Hear, hear.. it turns out, I need proof of exit
for my Visa (because Swiss?!) and it delayed me for another day. Well.. finally
things are running and with the computer god on my side, I will get my Visa
just in time. It took my though a lot of waiting and I’m traumatized of it and
will be relieved, when it’s over!
I got less and less days for my trip to Ratankiri, but im still making it. Would just wish to have more time, but anyway I wanted to go there to see and to ride (even if it turned a bit into a Rally :P ) ..yes, today was not so superb.. after delaying with the Visa, I took the wrong way out of town and lost another 40 min and found myself later driving like the devil to the river crossing further down. I would have had so much time, if not for lot of stupidity and not paying attention to the signs in life (and next to the road), I took the wrong way for very long, until I stood in front of the Vietnamese boarder :P obviously can’t cross with a rented bike, so I turned around and found myself another way up.. but too late to make it into the peaceful hills of Sen Monorom, where I would have wanted to stay for one night. Now instead, I’m at the turn-off to it (130km away) and in a guest house next to the main road, with the stickiest room ever, for its window can’t be opened (for ages apparently :P
well.. I made it. found myself driving too hard and slowed down. Loosing this waste amount of time was because not taking time to think and navigate. Anyway.. learned a big deal more about riding. (and can soon say that I’ve been in EVERY SINGLE ONE department of Cambodia ;)
tomorrow is going to be a long day of riding (but safely of course!). I’m prepared to sleep outside.. can survive on water and (dried) banana one more day if it has to be. There’s a nice volcano lake in Ban Lung where I will dip in after tomorrow. Sen Monorom though will just be a short stop for food, bike service and gas and then I’ll head on to the north.
It’s amazing how people here live. For most of them, life is rather simple. I still see a lot of struggling for surviving, but after very dark years, this is a more prosperous state of Cambodia. But many people don’t have the possibilities to travel (not even their own country) and a very conservative form of living is practiced.
while I’ve been riding, there was a lot of climatic change.. luckily, I just got stopped once by rain (for having no proper rain gear). If there were, then only a few drops and sometimes I could drive through or avoid it by speeding up a bid, for I could see blue sky not far away. The same I witnessed on the road as in the mountains, where sometime I was hiking or just taking my bike for a ride! :)
so far this has been a super epic trip!! :D I’m looking forward to my last days riding here in Cambodia and then to finish all the open things and get myself ready for India (can I? ;) This has all been pretty packed, but quite nicely! ;D
I met a young guy from Indonesia, who’s travelling with a 150ccm! He did 2 month already and one more to go. This made my excited even more about my own adventure. He had a really nice set-up and it gave me some ideas ;) I will have to get my bike modified as well as I’m looking forward to spend a couple of bucks for good gear and riding equipment as bags and all the nice neat little accessories you can have ;)
this is gonna be incredibly EPIC!! =D ..well.. still I’m here. Let’s go day by day and let things happen.
I got less and less days for my trip to Ratankiri, but im still making it. Would just wish to have more time, but anyway I wanted to go there to see and to ride (even if it turned a bit into a Rally :P ) ..yes, today was not so superb.. after delaying with the Visa, I took the wrong way out of town and lost another 40 min and found myself later driving like the devil to the river crossing further down. I would have had so much time, if not for lot of stupidity and not paying attention to the signs in life (and next to the road), I took the wrong way for very long, until I stood in front of the Vietnamese boarder :P obviously can’t cross with a rented bike, so I turned around and found myself another way up.. but too late to make it into the peaceful hills of Sen Monorom, where I would have wanted to stay for one night. Now instead, I’m at the turn-off to it (130km away) and in a guest house next to the main road, with the stickiest room ever, for its window can’t be opened (for ages apparently :P
well.. I made it. found myself driving too hard and slowed down. Loosing this waste amount of time was because not taking time to think and navigate. Anyway.. learned a big deal more about riding. (and can soon say that I’ve been in EVERY SINGLE ONE department of Cambodia ;)
tomorrow is going to be a long day of riding (but safely of course!). I’m prepared to sleep outside.. can survive on water and (dried) banana one more day if it has to be. There’s a nice volcano lake in Ban Lung where I will dip in after tomorrow. Sen Monorom though will just be a short stop for food, bike service and gas and then I’ll head on to the north.
