This section from Bavet to Neak Loeang is the thirtieth instalment of my bicycle ride from Yunnan to Cambodia – if all goes according to plan. Titled “Slap the Belgian!”, it is simultaneously published on Crazyguyonabike.com, where you’ll find a map with the itinerary and many other bicycle diaries by me and others. I hope you’ll enjoy.
Waking up is hard. We haven’t done all that much yesterday but we feel like sheets of paper under a massive paperweight, only flapping at the edge in the cold air-con flow. The prospect of some Vietnamese pho at the stall next door finally persuades us to lift our lazy legs out of the bed, pack and get out. The pho is delicious and at 3000 Riel (€ 0.50), it is even a little cheaper than the average in Vietnam. It will be our last cheap meal.
Because we want to be in Phnom Penh as soon as possible, it looks like we’ve a long day ahead. If we make it to Neak Loeang today, we’ve only a 60-something kilometre trip left for tomorrow. But that means pedalling another century today. The Tutin is getting used to it.
Leaving Bavet is a bit intense with loads of heavy trucks thundering past us, but there’s a fairly broad hard shoulder on the highway one so we can ride without worrying too much. Taking minor roads is not really an option: distances are long, hotels and restaurants rather scarce and, with the exception of a handful of highways, all roads are made of dirt. Welcome in the third world again.
We’re bored out of our skulls. Even Tu admits she prefers riding in the mountains. We miss the views, the cool air and the occasional downhill that allows you to pause and stretch. None of that here, just endless powering over sizzling hot tarmac.
We stop at Svay Rieng for a very mediocre lunch. It’s the type of fast-food where you can choose a few dishes that are ready-made from a couple of steaming pots. It looks like that when you eat out in Cambodia, you eat meat. Vegetables are in very short supply and the meat is always cooked to pulp. Another fantasy about Cambodia smashed to smithereens. The lunch also ends up costing over 5 USD which is simply outrageous coming from Vietnam. We leave the city disappointed and slightly hungry still.
Our day continues, the sun plots its course in the steel-blue sky, and we slowly overtake our shadows in this sweaty race across flat and dusty land. Apart from a pile of milestones, we see nothing of real interest today. We even consider hitch-hiking to Phnom Penh, but decide to give Cambodia another chance.
We stop for a coconut, which has been allowed to grow way too large so it tastes rather sour. But the company is most pleasant. Tu impresses with her apparently fluent Khmer and I strike up a conversation with a guy who walks in to buy a single cigarette and a coconut.
He had been a soldier, fighting off Thai forces in the recent border conflicts. Now that peace has returned, he’s on leave in his hometown. He’d also been on a programme that sent poor people to Phnom Penh for free English courses. His first lines of English were hesitant and I was already hoping he wouldn’t try to talk too much, but as he’s speaking his confidence and vocabulary comes back and leaves me in awe.
As I get back on my bicycle, the cable of my phone gets caught on the saddle, carefully fishing the damned piece of electronics out of my pocket and dropping it hard on the asphalt. A shiny crack appears on the screen and I know what that means: fully functional phone but no way to interact with it. That’s why there are no Strava stats for today. The lack of pictures, on the other hand, can be entirely attributed to the lack of interesting sights.
We pedal the last few kilometres to Neak Loeang and spot a Vietnamese and Chinese sign for vegetarian food next to a Buddhist temple. Awesome! We stuff ourselves on spring rolls and a veggie salad before attempting to find a hotel. At night, we wander around a bit and eat chicken gruel while drinking an avocado mango smoothie. Again from a Vietnamese stand. How disappointing.
Before going back to bed, some Cambodians on motorcycles are laughing and pointing at me, cheerily greeting me as Mr Long Man. Sure am.
