With a week of holidays on the occasion of Cambodia’s Water Festival comes the prospect of a multiple day trip to the northeast, with fellow traveling enthusiasts Katrin, Becky and Toby. The overall plan is to travel Cambodia’s northeast from Phnom Penh on a loop via Kampong Cham, Kratie, Rattanakiri, Mondulkiri, Kratie, Prey Veng, Neak Luong back to Phnom Penh. Admittedly, details of the route emerge only on the flight. The only given in the plan is the part from Banlung in Rattanakiri to Sen Monorom in Mondulkiri, a stretch of forest, mountains and wilderness which we anticipate to be the most exciting part of the trip.

For today we aim only at reaching either Kratie or Stung Treng.

16.11.2005

We manage to have breakfast reasonably early and fix the bags on the bikes. This is when we are about to leave Phnom Penh. We happen to all ride similar bikes, a model that is fairly useful and common in Cambodia, however not the coolest one around (note that I am not in the photo). That it is the same model helps cutting own on the number of spare parts we carry.

This is only two minutes and 50 meters later. My bike has a flat tyre; luckily right next to one of the countless small businesses in Phnom Penh specialized in solving precisely this problem. We have the first break of our trip. I was the one pushing for planning and for leaving early.

20 minutes later we are leaving Phnom Penh, heading north towards Kampong Cham on National Road 7. Road and traffic conditions are very good. For much of the distance to Kampong Cham we travel a close to the top speed of these bikes, basically without a break.

We reach Kampong Cham town and fill up the bikes in the petrol station at the roundabout at the Japanese Bridge over the Mekong River. From here we ride the few hundred meters to the Mekong Crossing Restaurant. That place is run by Joe, an American expat who is running the restaurant as well as a local school. Joe is also a great source of up-to-date travel information about the area. During yet another breakfast we weight with Joe the merits of the three options to get from here to Kratie. I have detailed the options in another post.

We decide to follow a dirt road from here along the western bank of the Mekong River to Stung Tran (not to be confused with Stung Treng) via Wat Hanchey (Han Chey). In Stung Tran we want to cross the Mekong with a ferry and proceed on another dirt road along the eastern bank of the Mekong to Kratie via Chhlong (Chloung).

We are delighted to find that the dirt road from Kampong Cham to Wat Hanchey (Road 223) has been upgraded after the last rainy season. I have been riding this road only a few months ago when it had many potholes. Now the road is perfectly even, allowing for a relaxed ride and full appreciation of the beautiful, fertile landscape with charming riverside villages along the way. The ride to Hanchey is a matter of only about half an hour. We reach the mountain, ride up to its top, park the bikes and take in the idyllic atmosphere and enjoy the breathtaking views over the Mighty Mekong River.

Last time around I looked in vain for this ancient temple, which is, however, hard to miss. The temple is located right hand a few dozen meters from the road were one reaches the plateau on top of the mountain.

The mountain is located next to the Mekong and close to a major bend in the river with a island right in front of it. These features, among others, make Hanchey the best viewpoint over the Mekong in Cambodia as far as my opinion is concerned. There are a number of religious buildings and monuments all over the plateau along the hill top.

Walking along the verge of the plateau we come across this remarkable billboard. It informs the visitor about the “Cambodian Universal Buddhist Center” project, which, according to the painting, involves the construction of a massive, multistory building with a sitting Buddha measuring dozens of meters on top of it, in the middle of an Olympic-stadium-sized square and flanked by two more multistory buildings. The projected site for this monstrosity appears to be that very mountain. The bottom of the signboard reads: “Chey Giri Mountain, Hanchey/Prekback Commune, Kampong Siem/Steung Trang District, Kampong Cham Province”.

A closer look offers relief: “Fund resources: National and International Generosity”. Being aware of a wide range of bizarre excesses of donor activities in Cambodia I still doubt that such a project will attract the kind of funding its realization would require. Other than the painter’s phone number the signboard contains only references to 4 different ‘Fund Raising Offices’ in Phnom Penh, Preah Vihear (!), Phnom Hanchey and at Prasat Chey Proeuk Pagoda (not sure where that is and there is no phone number). Finally there is also an internet address that appears invalid: www.cic-kh.org.

From left to right: Becky, Katrin and Toby.

We spend some time walking around and then ride down the northern side of the mountain and proceed on the road along the western bank of the Mekong to the north, towards Stung Tran, which is about 10-15km from here. In strong contrast to stretch of road to Hanchey we are now riding a very bumpy and in places fairly muddy dirt road. Traveling from Kampong Cham to Kratie along this route is certainly more appealing than the alternative route National Road 7 via Snuol, due not least to the charming character of villages along the Mekong.

We watch out for a ferry and reach this spot where some boats are waiting at the bottom of what is an extremely steep river bank. Luckily, this is not the ferry place.

Travelers with new friends.

After a few more kilometers we reach Stung Tran where we easily find the ferry place. The people operating the ferry are some laid back fellows hanging out in hammocks in the backside of the boat. At a rather high price of $2 each they take us to the other bank.

Stung Tran’s riverfront.

On the ferry.

We reach the eastern bank of the Mekong River.

We get off the ferry, pass a small settlement and from here follow what is called Provincial Road 308 in the map to the north. This road leads to Kratie through Chhlong, all the way along the Mekong River, which makes it very easy not to get lost. The condition of the road varies widely: some stretches allow higher speed with little interruption whereas other places require slowing down and following narrow paths around obstacles on the road.

After maybe 2 hours of riding we reach this gorgeous village where we attempt to find lunch. We find a restaurant next to the river. Khmer lunch time is already over but some meals are still available, among them yummy fish cake and pork. We enjoy an extended lunch break including conversation with locals and some coffee.

None of us has traveled this part of the road before and we have only a very vague idea of how far it is from here to Chhlong or Kratie and how long it will take to get there. In order to find out, Toby talks to one of the restaurant owner. The resulting conversation in Khmer is very short but hilariously funny and certainly the highlight of our stay in this village:

Toby to restaurant owner: How many kilometers to arrive in Kratie?

Restaurant owner: You will arrive by 5pm.

Toby: How many hours from here to there?

Restaurant owner: What time is it now?

What makes it even more funny is that she turned out to be right: It is 5pm sharp when we reach Kratie’s riverfront.

Tower at the Mekong River. I suppose this was built under the French in order to exercise control over traffic on the River.

Short break for talking to locals and taking in the beauty of the scenery, and for having some water.

This guy is an English teacher at a local school and speaks English very well.

This is a river we cross a few kilometers before we reach Chhlong.

Hill with temple on top of it, on the other bank of the Mekong.

The sign in the background says ‘Chumnik Commune, Kampong Cham Province’. This place is about 15-20km south of Chhlong. The road around here is still unpaved yet in fairly good condition.

