spoke. I had 45k to go and pondered if I changed the spoke there or nursed it to my evenings lodgings. Given the fart arsing around required to do a roadside repair with all the luggage etc I decided to ride on, standing on the pedals as much as I could to not put too much weight on an already stressed wheel. In my head I knew the wheel would be fine, given the high spoke count but it was a bit unnerving trying to ride a fully loaded bike with one eye on the wheel! But we made it to Zurich just as dusk came – it was already getting dark around 3:30, and cold too!

I stayed with a warm showers host called Oliver who was such an easy going guy. He has an apartment just by the airport, which was great for my next phase – a night flight to Bangkok. Oliver was fantastic as a host and helped me access a few needed supplies, showed me around and fed and watered me. I also got a local bike shop to true the wheel – I had managed to get the spoke fitted but without a jig or brakes on the rim it’s hard to centre the wheel!

On Saturday morning it was pouring down and so so cold – I think I have been blessed with the weather in France and Switzerland but no doubt about it – winter was here and it was time to get me some heat! I got the bike boxed up at the airport (at eye watering costs befitting anything Swiss!) and prayed that I’d see Bob in Bangkok!

The flight was uneventful- just how we want them, and bingo….Bob has arrived. I checked in to a local hotel and crashed for the next 24 hours. I then got a taxi to Sattahip on the coast and checked in to a motel for a week of pure rest , recovery and relaxation.

It’s been an emotional time this past week – I’ve been feeling quite discombobulated, sad, even home sick. I miss Niamh like crazy, and have become tired of traveling. But I feel I’m now closer to Aus and therefore thoughts are turning to getting back there early 2023. It’s been an incredible experience so far and I truly have gotten to know myself so much through the experience. There’s so much more to do and see, but I’m learning that it doesn’t all have to be done at one sitting! The option of resuming travels again is of course always an option.

But to the immediate future, I’ve decided to head to Cambodia then across to Vietnam from where I’ll travel to Australia. That’s the plan….let’s see!

Catching up (in more ways than one!)

So my time in Besancon was cut short because….go on, you’ll never guess….oh, bugger, that’s right….I might have mentioned this once or twice before….the camp site shut on Monday!! But I had a delightful Sunday (once I had defrosted) -I went in to the town and enjoyed the sunshine and scenery, then dawdled back to what was now a deserted campsite (in France that’s the norm just about everywhere!). I read, I cleaned the bike, I watched some QI on line and generally had a very quiet day. Blissful actually, though working through some of the ‘worksheets’ in Bessels book wasn’t easy on the emotions! Given the clocks changed last night it was dark (and bloody cold) by 5:45 so after cooking up some pasta on my little stove I hit the sleeping bag around 7:30 🕢 🤣.
I had noticed when I left Dole there was a distinct twinge in my right leg which grew worse during the day, and by the time I left the campsite on Monday morning it was extremely painful but only when cycling! I nursed it all day to get to Montibelaird but had wanted to get to Mulhouse- that wasn’t going to happen! So I found somewhere to stay and tried to recover! Well…I tried first to get in to the accommodation! In France they favour an approach of ‘leave the guest guessing’. So I rock up at the address and ….it’s a doctors surgery! And private apartments! Nothing to indicate it’s an accommodation option! So begins a process of trying to work it out. I spoke to a resident of the building who confirmed it was the right address but shrugged (yes, the French really do do that!) at any suggestion there might be a room to rent (paid for by the way)! Another resident joined in and she had a moment of recall about one unit being a rental (turns out it’s right next to hers but let’s not dwell on that). Anyway they managed between them to get hold of the owner who guides them by phone to a small ‘key safe’ attached like a bike lock to the railings in the car park behind the apartment block! And, with code to hand, she opened the key lock/safe to reveal keys to the apartment! All of this took an hour! It’s utterly bizarre how they treat guests. No instructions. No codes. No body to actually talk to. No response to emails. That’s 55 Euro please 🤣🤣

Aside from the pain ( in the leg and the neck!) it was a delightful day with such discernible changes in landscape and buildings – everything started to feel different the closer towards Germany/Switzerland I got. The roofs of houses started to take on that familiar Alpine look and even the cows looked different! The houses had a lot more timber on show and their character changed.

I awoke Tuesday morning knowing I could only do a short distance – the groin/hip were simply not playing today. I’m accepting of it -I’ve put my body through some pretty hideous stuff of late and I always knew at some point either bike or body (or both) would kick up a stink. Turns out it’s the body!! This trip is indeed catching up with me! I slowly pedalled the 60k to my stop in Mulhouse along the canals. Try as I might, I couldn’t get coffee anywhere!! Yep,…closed! Even a bike shop/cafe….closed! But Mulhouse is stunning -picture postcard east France/German/north Swiss melting pot! And strangely…things are open! There’s cafes and bars, and people everywhere!! Welcome back to civilisation 🤣! I’ll miss so much of France in terms of its beauty and scenery but gee it’s frustrating too. I laughed when I was listening to a Mick Hanly song on my iPhone today

‘Have you ever spent a Sunday afternoon in France, in a station That’s barely made it onto the map

I can tell you that you’ll have time enough to write the novel.  Write the second, and the third and do the first redraft

The natives disappear into the ether, with their grannies and their children.  For an afternoons’ fruit-de mer’….spot on Mick, except it’s every day, not just Sundays 🤣

Friday and Saturday: two blissful days of cycling!

These past few days have been simply amazing. Canals, rivers, footpaths, small villages, great coffee! You know when everything seems to just…work! The bike repair I did on the rear wheel somehow worked – not sure why or how but I’ll take it! I had the whole rear hub dismantled with bits everywhere but whatever it was that was causing the problem had gone when I set off on Friday – happy days. Whilst I got hopelessly lost a few times (again, following Maps and expecting anything different is surely the definition of optimism!) At one point, like one of those annoying Sat Nav voices telling you to go straight….when straight is straight in to a river….Maps was telling me to follow a track that ….wasn’t there (see photographic evidence). Anyway, being the stubborn bugger I am I decided to ride across this field much to the amusement of the cows! Other than that the day was blissfully uneventful but utterly delightful!

I think today, Saturday, was the best day because I simply stopped at every opportunity to soak up the final days of France. I met a fellow cycle tourer coming along the towpath….where he hadn’t been wasn’t worth writing about. Amazing character. Then I stopped up video a boat going through a lock on the canal for Niamh and struck up a conversation with a man who lived in the old lock keepers house. Well before I knew it I was sitting in his garden sipping coffee and enjoying the fellowship of himself, his singer song writer wife and then his friends who turned up for Saturday brunch! Delightful. I arrived at my campsite and pitched up, meeting other cyclists there too! Mind you it’s bloody cold tonight but I’ve all the thermal gear I need for a toasty night. I’m staying in Besancon for three days as I want to only spend two nights in Switzerland- that’s all I can afford. The prices are truly off the chart even for youth hostels!