Next day I get up at seven and go to the restaurant again to have breakfast. The plan is to spend some hours around Anlong Veng, to visit the relevant Khmer Rouge places. In the afternoon I want to leave Anlong Veng and ride to Siem Reap provincial capital, which is about 200 km from here.

After breakfast I kick of with the owner of the restaurant. We go with my bike. By now I don’t mind taking people on my bike. Everybody does. First we visit the local tourism office. The door is open but nobody is here. We find a name card and I call the guy. I learn that he is in the mountains right now, taking pictures for the provincial department of tourism’s homepage. He suggests we ride up the mountain and meet him there.

And this is what we do. Maybe for about 10 km we follow the main road to the north, which is broad and easy to ride. This changes when we reach the bottom of the mountain. Some distances are pretty steep. Others are covered with rocks or sand. However, it is not too steep and I even enjoy the rough road.

On the way we pass the statues of some soldiers, carved out of a single rock by Khmer Rouge members. Government soldiers have decapitated those statues.

After another 20 minutes we reach the top of the mountain range, which marks the border to Thailand. There is an accumulation of stalls which serves as local market. We park the bike and follow a guy from the tourist police about hundred meters, before we reach the place where Pol Pot was cremated and buried. Those spots would be difficult to find if there where not signs telling the visitor what he sees. Apparently not much attention is paid to those sites and they are covered with rubbish.

The sign to the right says this is the place where Pol Pot was cremated. Under the roof in the background is his grave. This is how it ends.

By accident, we meet the French guys who I was talking to yesterday before they left. They actually found a guesthouse up here and told me about the beautiful view they have had from their balcony. And we meet Un Khemara, who works in the local tourist office and is the guy I was talking to on the phone. We arrange to meet later in town to visit Ta Mok’s house close to the town.

In order to visit Pol Pots residence in the mountains we have still about 15 km to go. We pass the market and continue on a narrow road, which however is an easy ride. We ride mostly through forest. Sometimes we come across people, mostly in uniforms. Other than that the places we pass are not without beauty. Sometimes we see small lakes.

We pass a guard and pay some money for the priviledge of visiting Pol Pots house. After a few minutes we reach the remains of a concrete structure. There is a basement from concrete, which looks like it served as a bunker. Unfortunately my guide does not seem to know much more about the place than I do. There is nobody and nothing here to educate us about the historical significance of the place. We come across some sort of basin but do not know whether it served as swimming pool or for irrigation. We assume the surroundings are mined and leave the place after few minutes. I do not feel like I want to visit more places like that without understanding what I see. So we ride all the way back, passing the market and the statues and speeding a bit on the rest of the road back to Anlong Veng.

I presume those are the remains of Pol Pot’s last residence.

The place is not without beauty.

This looks like some sort of swimming pool. We don’t manage to find out what its purpose is or was.

I bring the restaurant owner to his restaurant and tell him I will be back for lunch after one hour or so. Than I ride back to the tourist office, but Un Khemara is not here again. Instead I talk to his colleague. I call Khemara again and learn he is at Ta Mok’s residence, which is just around the corner. Un Khemara picks me up at the office and we ride to the place. This is located at an artificial lake. This lake caused those trees to die and shaped the bizarre sight of the surroundings.

This house was set up first by Ta Mok and he lived in it for some time. The radio for leading the battle with government forces was close by. Un Khemara is about 30 years old and claims he was adopted by Ta Mok when he was a child. He also goes by the name So Phorn but I do not know why it is that he has so many names. Ta Mok had three daughters but no boys and took care of him.

Later a more solid house with a concrete structure was constructed. We enter and find the walls of the basement covered with paintings of Angkor Wat and Preah Vihear Temple. This is where meetings of the highest ranking Khmer Rouge took place.

Painting of Angkor Wat.

Painting of Preah Vihear.

This is the view from the window, at the artificial lake next to the house.

To the left, straight behind the buffalo is what remains from one of Pol Pot’s residences. Actually there was a house but it burnt down and only the toilet is still here.

We climb up to the second floor. The walls here are painted again, with a waterfall scene, a map of Cambodia and temples again.

This is Ta Mok’s bedroom.

We spend some time talking. Un Khemara tells me on various occasions about the dam which is the cause of the artificial lake outside. Ta Mok wanted to create this lake to provide water for humans and animals and for irrigation. However, Pol Pot was opposed to the idea.

Furthermore I am told the Thai government provided support in exchange for timber and ancient remains from the temples. At some point supposedly the Thai government demanded Prey Vihear in exchange for such services, but Ta Mok rejected this idea.