This is shortly before we reach Chhlong. The place can be recognized easily as it is the only, and fairly short, stretch of paved road on this route from Kampong Cham to Kratie.

I traveled on this road between Chhlong and Kratie only a few months ago when most of the road was submerged by the flooded Mekong. Knowing what the road looked like back then leads me to anticipate this road in distinctively bad condition. Contrary to this expectation, the dirt road has been fixed and evened out recently and makes for a smooth ride.

We reach Kratie town at 5pm and check in the Heng Heng Hotel right at the riverfront. Next thing is we have a seat at one of the stalls along the river, dusty as we are, and order these yummy fruit shakes that they sell here. Later we have diner and go to bed.

Kratie Riverfront in the evening.

Today is a holiday, more precisely: Pchum Ben Day (Bonn Phchum Ben, P’chum Ben, Bonn Pchom Ben). It is on the occasion of this holiday that Cambodian Buddhists pay respect to the dead through celebrations and offerings that take place at wats.

The plan for today is to join one such celebration in a wat in Svay Rieng Province with my colleagues. We drive all the way to the Vietnamese border, visit the border crossing at Bavet (Moc Bai) and have a look at the casinos that have sprung up on the Cambodian side of the border. After that we join the Pchum Ben ceremony at a wat not far from the border. Visiting casinos and paying respect to the dead on the same trip seems an odd combination yet Cambodians have a great capacity to accommodate contrasts, tensions and contradictions.

22.10.2005

We leave Phnom Penh by car early in the morning, heading east on National Road 1. This road goes all the way to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) in Vietnam and accordingly it sees massive traffic most of the time. Given that this road connects capitals of countries the governments of which cooperate closely it comes as surprise that one third of the Cambodian part of the road is narrow and broken in many places, more precisely, the stretch between Phnom Penh and Neak Luong at the Mekong. In strong contrast, the same road is wide and in excellent conditions on the other side of the Mekong all the way to the border.

On National Road 1, one can cross the Mekong only by ferry, at Neak Luong (Neak Loeang). The only bridge in Cambodia that spans the Mekong is the Japanese Friendship Bridge in Kampong Cham.

A recent and related article in the IHT raises hopes that this will change rather soon:

“A key bridge is planned at Neak Luong, on Route 1, about a third of the way from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City. Only a ferry crosses the Mekong here, and only in daytime, causing backlogs of traffic and severely limiting trade with thriving southern Vietnam.

“The Japan International Cooperation Agency has completed a feasibility study, and everyone expects Japan to build the bridge – but an official decision whether to go ahead or not can still take a few months.”

On the way to Neak Luong.

My very first trip on a big motorbike was to Neak Luong.

Cars waiting at the ferry in Neak Luong. It is holiday and many people are traveling. A number of mostly ethnic Vietnamese people sell snacks, soft drinks and sun glasses.

Interestingly, the name of this ferry is Vishnu. Odd combination again since Buddhism has constitutional status in Cambodia and is the religion of a great majority of the country’s population. As many readers will know, early Cambodian history was strongly influenced by Indian culture and Angkor Wat, the most spectacular monument of Khmer identity and greatness, was originally founded in honor of Visnu. The temple’s ceremonial approach is from the west, probably precisely because of the association of the west with Vishnu.

Once we cross the Mekong there is a wide and perfectly even road. After passing the road there are some mountains on the left hand. This is the Ba Phnom area. Ba Phnom is one of the earliest religious and cultural sites in the Kingdome of Cambodia, dating back to the 5th century and the time of the mysterious Funan.

Shortly before we reach Bavet we stop at a restaurant and have breakfast. Later we continue to the border.

We visit two of the casinos at the border. Both are rather crowded. Surveillance cameras are all over the place but taking pictures is forbidden.

One of the casinos.

Hummer SUV parked in front of the casino. This vehicle is popular among Cambodia’s rich and powerful and their spoiled offspring.

Later we visit the border crossing. Impressive buildings are under construction or were recently completed on both sides. As many readers will know, this border line is highly controversial among Cambodians. For many centuries, the Mekong Delta on the other side of the border has been part of Cambodia’s territory and many ethnic Khmer form now a national minority in this area which now is in Vietnam. Discussion about the legitimacy of this border and its demarcation has a central place in contemporary Cambodian politics. The current border is based on a treaty that PM Hun Sen signed in 1985 when Cambodia was under Vietnamese occupation. Few weeks ago a new border treaty has been signed by both governments to confirm the status of this border, under fierce protest of the Cambodian opposition that led to a number of high profile arrests and international attention.

The architecture of buildings on both sides of the border is strongly informed by respective national traditions and contrast strongly with each other. Moreover, they seem too large to only house checkpoint facilities. Rather, these buildings appear to be deliberate monuments of national identity and statements of national ownership.

Cambodian side of the border.

And the Vietnamese side.

A modern supermarket has been built but has no opened yet.

Border marker from 1986.

From left to right: Maly, Phal, Dara, a friend of my colleagues whose name I forgot and Samnang.

From here we drive to the wat to join the Pchum Ben celebration, which takes place on the 15th day of the waxing moon during the tenth month of the Khmer calendar. It lasts 15 days, each of which is called a day of Kan Ben. A Ben is an offering.

The final day of Pchum Ben is the most important for all followers. On this day, the rich as well as the poor prepare food and other offerings for a visit to the pagoda. In wats across the county, collections of offerings are dedicated to the souls of ancestors. If this duty is ignored, believes hold that the soul is cursed and will haunt the neglectful descendents for the rest of the year. Money raised among Buddhist followers and offered to monks on this occasion goes towards new robes for the monks, the construction or renovation of temples and community developments such as the construction of bridges and schools.

This is outside the temple. Musicians play drums and two dressed-up men dance, to the amusements of a bunch of children.

People get ready for the ceremonial walks around the temple. Women in particular are dressed in beautiful traditional cloths.

Monks enter the temple.

People enter the temple.

A new bed is among the offerings.

Inside the temple. The monks are sitting in one half of the room, facing other people sitting in the opposite half of it. Both are separated by the offerings that include a wall of paper cartons containing new robes.

After some time we leave and drive back to Phnom Penh.

Long wooden boat outside the temple on the grounds of the pagoda.

This weekend allows for only a one-day trip and I am planning to ride with Maraile to visit Angkor Borei and Phnom Da (Phnum Dai) in Takeo (Takaev) Province. The place is said to be most beautiful and unique during the rainy season, when most of the area is submerged in water. On my previous visits (by motorbike via Phnom Chisor; by boat from Takeo town) the place was entirely dry. In strong contrast, it is definitely rainy season now and there have been extensive rain in the past weeks and even flooding in some other areas. I add some pictures from a more recent trip to Angkor Borei and Phnom Da via Phnom Chisor (Phnom Chissor, Phnom Chi Sou) below this report in the same post (by bike to Phnom Chisor in 2003, and in July 2005)

We take the motorbike to reach Takeo town and head to the riverside to find a boat. We don’t have to look for long to find one and to agree with the driver on the price (US$ 25 for the round trip). Two Khmer passengers join the ride on the fast boat to Angkor Borei.

