Its been ages since my appearance on this website. My apologies.
I appreciate all the warm comments from the riding community, not only here but from all over the world. You all say I would be missed but it is you who are missed.
Harry would roll in from Korat geared up and park his bike out front caked in mud. He would have to chip off a layer to get to his gear. Other riders doing regional tours would roll in on a variety of bikes and my local clientele would immediately stand up to check out the equipment and share road info.
It was sad for me to begin my last ride from my home. It used to be get out of bed, roll into the shop, make sure the girls were squared away with everything they needed. I would then grab my gear from the office and start stacking about the bar on tables and counter tops why my partners shared coffee and conversation. Then it was load up and kiss the staff goodbye.
We would complete the ride and return to California 2 to a welcoming committee. We would share the treasures we found with the staff and our local riding community. Our tourist visitors at the bar would be treated to a slide show as I would plug in my camera to the TV (but not before taking some personal treasures off the memory card).
I am at Sharky and I intend to improve upon an already good thing.
With impending closure of the business I squeezed all I could out of the business. I sacrificed riding for almost a year. I could feel the Cambodia I once knew slipping away as it succumbed to development. What a difference a year makes. I did at trip to Pattaya in Sept 07 and had to cross the ferries all the way to Koh Kong and on the way back from Koh Kong the journey took 7 hours as I waited in the pouring rain for the ferries to muster up enough people to make the crossing. Sept. 08 the bridges are in and its an easy 4.5 hours. I was happy to get to Issan and see the Khmer Temples scattered about Korat, Buriram and Surin. Now with more time available I hope to get to Sisaket as well.
http://www.cafecaliforniaphnompenh.com/Issan.htm
The trip took me to Pattaya, Korat, Surin and I crossed back at Anlong Veng. The road to Anlong Veng which was once a simple dirt road that cut through jungle is now a super highway. Cambodia is rapidly becoming Harley Country and the Jesters who long stayed away are now making appearances. It was nice to see Woody at Sharky last month.
I am still up in the air as to if or when I will open another guesthouse. There are many aspects I miss and there are plenty I dont. If I do open again I will scale down and try to cater to regular clientele and weed out the ones that dont do well in third world countries. I would like to have a place for the riding community to congregate in the day time. There are places opening up, but lightning doesn't strike in the same place twice.
I have left the California 2 website up as it provides good info and is a good central portal to the riding community in Cambodia. I will update it as well as the Sharky website and am still available to answer questions.
[email
[email protected]]
[email protected][/email]
Again thanks to all for your past support.
Jim