Later we go the basement, where we find Ta Mok’s bathroom. There are actually bunker under two of those buildings, which were used when the houses came under fire.

This is Un Khemara in Ta Mok’s bathroom.

After some time we leave. Something at the stand of my bike is broken, but it is a minor problem and I bring the bike to one of the local mechanics. Un Khemara insists that we ride to his house first so that he can give me his name card. He serves as teacher, too and what I find is a small school with this tiny classroom and many students.

After some time we ride back to the restaurant to have late lunch. Afterwards we hang out and talk, which is interesting.

I learn that the owner moved actually only recently to Anlong Veng and lived in Kampong Cham before. It is getting later and later. Finally I say bye, pick up my bike at the mechanic and ride back to the guesthouse. I pack my stuff and attached it to the bike. Then I head to Siem Reap.

After some kilometers I enter dense jungle. The road is alright but not very even. After some time the potholes get deeper and deeper. However, the fine sand makes that it is a smooth ride. It is at least three hours from here to Siem Reap and I hurry, because I don’t want to ride at night.

I rarely come across people or vehicles. Paul had warned me earlier that the roads in Siem Reap are ok but the bridges are in a bad shape. So whenever I see a bridge I reduce the speed significantly. Some bridges are in fact in bad shape and this one is a good example, although certainly not the worst one. In many cases there is an alternative way through the jungle for cars.

Bridges around here are in a bad shape.

Later on there is not much forest anymore, and trees are only thinly spread. Those are the first trucks I see on this road.

After maybe about two hours I reach Banteay Srei temple. Unfortunately I would be allowed to enter only with the Angkor Wat ticket for $20 a day. So I order food at one of the numerous empty stalls along the road. Then I go to take at least a picture of the gate.

This is the gate of Banteay Srei Temple.

This is inside.

I enjoy my food very much. I learn that it is only about 30 km from here to Siem Reap. When I kick off again it starts getting dark. However, the road is paved nicely from here. I have not seen a paved road for a long time. Moreover, there is not too much travel. So I speed up the bike and enjoy it.

Those 30 km are longer than I have thought. I expect to reach the center of the city every few minutes. However, I keep going. Only slowly the road is getting busier. And finally, when it is dark, I find myself in the dense traffic of Siem Reap city. This town seems to be much busier now compared to the rainy season, when I came here last time. I head to the popular guesthouse again, where I spend the night on my last trip here.

I manage to get a room and have a shower. Later I get a moto and ride to the local Seeing Hands massage place. Although I have gotten this massage many times I enjoy it particularly after I rode the bike for many hours. After the massage I go to the local happy herbs pizza restaurant to have diner. I talk to a couple for some time, he from California, she from Malaysia, living together in Hong Kong and traveling Asia. She works for a Swiss Investment bank and he for the Times magazine. This makes for an interesting conversation. Later I leave to the guesthouse and go to bed.

The plan for today is to get up early, visit the temples again and leave to have breakfast at the bottom of the mountain. From here, I have the priviledge of Vothea’s company for another hour, before we go separate ways. Vothear will continue to Tbaeng Mean Chey and Kampong Thom. I intend to travel to Anlong Veng, the very last stronghold of the Khmer Rouge. I hope to visit Pol Pot’s grave and other relevant places today and continue all the way to Siem Reap, before I travel back to Phnom Penh the tomorrow.

We get up at about 5:30, have coffee and get ready to leave. Some time later we leave, when it is still dark, and climb up all the steps to temples on top of the mountain.

We come across this canon which was used by the Khmer Rouge to defend this mountain. There are some concrete bunkers next to the temple. It is still dark.

I spend some time walking through the buildings trying to get some shots. However, most pictures come out too dark.

Then we sit down at one of the gates at the temple and watch the sun rising. This is actually Boxing Day. The top of the mountain range to left marks the border line to Thailand.

Sometimes clouds drift through the temples.

The ancient pool, which is still used to satisfy local water needs.

After some time it is getting warmer and we walk back to the guesthouse. We learn that we can freely cross the border and visit the market on the Thai side of the border. We join one of the local cigarette seller and another police man and walk over. As soon as we cross the border we find a nicely paved road. This is how tourists arrive from the Thai side. Those people have no idea what we went trough to get here. However, we see only very few people, most of them Thai walking over to Cambodia to sell stuff in the market.

We walk a few hundred meters and find the market. However, most shops are still closed. We find a place where we get coffee and hang out for some time and talk. Later we order some food and eat. Still later we walk back to Cambodia, pack our stuff and climb up those steps again to reach our motos. We pay the shop owner some thousand Riels and start riding down the mountain. This again is somewhat difficult but more so for Vothear. On the way down we come along another, female tourist traveling on the back of a moto.