25.09.2005

Last time we made the same boat ride on one of the ancient water highways. Back then the supposed highway was nothing more than a chain of narrow and shallow waters through an area of dry fields, in most places too shallow for bigger boats to maneuver. This time around the whole place is flooded and besides a few trees spread over the wide landscape the place appears to be just an enormous lake. We enjoy a fast and reasonably comfortable right to Angkor Borei, which lasts for about 35 minutes.

The railings of a bridge, presumably over a river that now merged with the limitless lake that surrounds it.

This is when we reach Angkor Borei.

Last time we took a moto to make the few kilometers from Angkor Borei to Phnom Da. This time we go all the way by boat.

The hill in the background is Phnom Da, with the ancient temple on top of it.

We meet a number of locals from a close by village.

Some of the views from the top of the mountain.

It looks as if we got lucky to make it here without getting wet. It is obvious that strong rain will start soon.

We find cover from the rain in the temple, together with the villagers.

The rain stops as suddenly as it started. What strikes me about rain in Cambodia is that it often is a very local phenomenon; it rains heavily in one place and not at all in a place right next to it. You can see the rain coming and going and both happens fast most of the time and is often accompanied by strong wind.

After some time we climb down the stairs and walk back to the boat. The driver is visibly about going to Takeo right now. The reason for this is not obvious to me and becomes only clear once we move with the boat away from the hill and surrounding trees towards the open sea that is the lake.

The ride from Takeo to this place in the small boat has not been particularly smooth or comfortable. However, now there are waves of considerable size, and they become bigger while we move away from the shore. The small boat moves dramatically up and down and despite the strong engine we go only slow, decelerating while riding up a wave and then crashing down into the wave valley behind it. One time the boat comes down particularly hard and the board on which we are sitting breaks.

Visibly growing with the waves are also the concerns of the boat driver who even offers that we return to Angkor Borei and spend the night in his house. Spontaneously we do not like the idea and convince, rather: persuade, the driver to keep going. However, the experience of being out there alone in a small boat with the big waves on a lake that seems boundless is really intimidating at some points. Later we wonder if maybe the boat driver is not a good swimmer, which is not unusual in Cambodia. One way or the other, capsizing the boat in the middle of the lake, with trees only every other kilometer, is not a pleasing prospect for anyone.

I have no idea how this man manages to stand upright in the boat.

I know these waves don’t look big in these pictures at all, but they are big enough I tell you.

Slowly but steadily we get closer to the Takeo riverside and finally reaching it, speeding up on the final stretch as the waves get smaller while we approach the land. I am somewhat relieved to have solid ground under my feet. Also the driver, who is entirely wet and freezing, is visibly grateful to have made it and glad to accept a generous tip. We walk to the only restaurant we find at the riverfront. It is built on stilts in the water right at the riverside. We have a late lunch, sitting outside on a veranda, in a good position to observe what is happening on the lake and on the street.

Men unloading live pigs from fast boat.

Later we ride back to Phnom Penh.

Rather than writing a separate post, I add below some pictures from a more recent visit to Phnom Da and Angkor Borei, by Motorbike via Phnom Chisor.

Views from Phnom Chisor.

One can recognize Phnom Da from here.

Monk with dog and MP3 player.

The plan for this weekend is to ride with Maraile on the bike to Kampong Chnang (Kampong Chhnang), spent one night and one day there with laid back activities such as taking in some of the local sights.

We leave Phnom Penh only in the afternoon and head north on National Road 5, towards Kampong Chnang and Battambang, the former being only 91 kilometers from Phnom Penh. Guide books complain about the poor quality of this road a few years ago but nowadays the road is excellent, pretty much all the way to the Thai border. The sun is setting down after we pass Udong Mountain.

10.09.2005

Arriving in Kampong Chnang only in the evening, we follow the advice of outdated guide books and ride straight to the Hotel Rithisen on the River Parkway and check in. The place is not particularly charming and the rooms are not particularly clean. Later we find that there is a new hotel, at about half way between the market and the riverfront (right hand when coming from the market), which charges the same rates but is much nicer and cleaner. I have been to Kampong Chnang before, in 2003 on the way to Battambang, but never spent a night here. I am not the only one since many people pass through this town on the way to western Cambodia and Thailand but few people stop in Kampong Chnang. Also the guide books have little to say about the place. The Lonely Planet’s ‘Things to See and Do’ starts with stating that “Kampong Chnang has nothing essential to check out, but the riverfront area is interesting to explore”.

After a short break we take the bike and cruise around. Later we find a restaurant and have diner. The rest of the evening we spend on the hotel’s terrace on the third floor.

A high variety of insects is flying in enormous numbers around the light and covers much of the walls and ceilings. At one point before we go to bed we ask one of the staff if we could get some insecticide to spray the rooms. He is so attentive that we find him a few minutes later spraying major parts of the entire terrace. Thousands of dead insects accumulate on the floor within a few minutes, and is later elegantly disposed of with broom and dustpan.

These pictures are taken in the morning from the hotel terrace.

Initially we were planning to take a boat or ferry, cross the river and visit the island, with its several ancient temples from the Chenla period including Prasat Srei and a town called Kampong Leaeng. However, we talk to people at the riverside and learn that the regular ferry will leave only late in the afternoon, too late for us. Individual boats can be chartered at about $30 for the roundtrip.

We have not enough time for the ferry and are not in the moot to invest in the boat. So we decide to get a rowing boat and explore the floating villages around Kampong Chnang town, which should be particularly interesting at this point of time given the high water levels.

This is where we find the boat, only few hundred meters away from the hotel and impossible to miss as the road ends right at the water. The place is crowded with people and we have no difficulties finding a friendly female driver who takes us around in a rowing boat.

Many members of Cambodia’s ethnic minorities live in this place, such as Muslim Cham, ethnic Vietnamese and Christians.

Children using big bowls to get around.

Maraile and I try to row the boat ourselves for some time but we fail very badly and people around us are having a good time. I now have much more appreciation for the elegance and grace with which Cambodian’s at all ages skillfully maneuver these wooden boats through rivers, lakes and rice paddies, seemingly effortless.

Back at the riverfront.

We take the bike and ride downtown, in order to visit the market and the highly recommended, inexpensive Mekong Restaurant at the national road. In one annoying episode, we leave our helmets on the bike while briefly exploring the market. The helmets are stolen when we return to the bike after just a few minutes. Later we buy new helmets at one of the shops near the market. Luckily, helmets are rather inexpensive in Cambodia, most of the more advanced models at offer cost less than $ 20.

