Cycling solo in Cambodia
The cycling today was good. I had breakfast in town and was on the road at 7:45am. There was a lot of cloud cover all morning which made me very happy because it wasn’t so hot. The road was in pretty good shape for this stretch and there was hardly any traffic at all so I was able to just cruise through and enjoy the scenery. I stopped a few times for a cold Coke or a fresh sugar cane juice and also stopped once for some bananas for lunch. Today was the first time in Cambodia that I stopped anywhere on my own since I’ve been with Peter the whole time and I was a little nervous after so many strange encounters in Vietnam, but the Cambodian people are so nice that they just took me right in. At the store where I bought the bananas, the family invited me to sit down, then got their nephew who speaks English to talk to me and ask the usual questions – where are you from, what is your job, how old are you, when are you going back to your homeland – every time the same wording and everything..it’s so funny. I gathered quite a crowd – at least 20 or 25 people standing around. The nephew told me that I was the first foreigner to ever stop at their store!
No signs of Peter today – I think he probably got up before me and pressed on to Sihounakville. It is a bit lonely not having him around – I guess it will take a few days to get used to being on my own again. It’s a shame that it didn’t work out, but as we say on the trail,’You’ve gotta hike your own hike.’ I’m more than happy with my distance and pace everyday but it’s certainly not for everyone.
‘I’ve got a hard road to travel
And a rough, rough way to go..
But I can’t turn back
My heart is fixed
My mind’s made up
I’ll never stop
My faith will see me through…’
Jimmy Cliffe
Miles Biked Today: 53.16 (85 km)
Time: 4 hours 35 minutes
Paved is a relative term when youre in Cambodia
More scenery on the road to Kompot
Lots of French influence still around…
Add comment March 5th, 2002