It’s amazing how people here live. For most of them, life is rather simple. I still see a lot of struggling for surviving, but after very dark years, this is a more prosperous state of Cambodia. But many people don’t have the possibilities to travel (not even their own country) and a very conservative form of living is practiced.
while I’ve been riding, there was a lot of climatic change.. luckily, I just got stopped once by rain (for having no proper rain gear). If there were, then only a few drops and sometimes I could drive through or avoid it by speeding up a bid, for I could see blue sky not far away. The same I witnessed on the road as in the mountains, where sometime I was hiking or just taking my bike for a ride! :)
so far this has been a super epic trip!! :D I’m looking forward to my last days riding here in Cambodia and then to finish all the open things and get myself ready for India (can I? ;) This has all been pretty packed, but quite nicely! ;D
I met a young guy from Indonesia, who’s travelling with a 150ccm! He did 2 month already and one more to go. This made my excited even more about my own adventure. He had a really nice set-up and it gave me some ideas ;) I will have to get my bike modified as well as I’m looking forward to spend a couple of bucks for good gear and riding equipment as bags and all the nice neat little accessories you can have ;)
this is gonna be incredibly EPIC!! =D ..well.. still I’m here. Let’s go day by day and let things happen.
Yey.. I’m in Ban Lung, the furthest part of
Cambodia I wanted to travel to. I had a quite a long day driving, but having
the whole day, I could take my time :) so the first part from Snoul to Sen
Monorom turned out to be newly paved (too bad, was looking forward for dirt
road, but got lots of it afterward ;) there I had breakfast and talked to a guy
at the next table. Turns out he’s here for 10 years and has a bike adventure
company. Gave me some information about the way and some good ideas about
dirtbiking in Cambodia ;)
then it took quite a while to get to Koh Niehk, because there’s a lot of roadwork going on.. really A LOT! ..but well.. made it somehow more interesting to ride it. I’m sure in a couple years from here, it will be paved, so I’m happy I did it now :) got lots of sand and dust (it’s like insta-mud.. add a couple hundred litres of water and you’ll get stuck in it). Then there was some muddy part with waterholes and had to use some driving skills to get through it. Glad I didn’t drop it.. it would have been sooo messy :P but still all my clothes and now especially my backpack are looking forward to a good wash!! Really didn’t have time to get that done properly along the way (got back to hand washing ;)
it was not as scenic as I thought it might be, but it’s a nice stretch to ride and makes totally sense to drive it, if you’re looping in the North-East. Tomorrow, I’ll have an easy day. There are two volcano lakes around here and one of the waterfalls that I want to visit.. and a little loop to connect them all :) So I’ll make use of the bike and drive around one day in Ratankiri province and then will turn around another way back to PP. I actually have still one more extra day, because I made it just straight through to here. I like the aspect of me being able to ride a good stretch such like this :)
It is incredible, how this country in growing. I’m sure Ban Lung was much smaller five years ago, but for Sen Monorom I can say it for sure! Maybe I’ll be back in many years and see how things have changed. For now, I’m feeling coming to an end here and moving forward to something slightly bigger (well.. not the bike, but the trip ;)
then it took quite a while to get to Koh Niehk, because there’s a lot of roadwork going on.. really A LOT! ..but well.. made it somehow more interesting to ride it. I’m sure in a couple years from here, it will be paved, so I’m happy I did it now :) got lots of sand and dust (it’s like insta-mud.. add a couple hundred litres of water and you’ll get stuck in it). Then there was some muddy part with waterholes and had to use some driving skills to get through it. Glad I didn’t drop it.. it would have been sooo messy :P but still all my clothes and now especially my backpack are looking forward to a good wash!! Really didn’t have time to get that done properly along the way (got back to hand washing ;)
it was not as scenic as I thought it might be, but it’s a nice stretch to ride and makes totally sense to drive it, if you’re looping in the North-East. Tomorrow, I’ll have an easy day. There are two volcano lakes around here and one of the waterfalls that I want to visit.. and a little loop to connect them all :) So I’ll make use of the bike and drive around one day in Ratankiri province and then will turn around another way back to PP. I actually have still one more extra day, because I made it just straight through to here. I like the aspect of me being able to ride a good stretch such like this :)
It is incredible, how this country in growing. I’m sure Ban Lung was much smaller five years ago, but for Sen Monorom I can say it for sure! Maybe I’ll be back in many years and see how things have changed. For now, I’m feeling coming to an end here and moving forward to something slightly bigger (well.. not the bike, but the trip ;)
So as here is not so much going on,
I use the time to keep up with this. I feel as Cambodia comes to an end for me
(probably for a good while). From here on, I will just drive back and every kilometre
brings me closer to my next episode.