After we finish lunch at the Mekong Restaurant we head west on a dirt road towards some close by hills with a pagoda on its top, called Wat Sahn-dtoot (Srae Thmei). We find easily a number of quite and peaceful places, some of them with magnificent views of Kampong Chnang town and its mostly flooded surroundings.

We hang out for some time, relax and appreciate the tranquil charm of the place. Later we get on the bike, ride down to Kampong Chnang town, have a coffee in the market and head towards Phnom Penh.

We visit one of the hill top pagodas (Wat Phnom Robath and Phnom Chahm-bpoo) only about 10 kilometers outside Kampong Chnang. The place offers beautiful views over the Mekong River before the backdrop of flooded plains and green fields.

One can recognize Udong Mountain from here.

Some monks are here, too, quietly enjoying the beauty of the scenery.

From here we ride down the mountain and follow National Road 5 towards Udong and Phnom Penh. From Udong, we take the alternative Road 51 down to Phnom Penh. it is very wide, in very good condition and has not much traffic. However, it does not go to Phnom Penh directly so you don’t really save time compared to National Road 5.

We have been planning on a short visit to Phnom Baset on the way but when pass Udong it becomes obvious that substantial rain is ahead of us. We keep going rather fast and are glad for every kilometer we make without getting wet.

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Finally we reach National Road 4 west of Phnom Penh, still dry. We have a short break and enjoy a fruit shake at the roadside.

If you are coming down Road 51, it is on the small road ahead that you reach National Road 4.

We head to Phnom Penh and it starts raining very strongly when we are about to pass the airport. We stop and put on rain gear but wait for the rain to become weaker. This does not happen so we ride the last few kilometers in the rain.

The plan for today is to ride from Kratie back to Phnom Penh. We decided to go follow the National Road 7 through Snuol, Memot (Memout), Suong and Chob to Kampong Cham. From Kampong Cham to Phnom Penh we want to give the dirt road along the Western bank of the Mekong a try.

The Adventure Cambodia guide book has a ‘Phnom Penh to Kratie’ motorcycle info section:

“If you are going to Kratie from Phnom Penh, the road to Kampong Cham is excellent, the road from Kampong Cham to the Snuol junction isn’t that great, but it’s definitely doable. The last section taking you to Kratie from Snuol has some huge bomb craters that fill up and look like lakes during the rainy season, but it’s also doable; you’re just going to get wet.”

Well, it is definitely rainy season right now but times have changed, and not only recently.

The National Road 7 between Snuol and Kratie has just been upgraded a few weeks ago and accordingly, is in superb condition, very wide and without any pothole, presumably one of the nation’s best roads at this point in time. I have been traveling on it road to conduct interviews among indigenous people a number of times in September 2003 (I, II, III) and on the way to Mondulkiri in December.

We ride fairly fast to Snuol, where we have a quick lunch and fill up the tanks.

This is the market in Snuol town.

We proceed after only a short break, heading west towards Kamong Cham.

This is in Memot, if I am not mistaken. Memot has this distinct monument in the middle of the roundabout.

This is the roundabout with the monument. In the background is another landmark which also is hard to miss: a tall gate through which you drive when you enter Memot from the east.

Clearly, many people take advantage of the good road, and in quite different ways.

This is when we cross the Mekong in Kampong Cham on the Japanese Friendship Bridge. Also here it is visible that water levels are extraordinarily high.

We stop at the Mekong Crossing restaurant to say hello to Joe and have a snack.

Then we head to Phnom Penh, on the dirt road along the Western bank of the Mekong River.

Here, too, it is obvious that water is standing very high.

We come also through at least one villages inhabited by Muslim Cham.

In the map, this place is called Peam Chi Kang, only about 15 km west of Kampong Cham. It has a ferry crossing the Mekong. It looks as it will start raining soon and we discuss whether to proceed on the dirt road or get back to the National Road. Some people join us while we check the map and kindly offer their advice. In the end we choose to give the dirt road a try.

While we follow the many turns of dirt road through the villages along the river bank there is occasionally strong wind and a bit of rain but not much. However, it is getting darker, indicating that there is more rain to come.

We keep riding until it is obvious that massive rain will come down any minute. We stop where we find some huts at the roadside. It starts raining while we put on rain gear. Hoping that it will not rain for long we decide to have a break and get into conversations with the friendly locals around here.

The rain continues and becomes weaker only slowly. We decide to leave at some point when it is already getting darker. We are not sure for how long we will follow this road until we reach the National Road about 50 km before Phnom Penh. This dirt road turns out to be difficult to ride once it is wet. Its many deep potholes are filled with dirty water and the fine sand on its surface has turned into slippery mud. This forces us to ride rather slowly and that it is getting darker quickly does not make the situation better. It is only after more than an hour that we reach the paved National Road, and by this time it is entirely dark and starts raining again.

For this weekend Maraile and I have been planning to visit Kratie province, for a number of reasons among them the fact that much of the province is flooded right now. The plan for today is to leave in the afternoon and spent the night either in Kampong Cham, Kratie or Chhlong (Chloung) depending on how far we get. Saturday we want to spend in Kratie province and return at some point on Sunday to Phnom Penh.

We leave after lunch and travel the unavoidable National Road 6 northeast towards Kampong Cham. The good thing about this road is that it is in good condition; the bad part is that there is lots of traffic and cars are speeding precisely because the road is so good.

We don’t have a break until we reach Kampong Cham and ride straight to the River Crossing restaurant run by Joe. Joe is a rich source of local information. There are at least three ways of going from Kampong Cham to Kratie.

1. The first is to follow a dirt road all the way along the eastern bank of the Mekong River. This option is unlikely to work out because the road along the river is likely to be flooded in many parts.
2. The second option is to proceed on the national road to east for another 30 km or so and continue from there on a dirt road to Kratie, via Chhlong. This option involves a stretch of the same road along the Mekong River between Chhlong and Kratie but otherwise is unlikely to be flooded.
3. The third option is to follow National Road through Snuol all the way to Kratie. This is the safest option but means a long detour. Joe encourages is to try option two.

We follow the national road and actually have some difficulties finding the place where we leave it and continue on the dirt road towards Chhlong. Finally we find it and proceed on the secondary road. This dirt road is in good condition and allows for reasonable speed most times of the year. It is commonly used by mini buses and taxis between Kratie and Kampong Cham. It makes for a pleasant ride also due to the beauty of the landscape along the road, passing through scenic wetlands, rice fields and charming villages, some of them inhabited by Muslim Cham.

I have been traveling on this road various times before, mostly by minibus or by taxi. On one of these occasions I took also some pictures.

At this point we still hope to make it all the way to Kratie today, although the sun is already setting down.

We keep riding but don’t reach even Chhlong before dark. The road is getting worse while it keeps getting darker, finally we find ourselves riding very slowly around deep holes filed with water all over the street, with very little vision. At least it does not rain.

