Vroni's parents and sister had to go back to Germany and we flew from Kuala Lumpur back to Bangkok. Our bikes were waiting at a Warmshowers host and after staying at his place for one last night, we left for the Cambodian border in the morning. We had to cycle in Thailand for another two and a half days but there was nothing to see and the large roads leaving Bangkok were pretty boring but allowed us to get some distance covered. From then on we had 30 days to reach Hanoi where my parents, my brother Jan and his wife Nina would visit us.
Crossing the Cambodian border was no problem but once we crossed there was a new challenge: For the whole trip, we have been cycling on the left side of the road and now we had to go back to the right side. In the beginning it was very confusing and took us a few days to readjust again.
Our first destination in Cambodia was Siem Reap, known for the temples of Angkor Wat. Even though the ticket for one day is $37 per person, we had to see it. The temples are the largest religious site in the world and it truly is awe-inspiring. We cycled to Angkor Wat in the morning and it was already quite busy when we arrived. Large groups of Chinese tourists clogged the paths and galleries inside the temple, taking away from the atmosphere and magic of the place. Nonetheless, it is a must-see when you are there and the main temple of Angkor Wat is still really impressive. All the carvings and reliefs in the walls show incredible detail about life and culture during the Khmer empire between the 9th and 12th century.
The second stop on our list was the walled city of Angkor Thom. Angkor Wat was the main temple dedicated to the god-kings and Angkor Thom was the residence for both the emporer and citizens. Just passing the gates into the walled city shows the engineering and craftsmanship the Khmer had mastered and the fact that everything was built in the middle of the jungle make it even more remarkable. The rest of the day we spent exploring a few more temples in the vicinity and once we got away from the main attractions, there were way less tourists again. Some of the sites are well-restored and rebuilt while others are overgrown and less curated, giving a nice variety and the feeling of adventure when exploring.
In the evening we decided to explore the touristy city center of Siem Reap where we had some great Cambodian noodles and then met a young boy who sold some more exotic snacks: Scorpions, spiders and snakes. I could not help myself and bought one each, curious to try them. Vroni was a bit more hesitant but also ended up taking a bite of each of the beasts and they were actually not bad. I would not call them delicacies but it was still fun to try.
On our way out of Siem Reap we could finally leave the main highway and it made cycling a lot more enjoyable. After one day of cycling we reached the village close to the temples of Koh Ker and we decided to visit them the next morning. Even though those temples are smaller and less impressive, they are all still surrounded by jungle which creates a great atmosphere. The highlights were the large 7-tier pyramide and a small temple of five towers that were totally engulfed by roots and vegetation.
From then on there were no more tourist attractions on our way but just beautiful scenery and friendly rural Cambodians. Everybody we passed greeted us and the kids often went crazy. It was a really nice insight into how the Cambodians really live and we enjoyed the cycling a lot. In the Stung Treng we crossed the impressive Mekong River, which is almost one kilometer wide there already. Our last night in Cambodia we spent in the city of Stung Treng where we visited the local market, bought some fresh vegetables and ended up cooking a great pasta dinner and enjoyed our meal while watching the sunset on the terrace of our guest house. The next day it was just a mere 60km to reach the border with Laos and we closed our short but interesting chapter of traveling in Cambodia.
All the best from us,
Keep cycling,
Vroni, Droni & Joni