By the time we reach the bottom of the mountain my rear tyre is flat again.

We find a local mechanic who is willing to fix my bike. I am not sure whether this is still possible, as the flat tyre involves the valve again. We meet Sokhom again, the guide we met before in Sambor Prey Kuk. He just arrived with another tourist on the back of his moto. I learn that he actually made it all the way up from Kampong Thom to here in just two days, which is a bit frustrating to me. Sokhom’s customer wants to hike up the hill and Sokhom is free to join us. We have plenty of opportunity to talk, as fixing the tyre turns out to be difficult and takes a long time. Sokhom is very knowledgeable, about the temples and provinces as well as topics beyond that. He is 38 years old and speaks excellent English. We have some food, while the tyre is being fixed over and over again.

It is three hours after we arrived here when the tube finally can bear the pressure. I wonder for how long. It is already afternoon and I have no choice but to go only to Anlong Veng today, and continue tomorrow to Siem Reap.

We ride this good dirt road for about one hour before I have to turn right on another good dirt road, which is not in my map. From here Vothea’s and my way are not the same anymore. We fill up the motos and say good bye. Vothear ensures me that I can go all the way to Siem Reap with this tyre, in case I cannot find a spare one in Anlong Veng. Oddly, he tells me he made sure the tyre will make it. I wonder how he did that, as he was not even involved in fixing it the last time. Under good conditions, Along Veng is about 3 hours away.

After I ride for just only about 10 minutes it is not the question anymore whether to change the tube in Anlong Veng or Siem Reap. The rear tyre is flat again and Vothear is gone with the tool set. There is actually not much else I can do other than continue riding slowly on the flat tyre. And this is what I do. There is almost no traffic and I do not see a truck which could give me a ride to my next destination. First I ride very slowly, with the bike vibrating badly due to the flat tyre. I try to ride faster and find that with higher speed the bike stabilizes somewhat and is easier to ride. So I continue with maybe about 40 km per hour.

Frequently I come along places where the grass is burning. I learnt the other day this is done by local people, so that the grass can grow easier in the coming rainy season, providing more food for animals.

I am actually happy that the tyre made it all the way to this place, and that it broke on this excellent road, the best one I have seen in days. However, I move only slowly and time is passing by. Shadows are getting longer. I pass a village and wonder whether I should stop and try to fix the tube. Yet I do not think there is much left to be fixed and don’t want to wait another couple of hours, possible not even making it to Anlong Veng today. So I continue the ride.

It takes me about four hours to reach Anlong Veng. The first thing I do is to find the mechanic. I try to explain my situation and after some time I learn they have a spare tube for $7, which makes me very happy. I learn the guesthouse next door is full and look for another one. What I find is a very simple one but I do not want to spend much time checking out the alternatives.

It is about 4 pm and there are almost two hours left before it is dark. After some minutes rest I go to the mechanic and pick up my bike. Somewhat tense I try to find somebody who could possibly guide me to the Pol Pot places. I check out the market but cannot see a single moto driver. I ride to the guesthouses I saw when I arrived in Anlong Veng. And I find that those rooms are much nicer compared to what I have gotten. There are at least six guesthouses in Anlong Veng (the guide books suggest there are only two) and I ask in four of them for a guide. I fail to find a single English speaking person. I even go to the district office and talk to a number of uniformed people but in vain. I come across a number of French people traveling by moto as well. They are leaving to spend the night about 15 km from here. I wonder whether I should try to find the places on my own but the guide books suggest it is difficult to find the spots without locals.

I come along this lake a number of times. I knew that this place is significant but at this point not much more about it. And one of the few things I understand from the people I ask is that Ta Mok’s house is situated directly at this lake. The mountains in the background mark the boarder to Thailand. This is the last picture I take today.

It is almost dark when I stop at a restaurant. I order food and later talk to the owner, who is 24. He speaks a few words English, at least many more than I speak Khmer. I understand that he is born here and assume he is familiar with the local history. After I finish my diner I ask him whether he would be willing to join me to Pol Pots residence and grave in the mountains. After some discussions and a number of misunderstandings he agrees to meet in the morning at 8 am.

This is the first time I really feel the difficulties of not being able to speak the local language. I never visited a town where no bilingual person seems to be available. I assume it might be due to the Khmer Rouge which most likely did not encourage learning foreign languages.

Later I ride back to the guesthouse and go to bed early.