We decide to have a short break. Now it is dark anyway.

We reach the Mekong River and continue on the road along the river and pass through Chhlong few minutes later. However, only a few kilometers after we pass the center of the town, the road is getting narrower, with water closing in on both sides of it. Houses along the road are standing completely in the water and all the domestic animals are standing on the road.

When I was traveling this road by minibus in October 2003 we got stuck not far from here and it took hours until we could continue the trip.

Given this situation it does not seem likely that we make it to Kratie tonight. Indeed only a few minutes later we reach a point where the road in front of us leads seemingly straight into the water and is submerged as far as the eye can see, which is not far at this time of the day. However, people (in a boat) tell us that a number of long stretches of road are submerged. There is no way we can continue tonight and tomorrow only by using boats.

This is the road close to where it is submerged in water.

We ride back to Chhlong town, find a very simple guesthouse and book rooms, which are neither particularly clean nor very comfortable but serve the purpose. It is completely dark outside when we leave again to find a restaurant. Nothing indicates that anything would still be open. Dozens of dogs start barking in the dark while we walk down the street. Since nothing suggest that we will succeed in finding food we return to the guesthouse, chill out for some time on the charming balcony of the guesthouse and go to bed.

Hanging out on charming balcony

Many of my colleagues are in Kampong Thom (Kompong Thom) this weekend and I decide to go there and meet up. I have been to Kampong Thom many times but until recently was not aware that there are countless temples to visit along the way, in particular between Kampong Thom town and Skuon (Skon). The plan for this weekend is to meet my colleagues in Kampong Thom and also Vothear and Sokhom, two friends and guides of mine whom I have been exploring the surrounding provinces with on a number of occasions. I am sure these people are the best guides you can find in Kampong Thom with detailed knowledge of the surrounding provinces.

Kampong Thom does not see many visitors, despite the fact that the site of the ancient capital of the Pre-Angkor kingdom of Chenla is right next to the provincial capital. The ruins of Sambor Prei Kok (Sambor Prei Kuk) cover a vast area of mostly forested land in close proximity to Kampong Thom town which is an excellent starting point for journeys into neighboring provinces also. The complex contains countless structures that are nearly 1400 years old and easily accessible even by coach. If this place was in Vietnam or Thailand it would be a sensation attracting thousands of tourists daily. Tourists who make it to Cambodia pass through Kampong Thom on their way from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh or just bypass it by aircraft. While exploring the site you will meet few tourists, if any. I have been to Sambor Prei Kuk before and my interest this time is more in these lesser known temples along the way to Phnom Penh.

13.08.2005

Vothear offers to show the way to some of the temples and my colleague Lydia comes along. We visit a number of temples along National Road 6, almost all of them relatively close to the road yet with only one exception not that easy to find. There are no signs and even once you leave the main road in the right place the way to the temples are not obvious. Most likely you will require a local guide or some Khmer language skills to find these places.

We visit the following places in this order, in Vothear’s spelling:

Prasat Rokha or Prateath
Prasat Tnotchum and Prasat Komboth
Prasat or Wat Prasat
Kukhaknokor or Prasat Kuha Nokor
Prasat Broteath

In all instances I provide a picture of the place where you want to leave the National Road in order to visit the site.

Lydia and Vothear in front of the gate through which you reach the following temple.

This temple is obviously leaning very much to one side, not unlike the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It is remarkable that this structure has not collapsed yet. Even more so given what has caused these heavy stones to shift: Only a few meters away from the temple is the crater of a massive bomb, that locals tell us has been dropped here as part of an American bombing campaign.

The crater is basically what is in the bottoms halve of this picture and is covered with grass. There are school buildings right next to it and students leave in all directions after end of class.

Inside the temple.

Outside

Only few hundred meters away there is the site of a smaller temple but all that remains are a few stones, the biggest one depicting two elephants.

This is where you want to leave the main road to visit the following site.

We spend some time talking with this old man who lives next to the temple.

The next couple of places you can find by following the way through this gate, which is on your left when you are coming from Phnom Penh.

The road is somewhat muddy in some places.

Yet another temple.

The big, round stone upfront used to be the top of this temple but one day a drunken villager climbed the temple and broke it off, or so the locals tell us.

There used to be a statue on the backside of this temple and attached to it, something I did not see before. The shape of a standing person can still be recognized.

Kukhaknokor, or Prasat Kuha Nokor, is the one temple among those mentioned here that is listed in various guide books and easier to find due to a big sign at the main road. According to the Lonely Planet this 11th century temple was constructed during the reign of Suryavarman I and its good condition is due to lengthy renovation before the war. The book also says this place is 22km north of Skuon.

The ancient temple is on the ground of an active pagoda and there are some elderly man to look after it and nurture plants and flowers in the beautiful garden. There is even a guestbook. We are happy to leave a note. There are fewer entries than days in the guestbook.

This is the way to get to the above temple.

This is the last set of places we visit, pretty accessible by road.

This temple has collapsed.

We talk to an old man who lives nearby. He tells us that there are dozens of temple ruins across a wide area around here. Most of them have collapsed due to air bombings. Few of them are accessible at this time of the year. He also tells us about the hardships of his live during those times.

This is his adopted son watering the vegetables.

The following temple is close by and the last one we visit today. It appears to have collapsed partly but people have put it together again and given it a modern-style, concrete roof.

This is the access road.

Interestingly, we meet two French people who came here by bicycle all the way from France, using the airplane only to bypass Iraq and Pakistan. It has taken them about 1 year to make it here.

We spent some time talking. The sun is about to set by the time we say good bye to Vothear and head to Phnom Penh.

This weekend I find time for only a day trip. I want to use this opportunity to explore some of those parts of the more immediate souroundings of Phnom Penh that I am less familiar with than with, say, the National Roads.

The plan is to cross the Mekong right at Phnom Penh and follow its eastern bank north towards Kampong Cham, on what is marked as “other provincial road, unpaved” in the Gekko road map. Depending on road conditions or, rather: the existence of roads, the plan is to go all the way to Kampong Cham. If that is not possible I want to go as far as it gets, cross the Mekong with a ferry if there is one and decide on the flight how to proceed.

Many tourists crossing the Japanese bridge in Phnom Penh believe that they are actually crossing the Mekong River. What they are crossing is the Tonle Sap. There is as of now only one bridge in Cambodia that spans the Mekong, which is the Japanese bridge in Kampong Cham. Interestingly, a new Mekong bridge at Neak Luong (Neak Loeang) is planned and the Japan International Cooperation Agency has completed a feasibility study on the project. Japan is now expected to start soon building this bridge. There was an interesting article in the IHT recently on this and other infracture projects in Cambodia. I copy the text below this blog article.

