The Golden Triangle Rider

[donvangilder]

To say that today was one of the tougher rides I’ve had in se Asia would be understating it a little. The 150 km's from Siem Riep to the border at Poipet was pretty much crap, except the first 30 or so km's out of Siem Riep which was decent pavement. I would use stronger words but women and children are reading this.
Thought it might get better at Sisophan (100 km from Siem Riep) when the paved road started again, but this was just an illusion as large potholes and broken pavement popped up every 10-15 feet in parts. Ended up just riding on the dirt on the side of the road. Could keep my speed constant and didn't have to veer to avoid stuff so much. Took me about 3 hours to do the 150 km's.
Had no problem crossing the border into Thailand. again, the Cambodian side was nothing. the Thai side made me show my registration book and fill out some paperwork before they would let me in, but the good thing was they didn't even ask me for the temp. export paperwork I had done at Huay Xai (actually whatever town it is across from it on the Thai side), so I didn't have to pay the penalty for keeping it out of the country for 30 days. Would have been the max. Fine at $50. Sure didn't volunteer it.
The one good thing about the bad roads on the first part was that it made the 250 km from the border to Bangkok seem heavenly. Very hot but was averaging 120 km/hr until I got close to Bkk.
Love the lower gas prices too. Gas Cambodia- .93 USD/liter, Thailand .62 .
Left Siem Riep at about 8:30 am and got here a little after 5 pm.
A little "nitro" tried to pull a 'blues brothers' maneuver (remember when the car just falls apart when Jake and Elwood get out of it in Chicago?) when I got to Bangkok. Was running a little funny (I think just a totally clogged air filter from all the Cambodian dust) and the clutch cable decided to break just 1 km from Khao Sarn rd. (where I’m staying in BKK). Was pretty interesting trying to speed shift in rush hour traffic.
Anyway, the "loop" is done, all 10,565 km of it. Won't actually be a loop as I won't be driving back to Chiang Mai, but who's that nit picky.
Will fix the bike tomorrow and clean it up before trying to sell it. After talking to some people here, if I can't get a decent price for it in BKK before I need to leave for Koh pang yan for the full moon party, I’ll drive it down there with a for sale sign on it and try to sell it at one of the beaches. Lots more tourists down there and I can have it with me until it sells.

I’m sure there are some lovely parts in Cambodia that I didn't see cause I was on a 'sport' bike and not a dirt bike, but I’m sorry to say that besides the Angkor Wat area





and Sihanoukville (nice beaches but probably not as good as the beaches in Thailand), there wasn't a whole lot to the country and the scenery on the roads was boring as hell. Don't even know how they grow anything in that dry red dirt. The people were nice however and they spoke more English (percentage wise) than anywhere I’ve been so far over here. I’m exhausted, off for a massage, a beer, then bed.

Contrary to the above message, the roads in Cambodia from the Vietnamese border at Moc Bai to Phnom Penh were pretty decent. The highway from the border to the ferry at the Mekong was excellent, from the ferry to PP was worse, but I was driving after dark, so I’m not the best judge. The road from Phnom Penh to Siem Riep was also pretty good, only problem was the traffic leaving Phnom Penh. An enduro or dirt bike would definitely been more useful and comfortable in Cambodia than my little sport bike. you can do it however on any bike.