Today was just splendid!! :D beautiful weather and lovely roads through hills. I’m glad there’s no one driving in front of me (having a riding buddy), because I’d swallow too much dust ;P So I went visiting a crater lake, then went on to another crater lake about 50km away and hiked around it. It’s all very beautiful nature and it’s great having time to venture around in this world!
I had a very thoughtful day.. some things of the past want to be processed over and over again, before finally mind comes to a rest. But was nice to go along with all the thoughts.. one main aspect (now and probably for the next time) is that I’d enjoy company of the very being that wants to share its life with me. Hmm.. hard to find, for has to understand my complex being by intuition and fall strongly in love with me forever :P yeah.. so let’s stick to that other plan with the motorbike ;)
I got (for the 4th out of 4 times) invited for food. Local people having a picnic out at the Crater Lake (consists out of a 12-pack of small water, a 24-pack of beer not chilled, a huge pot of rice and some other dish along with it). They had some beef Seviche (lots of Onion and Lemon) and it was super tasty!! :D before I my buttocks touched the ground, I got offered a beer and even if most of them spoke no English, was wonderful to spend this time (and eat great food, drinking beer ;) ..that’s why the people of Cambodia are called so friendly and this is, what is the “heart of Khmer”! Admirable these people!! Cheered me up in many situations.
so I rode around in this lovely place with my bike and had some exercise walking around. Didn’t find the gemstone mines here.. the people are digging with almost no tools in search of gems. But it’s not directly a touristy thing and I don’t know how it would have worked out.
then I went back to the first Crater Lake and walked around it as well, stopping for a swim and some didgeridoo and went back for a small set of exercises and went for chicken amok (a favourite Khmer dish for me). It’s prepared with coconut milk and super tasty! Yesterday I had beef Loc Lac and that’s prepared with fresh ground pepper (also super tasty and amongst favourites ;)
..well, sometimes I feel like a monk on a motorbike, a hermit who’s cave is the world. I got lots of time to think and to be with myself, but also lots of time to see and enjoy, to understand and learn to love. Life gets more and more beautiful with every step I do. Let’s see, where the path takes me.. :)
Today was just splendid!! :D beautiful weather and lovely roads through hills. I’m glad there’s no one driving in front of me (having a riding buddy), because I’d swallow too much dust ;P So I went visiting a crater lake, then went on to another crater lake about 50km away and hiked around it. It’s all very beautiful nature and it’s great having time to venture around in this world!
I had a very thoughtful day.. some things of the past want to be processed over and over again, before finally mind comes to a rest. But was nice to go along with all the thoughts.. one main aspect (now and probably for the next time) is that I’d enjoy company of the very being that wants to share its life with me. Hmm.. hard to find, for has to understand my complex being by intuition and fall strongly in love with me forever :P yeah.. so let’s stick to that other plan with the motorbike ;)
I got (for the 4th out of 4 times) invited for food. Local people having a picnic out at the Crater Lake (consists out of a 12-pack of small water, a 24-pack of beer not chilled, a huge pot of rice and some other dish along with it). They had some beef Seviche (lots of Onion and Lemon) and it was super tasty!! :D before I my buttocks touched the ground, I got offered a beer and even if most of them spoke no English, was wonderful to spend this time (and eat great food, drinking beer ;) ..that’s why the people of Cambodia are called so friendly and this is, what is the “heart of Khmer”! Admirable these people!! Cheered me up in many situations.
so I rode around in this lovely place with my bike and had some exercise walking around. Didn’t find the gemstone mines here.. the people are digging with almost no tools in search of gems. But it’s not directly a touristy thing and I don’t know how it would have worked out.
then I went back to the first Crater Lake and walked around it as well, stopping for a swim and some didgeridoo and went back for a small set of exercises and went for chicken amok (a favourite Khmer dish for me). It’s prepared with coconut milk and super tasty! Yesterday I had beef Loc Lac and that’s prepared with fresh ground pepper (also super tasty and amongst favourites ;)
..well, sometimes I feel like a monk on a motorbike, a hermit who’s cave is the world. I got lots of time to think and to be with myself, but also lots of time to see and enjoy, to understand and learn to love. Life gets more and more beautiful with every step I do. Let’s see, where the path takes me.. :)
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