If you want to cross the Mekong at Phnom Penh you need a boat. A ferry leaves about every half an hour during daytime, from a place between the port for persons and the port for goods, only a few hundred meters south of the Japanese bridge.

This is the place where the ferry leaves. Children are playing in the water and taxi drivers clean their bikes.

The building to the left with the Khmer roof is the Cambodiana hotel, one of the biggest and poshes venues in Phnom Penh. The building in front of it is the Himawara. To its right is the raw construction of a massive building, by far the tallest along Phnom Penh’s river side, a dubious investment project. A building to its right houses the Naga Casino that previously had it’s home on a ship in front of the Cambodiana.

This is opposite the Royal Palace on the Bank of the Tonle Sap. Here as well, large scale construction works under way. However, I did not notice much progress towards the completion of these projects when I returned to Cambodia after more than one year.

In the background various buildings that form part of the Royal Palace compound.

These are some settlements on the banks of the Mekong, pretty much at the place where Tonle Sap and Mekong Rivers meet.

This time of the year has very high water levels, and flooding is a problem in a number of provinces right now but upstream from here. Also around Phnom Penh, it is obvious that the water is very high and much of the land is flooded.

Those fellows have just capsized their boat. They are obviously good swimmers but in the strong current it requires a lot of effort to regain the boat.

The flooding threatens the farmers but benefits the fishermen. Many people are engaged in fishing in this river and along its banks.

Most of the time I am riding on a decent dirt road that follows the course of the river. There are charming villages all along the road.

I keep riding but after about 2 hours reach a point where I face the river, with no road to continue on. Some people who live here tell me that there is no way I can follow the river here but that there is a ferry about 5 km south from here. This is from where I am coming.

Two of the major villages I passed through according to the map are Preah Ta Meak and Preah Prasab, and Kaoh Chouraam is the village next to here. This is pretty much opposite from Preaek Dambang on the other side of the Mekong, which is located at National Road 6.

I don’t have to wait long for the ferry.

It is still early afternoon by the time I reach the other bank. Rather than returning to Phnom Penh, I decide to head north, leave National Road 6 on road 61, cross the Tonle Sap with another ferry and briefly visit Udong.

What looks like a big lake are mostly fields flooded by the Mekong River.

It looks as though some rain will be coming down soon and given my direction there does not seem to be a way to avoid it.

In fact it does start raining while I am riding on the road towards the ferry and hurry up to first make it there and then put on rain gear, hoping it will not be too late. I get lucky, cloths still only partly wet and I manage to get on the ferry right before it departs.

It does start raining stronger while I am riding to Udong Mountain, just a few kilometers northwest from here. It is still raining by the time I reach the bottom of the hill. Therefore, I decide to have some food at one of the countless stalls next to the mountain.

It is still raining by the time I finish my meal and I decide to climb up the stairs anyway. It will be dark soon so there is not point in waiting. It stops raining by the time I reach the top of the mountain but not much daylight is left.

…………………………………………………….

Free Flow: Cambodia’s quest to just get the basics
By Vaudine England
International Herald Tribune

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2006

PHNOM PENH As much of the developed world gripes about the occasional pothole or late train, a look at Cambodia offers a sobering perspective. Cambodia’s roads and railways have seen more than the usual wear and tear: U.S. bombing during the Vietnam War, enduring civil conflict and poverty as well as massive refugee flows across a ravaged landscape of land mines.

A national program of rebuilding and new construction of road and rail is now under way. The hitch, says Chanthol Sun, minister for public works and transport in Cambodia, is that he has no budget.

“The main issue for us now is to have enough funding to build the roads and bridges in Cambodia,” Sun said in an interview. “We do have some through grants and soft loans, but we need a lot more in order to rebuild the efficient transport network.”

Fluently rattling off the harsh facts of his country’s parlous condition, Sun exudes confidence that it can all come about – one day.

“Infrastructure is like the blood vessel: it connects from your heart through all your arteries to other parts of the country,” he said.

More than 30 years after the fall of the murderous Khmer Rouge regime, and 13 years since a UN intervention pronounced a successful election in Cambodia, the country lags behind all its counterparts in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations except for Myanmar and Laos. While richer neighbors are building high-technology urban railways, Sun is hoping for a few bridges and wider roads.

In a sign of what might be called progress, road accidents have now displaced land mines as the No. 2 cause of death, after AIDS.

A key bridge is planned at Neak Luong, on Route 1, about a third of the way from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City. Only a ferry crosses the Mekong here, and only in daytime, causing backlogs of traffic and severely limiting trade with thriving southern Vietnam.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency has completed a feasibility study, and everyone expects Japan to build the bridge – but an official decision whether to go ahead or not can still take a few months.

Also, Sun said, the roads need to be upgraded, as some were built in the 1960s, and some are only six or seven meters, or 20 to 23 feet, wide. “Now we enlarge to 11 meters wide, and we upgrade to gravel or asphalt,” he said.

Heading north toward Laos and then to China is Route 7 through Stoeng Treng Province, across the Sekong River where it joins the Mekong.

Unsurprisingly, the Chinese have revamped that road and are building the crucial bridge, “probably one of the longest bridges in Cambodia also, around 1,057 meters,” Sun said.

He is a firm supporter of Chinese road-building for its quality and speed and says Route 7 could be finished a year ahead of schedule. When it is done, he wants the Chinese to build eastward to link with roads to Vietnam.

Meanwhile, a soft loan with generous financing conditions from South Korea is helping to fix Route 3, from Kampot to Sihanoukville in the south, while another soft loan from Thailand is fixing up Route 48, through Koh Kong Province in the south and on to Route 4 to Sihanoukville.

The railway’s missing link, a 50-kilometer, or 30-mile, stretch from Sisophon to Poipet near the Thai border town of Aranyaprathet, is a key task for Sun this year. Track for this part will be donated by Malaysia.

“That track is likely to be shipped to us in the second quarter,” he said, “so we have the track, but we don’t have the money to install, to buy the sleeper, to buy signal links and so on to get this connected. But we are determined, determined, to get the funding to start the reconstruction of that missing link this year.”

E-mail: freeflow@iht.com

The rain has gotten somewhat weaker by the time we finish breakfast. We decide to head to the bike shop to pick up Uwe’s moto, and to proceed to Phnom Penh via Kep on Roads 33, 31 and 3.

As soon as we leave the guesthouse we realize that most of the road is submerged in massive amounts of water. We pass the market and ride along its full length through deep water. It does not get much better on the main road and even most of the road around the main traffic circle is flooded.

Fortunately, the rain has almost stopped by the time we reach the moto shop. The guys have done their job early in the morning and Uwe’s bike is ready. We pay a modest amount and leave, first towards Kep and then north towards Phnom Penh. The skies continue to be clouded but as time goes by the weather keeps getting brighter.

Uwe in full rain gear.

Myself in full rain gear, in front of the moto repair shop.

