Ok, since I've read a couple of magnificent trip report on this forum, I thought it might be time to give something back to the community.
I rode from Phuket on the 4th June to Bangkok and enjoyed a couple of nights out on the town and some last minute shopping of camping gear (Can you believe its impossible to find a can of cooking gas for a Jetboil stove in all of BKK?)
I went by the Dirt Shop in BKK a couple of times to get some armor, gloves and goggles for the Hidden Cambodia (HC) tour company in Siem Reap, with who I was taking a tour with a friend of mine, who would be flying in.
Finally, on the 9th June I entered Cambodia at the Aranyaphrapet/Poi Pet border. Like mentioned in the other cambodia trip report, the road from Poi Pet to Siem Reap is in horrendous condition. and note the difference on the back fo the bike in these two pics?
Yep, licenseplate missing....The bad condition of the road had rattled my license plate off, and I wasnt keen on going back 120 km on that road to see if I could find it again as the time was approaching 1500 in the afternoon. So carried on without it for the rest of the trip.
In Siem Reap, I met up with HC and my friend and we had a talk about the route we were going to take, based on our experience levels. Since its the rainy season, the trails are in bad condition, with lots of flooding. So the route was planned taking that into account or so we thought...
Next day we went for a tour at Angkor Wat and some of the other temples in the Angkor area. Impressive is the word I find fitting best to describe Angkor Wat.
Yours truly
Next day we start our HC tour. We are 4 in total, my friend Erik and myself, plus a guide and a mechanic.
We stop at this little hut after about an hour to get something to drink and wait for the mechanic to catch up with us, as he had to go back to HC to get something.
When he catches up, we continue to a place where they carved out some of the sandstone blocks that was used to build Angkor Wat and the other temples.
After that, we ride though some jungle trails having great fun and end up on top of a hill where they have found some carvings and sculptures.
At the end of the first day reach Anglong Veang, where we check into a guesthouse and then take a stroll through the local market.
They have the same garbage disposal system here as they do in many places in Thailand, just pile it up and forget about it. This was taken just beside the fresh fish area of the market, nice smell...
Next morning, we drive up to Pol Pots gravesite and after that we visited the house/bunker up in the hills where he lived the last years of his life.
Coming down from the hills, we stop for refreshments at a small bordercrossing on the Cambodia-Thai border.
After that, the goal of the day is to reach the Preah Vihear temple, so a long drive is on. At one point we stop for a break and notice the break pads are gone on one of the bikes. So the mechanic starts to work.
Going up the hill to Preah Vihear temple, I get another bike, as the one I was given(Yamaha Raid) isnt capable of carrying my fat ass up the hill, so I get the mechanics bike (XR250) and right after that I overshoot a corner, the tires then catch the small sidewall of the road and I slowly loose balance and fall over the side of the road into the brush and then off an 2 meter overhang, where I, after having checked myself for any broken bones, starts to laugh uncontrollably. Fortunately for me, the bike stayed on the road, roadside brush and didnt come crashing down on me No pictures of that, sorry. But I consider myself very lucky about the incident.
Preah Vihear temple, actually, one of the 4 inline temples at Preah Vihear.
Yours truly posing at the edge of the cliff, where there is a stunning view of the surround low land. There is about a 530 meter elevation difference from the low land to the hilltop, and youre staring right down 500 meters at the cliff edge. Amazing view.
There is a demining operation going on around the entire temple area and there is a small camp just down the first stair of the temple, with a small market and a "hotel" we check into...In reality, its a wooden house, with some rooms, seperated by thin woodwalls and a bed, with mattress, pillows, mozzie net and my all time favorite blanket. Shower is a water bucket out back, and a smaller bucket to pour water over yourself...Hey, its just like being back in the army again. I love it.
To be continued...
I rode from Phuket on the 4th June to Bangkok and enjoyed a couple of nights out on the town and some last minute shopping of camping gear (Can you believe its impossible to find a can of cooking gas for a Jetboil stove in all of BKK?)
I went by the Dirt Shop in BKK a couple of times to get some armor, gloves and goggles for the Hidden Cambodia (HC) tour company in Siem Reap, with who I was taking a tour with a friend of mine, who would be flying in.
Finally, on the 9th June I entered Cambodia at the Aranyaphrapet/Poi Pet border. Like mentioned in the other cambodia trip report, the road from Poi Pet to Siem Reap is in horrendous condition. and note the difference on the back fo the bike in these two pics?
Yep, licenseplate missing....The bad condition of the road had rattled my license plate off, and I wasnt keen on going back 120 km on that road to see if I could find it again as the time was approaching 1500 in the afternoon. So carried on without it for the rest of the trip.
In Siem Reap, I met up with HC and my friend and we had a talk about the route we were going to take, based on our experience levels. Since its the rainy season, the trails are in bad condition, with lots of flooding. So the route was planned taking that into account or so we thought...
Next day we went for a tour at Angkor Wat and some of the other temples in the Angkor area. Impressive is the word I find fitting best to describe Angkor Wat.
Yours truly
Next day we start our HC tour. We are 4 in total, my friend Erik and myself, plus a guide and a mechanic.
We stop at this little hut after about an hour to get something to drink and wait for the mechanic to catch up with us, as he had to go back to HC to get something.
When he catches up, we continue to a place where they carved out some of the sandstone blocks that was used to build Angkor Wat and the other temples.
After that, we ride though some jungle trails having great fun and end up on top of a hill where they have found some carvings and sculptures.
At the end of the first day reach Anglong Veang, where we check into a guesthouse and then take a stroll through the local market.
They have the same garbage disposal system here as they do in many places in Thailand, just pile it up and forget about it. This was taken just beside the fresh fish area of the market, nice smell...
Next morning, we drive up to Pol Pots gravesite and after that we visited the house/bunker up in the hills where he lived the last years of his life.
Coming down from the hills, we stop for refreshments at a small bordercrossing on the Cambodia-Thai border.
After that, the goal of the day is to reach the Preah Vihear temple, so a long drive is on. At one point we stop for a break and notice the break pads are gone on one of the bikes. So the mechanic starts to work.
Going up the hill to Preah Vihear temple, I get another bike, as the one I was given(Yamaha Raid) isnt capable of carrying my fat ass up the hill, so I get the mechanics bike (XR250) and right after that I overshoot a corner, the tires then catch the small sidewall of the road and I slowly loose balance and fall over the side of the road into the brush and then off an 2 meter overhang, where I, after having checked myself for any broken bones, starts to laugh uncontrollably. Fortunately for me, the bike stayed on the road, roadside brush and didnt come crashing down on me No pictures of that, sorry. But I consider myself very lucky about the incident.
Preah Vihear temple, actually, one of the 4 inline temples at Preah Vihear.
Yours truly posing at the edge of the cliff, where there is a stunning view of the surround low land. There is about a 530 meter elevation difference from the low land to the hilltop, and youre staring right down 500 meters at the cliff edge. Amazing view.
There is a demining operation going on around the entire temple area and there is a small camp just down the first stair of the temple, with a small market and a "hotel" we check into...In reality, its a wooden house, with some rooms, seperated by thin woodwalls and a bed, with mattress, pillows, mozzie net and my all time favorite blanket. Shower is a water bucket out back, and a smaller bucket to pour water over yourself...Hey, its just like being back in the army again. I love it.
To be continued...