The Kingdom of Cambodia

Why Cambodia? 

It was a toss up between cycling to Ho Chi Minh City and a flight elsewhere (maybe Europe) or pedal over the border into another world! - we chose the easy option! We think!! 

The Journey 

Our chosen border crossing point came to us quite naturally. Ferry from Phu Quoc island took us to Ha Tiên - only 7 miles to Prek Chak Cambodia border. Winner! 

Easy and quick to exit Vietnam Border control.

We walked into the Cambodian Border Control...filled in Visa application forms, 2 minutes.

Paid 40 US dollars cash each. (not $35 as stated online!) we were told they would also accept Dong. 

No one asked us for passport photos (as stated online-we'd had some taken in Ha Tiên just in case!) 

We were told to sit and wait - 10 minutes later we cycled into 'The Kingdom of Cambodia'

Angkor Chey was our first target en route to Phnom Penh 

Approximately 3 miles into Cambodia we stopped at this phone shop to purchase a SIM card. £6 for 30 days. 60Gb. The owner spoke pretty good English and was very helpful 👍 Below:-

Below :- Let loose in Cambodia. Molly chases down here first Cambodian 'food scooter'!! 

Above and below:-

During our first 3 steady, hot 🌞 and very flat pedalling days we had to marvel at the vast difference between the countryside towns and the skyscraper metropolis that is PHNOM PENH

Above - quiet country roads heading from Prek Chak towards Angkor Chey.

Below - our stopover in Angkor Chey cost £9 for the night. A few cockroaches joined us but on the plus side we had a sit down toilet and aircon too!! 

Below: You know your bike shoes smell bad when ...

Above and below :- a visit to the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center
Heritage Museum - on the outskirts of Phnom Penh 

Harrowing and informative. £4 each entry fee.

The Personal Audio (included in entry fee) is EXCELLENT 

Wide good roads greeted us on the way to Phnom Penh, plus a good choice of 'roadside' drinks to 'cool' the body and mind! 

Then we suddenly noticed the 'subtle' change on the roads.....

BIG trucks 'slowed' down and waited for a safe time to pass, giving lots of space too! And the 'constant blaring' of horns had stopped unless needed to warn you of danger!

The roads narrowed as we cycled into Phnom Penh and closer to our chosen hotel for 3 nights, The SOHO Hotel.

Above and below :-

A visit to 'Tuol Sleng' Genocidal Museum in Phnom Penh. Harrowing and informative. 

And then a Saturday night treat - Below - Premiership Cambodian football, watching Phnom Penh Crown at home - the most successful premiership team in Cambodia!

Unfortunately, tonight they lost 1-4 But as 'neutrals' it was a great game! Only $3 each entry fee!! 

Below :- Phnom Penh market area. Before we cycled on towards Krong Kampong Chhnang. Mainly on National Road 5 but with a couple of detours taking us alongside the TONLE SAP RIVER. 

TONLE SAP RIVER - 'floating villages' and 'traditional houses'

Above and below :-

Village kids alongside the TONLE SAP RIVER - always ready with a Cambodian smile and a wave. 

Below :- 62 miles - 40° HOT HOT ☀️☀️

National Road 5 all the way to 'Krong Pursat'- Flat, great smooth surface (this road was only completed in 2021)

Then out of nowhere our 'favourite' Snowman appears! It's 'Bubble Tea' time!! 

Below :-

Breaking News!! - Today on National Road 5 en route to Krong Pursat Cambodian 'girl power' energy drink

MEETS

The 'girl power' that is the 'Bolshi Brummie'

(This could get messy!!) 

Below :- A nice chatty days cycling en route to Battambang - JAGO joined us for the ride. Which really helped kill the 68 miles along the flat National Road 5. The sun was out in force again too 40°.

Below:-

Lazy Mango Homestay in Battambang - and stories, history shared with the family. 

A INCREDIBLE stay at Lazy Mango - beautiful family, great food, coffee and provided us with enough 'bike cleaning materials' to sort out a whole Peleton!! 

Rest day in Battambang :-

Tut tut drive to ride the 'Bamboo Train'.

Visit 'The Killing Caves' and 'The Bat Caves' at Phnom Sampeau, 7 miles ish from Battambang. 

Our driver Saki (below) one of the Homestay family.

Approximately 6.5 million bats exiting a narrow bat cave at dusk is a sight to behold!

And the killing caves - Khmer Rouge genocide history. Compelling and so sad. 

Bamboo Train - a 40 minute 'tourist ride' along the tracks. Bouncy, noisy, good fun. $5 each.

Following the overthrow of the Khmer Rouge the locals built small bamboo 'trains' (using scrap from tanks and other vehicles) to transport goods and passengers. These 'trains' were still used up until 2017!!

The Killing Caves 

Below :-

A very dark history, remarkable that the Cambodian people who have suffered so much are still positive and hopefully building a brighter future. 

You can take a taxi to the top or you can walk a loop (as we did) walk up the driveway, where the taxis go. Visit the Killing Caves (signed). Continue up to see the temple area.

And then walk down the steps (seen below)

On the way down watch out for the wild monkeys, they are not as friendly as you may think!! 

From the road you can watch the bats at dusk. When we watched they appeared at 5.15pm (normally we were told it's between 5.30pm and 630pm) ....so get there early just in case. 

Below :-

Bats exiting the cave - you can see the plume in the sky! Takes about 45 minutes for all the bats to exit. An amazing sight. 

Below :-

More National Road 5 and a interesting roundabout heading to Serei Saophoan on what is mostly a long straight road. 

Molly down the ditch on NR5 to check out the 'Lotus Flower' a close-up photo was called for! Beautiful. 

Searching for a hotel in Serei Saophoan in 40° heat requires lots of fluids! 

These will do nicely thank you!

🔽 

The next morning we set out for Siem Reap at 5.30am.

This would give us a few hours cooler pedalling before the sun warmed up to a tasty 40° ☀️☀️ 

Above and below :-

National Road 6 has plenty of roadside vendors offering the items you've always dreamed of.... Giant Buddhas, Cockerels, Elephants etc etc.

Charlie reckons 'Del Boy' would love it! (you have to be a certain age!!) 

Below :- breakfast noodles on NR6 were perfect. 

NR6 is mostly smooth fast rolling tarmac with a reasonable cycle/scooter lane. It's single carriageway. And seems to carry more traffic than does NR5.

There are plenty of places to eat, restock water and petrol stations often with good clean toilets.

Arriving in Siem Reap we headed straight to the Angkor Enterprise to buy Angkor Wat one day tickets (approx £27 each) - for our cycle around the world famous archaeological site tomorrow morning.

Yes you can cycle around it. 

Above - Molly says "it's that way"! 

Below:-

Tree lined roads greet you as you cycle closer to Angkor Wat