Along roads 33 and 31. Those roads are very new, very wide, in excellent condition and there really is not much traffic compared to the alternative National Road 3.

We follow this road until it merges with National Road where we fill up the bikes. After a short break we follow National Road 3 for another 10 or 15 km, until we reach a bigger settlement from which Takeo can be reached via 10 km of somewhat bumpy secondary road. We follow this road to the east until we almost arrive in Takeo town. We take a turn left and continue on National Road 2 for another 30 or 35 km north. This is when we reach a place with a dirt road on our right hand (we are coming from the south) and a small market on our left hand. The dirt road leads to Phnom Chissor, which is located about 5 km from here. I have made pictures of the place on an earlier trip.

Impressive, 11th century temple ruins can be visited here, much of it on top of a mountain that offers magnificent views into almost all directions.

We park the bikes at the bottom of the mountains, have a seat at one of the footstalls and enjoy a soft drink. Soon enough a bunch of local children emerges and many of them attempt to engage us in all kinds of conversations.

After some time a lady arrives with a big bowl full of boiled corn which she offers at a very cheap price. We decide to buy one for each of us and one for each of the children, too, so as to feel better about eating in their presence. Then we order chicken with rice to be prepared while we visit the temple on top of the mountain.

The whole crowed of children follows us when we start climbing the stairs, maybe partly because we supplied the corn and may continue to supply other things. It turns out to be an exhausting exercise to climb these stairs in the heat of the day, however more so for us than for the children.

We reach a small gate at about half the way to the top up the hill. We stop for a short break to enjoy the shadow. The children use the time to enthusiastically sing songs.

There is a modern style temple slightly off the main way to the right once you reached the top. There is a good view from over the surrounding landscape.

From here we walk over the few hundred meters to the area where the ruins of an ancient temple are located. On the way we pass the booth where a man collects the substantial entrance fee for foreigners. It would not be Cambodia if he would not offer entry at half the price without a ticket, an offer that we refuse.

The children are still with us and bring this snake to our attention.

They are also kind enough to take some pictures of us.

In fact they take a lot of interest in the cameras and consequently, quite a number of pictures.

This temple is part of a bigger complex, and aligned with the remains of other ancient structures at the bottom of the mountain.

Above the gate.

Inscription at the gate.

Inside the gallery.

We have numerous company throughout our stay.

We are already on our way back when the kids spot some monkeys.

The children give us company all the way back down to the bottom of the mountain. It becomes increasingly clear that they expect some sort of compensation for their efforts. Luckily, we meet two monks at the bottom of the mountain and consult with them on what amount is a reasonable contribution and on how to ensure fair distribution among the children. The monks are extremely helpful, even changing our money into smaller notes and distributing them to the youngsters.

We enjoy the food that was prepared for us at the bottom of the mountain.

Then we get on the bikes and ride straight back to Phnom Penh where we reach when it is almost dark.

My buddy Uwe has just arrived in Phnom Penh for a joint 4 weeks Southeast Asia trip. Our somewhat ambitious plan is to start with a three day motorbike trip to Kep and Kampot in Cambodia, while our visas for Laos, Burma, Vietnam and are being processed in Phnom Penh, and later to visit all these countries in that order.

I have been to Kampot and Kep (Kaeb) a number of times (Kampot and Kep – Ein Tag am Meer, Phnom Penh to Kampot, New Year at Bokor, Caves in Kampot, Sunset in Kep, Swimming at Toek Chhou, By Motorbike from Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh via Kampot), but always went on National Road 3. According to the map, National Road 31, which departs from Road 3 about half way from Phnom Penh to Kampot and leads more directly to Kep, is under construction. Contrary to the map, a number of people told us that the road has long been finished and now makes for a comfortable ride.

We leave in the early afternoon with two motorbikes. There are few clouds by the time we leave and it is fairly hot. We follow National Road 3 to the south. More clouds appear and after some time there is a bit of rain here and there but luckily, it does not start raining strongly.

This is when we stop for the first time to buy some petrol.

We keep following National Road 3 until we reach the fork where National Road 31 departs to the right. We stop and have a snack.

We find out very soon that Road 31 is in very good condition, in fact in much better condition than Road 3, since it is wider, very even and has no potholes. Besides, there is much less traffic. And finally, the landscape along the road is more appealing, with a number of mountains, some covered with forest and some rock formations with bizarre shapes.

We pass the railroad a number of times and come across a number of villages and one or two towns.

Uwe

After some time, we assume that we are already close to Kep, we arrive at another junction. After we talk to some locals we learn that we have to turn left sharply. According to the map, we leave road 33 here and proceed for the last few kilometers to Kep on Road 33A.

We have checked the guide books and decided to spend the night in the “Le Bout du Monde” guesthouse. However, when we arrive there we learn that it is temporarily closed, because the French owner went to Phnom Penh. Therefore, we go to a small hotel next to the beach where I have spent the night on a previous trip to Kampot. We get a clean double room with balcony and sea view at modest $7 for one night.

After a short break we take the bikes and cruise the road along the beach to the east.

We visit the Royal Residence on the way back. The building looks largely abandoned, no idea when any King was here for the last time. We find a family whose members are having diner and appear to live here. Maybe the husband serves as guard. At any rate, we donate a dollar and are allowed to walk around and enjoy the nice view from a number of terraces overseeing the sea.

It is now almost dark and after some time we ride back to the hotel. We have diner, including some drinks, in the restaurant that is attached to the hotel, while listening to Khmer pop music. The food is very good and the service friendly.

It is time for a nice and easy day trip and Becky joins me to visit Phnum Baset (Phnom Baset) which is located just about 30 km north of Phnom Penh. We also want to visit Longvaek, which is located 20 km further north and used to be the capital of Cambodia before the court moved to Udong. The plan is then to cross the Tonle Sap with the Ferry close to Udong and ride back to Phnom Penh either on National Road 6 or – if we have still time and it does not rain – to cross the Mekong with the Ferry at Praek Anhchan and ride back on the secondary road along the eastern bank of the Mekong.

We leave Phnom Penh at around 10 am and head north on National Road 5. Phnum Baset is not mentioned in any of the guide books I use. Therefore, we rely on the map, according to which we have to leave the national road after about 15 km and follow a secondary road to the west. We keep riding and watch out for this road. We pass a number of roads and finally stop and ask people at the roadside for the way. After some talk, two young women offer to join us (in pyjamas on a Honda Chaly) and show us the way. We follow them for some kilometers until they turn left into a narrow road. They stop after we have passed a (really muddy) market and indicate that we have to follow this dirt road for a few kilometers to reach Phnum Baset.

This is what we do. A number of cars are traveling on the road, apparently mostly Cambodian visitors from Phnom Penh. After some time we reach a junction in between a number of hills and follow the road to the right, ride up the hill where we park the bikes. We walk up to the modern pagoda on the hill top. This pagoda is surrounded by a number of religious buildings and monuments and there is a nice view in almost all directions.

This is the pagoda.

Over there is Phnom Udong.

We pass a huge lying Buddha.

Over there is Phnom Penh. It is not far and I can recognize a number of buildings.

There is a rather small ancient temple in the vicinity.

The temple is made of bricks, suggesting that it was build prior to the Angkor period.

A tree is growing out of the building, right above the gate.

One of the walls of the temple is destroyed entirely. It looks like a huge rock broke off the hill further up and smashed into the temple.

After some time we walk back to the motos and ride down the hill. From here we follow the dirtroad further west, towards Road 51, which goes north parallel to National Road 5 and joins it in Udong. The dirt road is in very good condition and makes for a nice ride.

We reach Road 51 at its intersection with the railway track.

The road is very wide and in very good condition. Actually it is in better condition than the national road. And there is not much traffic.

Over there is Udong Mountain.

The sky is clouded and increasingly it looks like it will start raining soon. We keep riding until we reach the national road and head further north towards Longveak. After a few kilometers it starts raining and we decide to ride back to Udong and have lunch, hoping that it does not rain anymore by the time we finish.

So we have lunch in a Khmer restaurant, after which we head towards Longveak again. We turn right and follow a narrow road which according to the map leads to Longveak.

Longveak is not mentioned in any of the guide books I use and people told me that there is nothing left to see after everything was destroyed during I am not sure which of the countless wars. About Longveak, Mabbett and Chandler write in their book “The Khmers”:

“By the mid-sixteenth century, however, the royal and ceremonial capital of Cambodia had shifted some fifty miles north of Phnom Penh, near present –day Longvaek, and the kingdom had earned a reputation among foreigners for its great wealth … In the mid-sixteenth century, a Cambodian king from Longvaek, in the course of a hunting expedition in the north-west, stumbled across the abandoned temples of Angkor … and decided to transfer his court to Angkor … his stay among the temples was brief … a Thai army besieged Longvaek unsuccessfully in 1587. Foreshadowing the conduct of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Cambodian leaders, the Cambodian king sought help from a distant country – the Spanish Philippines – even promising to become a Catholic if sufficient military help arrived. It never did; instead, the Thai returned in 1594 and sacked the capital … the capture of Longvaek opened up a period of Thai suzerainty over the Cambodian court that lasted, with some short interruptions, until the arrival of the French in the 1860s.”

The authors go on quoting and interpreting two Cambodian myths associated with Longvaek. This is worth reading but to long to repeat here. However, given that this place was the capital of Cambodia when the country was wealthy and ruled autonomously seems to give it enough historic significance to visit.

We follow the road for some kilometers until we reach a modern temple. We do not see anything that would indicate the significance of the place. As it looks like it will start raining again, we turn around and ride back towards Udong. It does start raining after only few minutes and it rains strongly by the time we pass Udong. We follow the road for some kilometers until we reach the ferry. By this time we arrive we are soaking wet.

Waiting for the ferry. I just bought the bike to the left some days ago and this is the first trip I do with it.

This is the Tonle Bassac. The ferry is about to leave the other bank.

People waiting to get on the ferry.

Many vehicles and people are on board already, many of them watching us while we are riding the bikes onto the ferry. I go first. When I am about to park the bike on the ferry, I hear all the people in front of me making a long “Uuuuuuhhhhhh”, followed by the sound of something heavy falling into the water. I turn around and see that this is indeed what just happened to Becky and her bike.

I learn later that the back wheel of Becky’s motorbike got stuck, which caused the bike to stop suddenly and her to fly over the handlebar straight into the river, followed by the moto. She definitely chose the best point in time during our trip to maximize the number of people watching this entertaining stunt.

With the assistance of some friendly Cambodian men, Becky manages quickly to lift up the bike and get it onto the ferry. However, it does not start. Some Cambodians around her express the opinion that women just lack the skills to ride motorbikes, which Becky manages to answer with a smile.

It is still raining strongly when we reach the other bank and by the time we arrive I am almost as wet as Becky is. We get off the ferry and try hard to start the bike. After some time it does start. However, any attempt to speed up beyond 40 km per hour causes the engine to fail and only produce some funny noise that suggests that water is involved. For now we have no other choice but keep going at low speed, hoping that the bike will get back to normal while we go along. We keep going until we reach National Road 6. The performance of the bike does not improve. We stop at the shop of a local mechanic and people try for some time to fix the bike. However, they fail and we decide to rid to Phnom Penh at low speed. Riding the bike with just about 40 km turns out to be more difficult than expected, as significant traffic on both sides of the road make overtaking other vehicles a risky and time consuming affair. It takes a long time until we reach Phnom Penh and I am glad to arrive at home, cold and wet.

We have breakfast in the Mittapheap Restaurant before getting on the bike. We leave on road 11 towards Neak Luong. The plan is to follow this road only for about 10-12 kilometres and then a secondary road (317) for about 25-30km to Ba Phnom (Ba Phnum, Phnom Chi-gaht). According to the Lonely Planet, Ba Phnom is one of the earliest religious and cultural sites in the Kingdome of Cambodia, dating back to the 5th century and the time of the mysterious Funan. It remained an important place of pilgrimage for kings of the subsequent empires of Chenla and Angkor and continued to be a place of spiritual significance into the 19th century, but its past conceals a darker side of human sacrifice. According to French records, human sacrifices continued into the protectorate and were only finally stamped out in 1872. The guide book also says that “It is only really worth the detour for those who have a keen interest in early Cambodian history, as for the casual visitor there is unfortunately little to see”.

This is the road in the morning.

Initially we want to make another detour to a weaving village marked in the map. We try once to follow a smaller road to the east to find it but we fail and end up in a dead-end and ride back to the main road.

Dead-end.

After a short while we leave road 11 and proceed on a dirt road which is in decent condition in most of its parts.

In a village along the way.

People are taking down a tree with a chainsaw.

This is when we see Ba Phnom for the first time. The other day (July 1) there is a large article about Ba Phnom in the Phnom Penh Post, entitled “Jubilant crowds celebrate at hill of human sacrifice”. The article examines the practice of human sacrifice, mostly based on transcripts of interviews undertaken in 1944. One quotation reads:

“When the prayers were finished, the crowd shouted yak oieu three times, and then the executioner … holding a sword, danced hesitantly around the victim and then cut off his head with one stroke.” The last human sacrifices at Ba Phnom are thought to have taken place around 1877 and were bloody offerings to the powerful spirit of Me Sar. However, this year’s loeng neak to festival, held June 17-19, believers offered only cooked chickens, whole roasted pigs, fruits and alcohol to the neak to, or ancestor spirits”.

From here we ride just straight ahead, turn and follow another dirt road to the right and arrive at the bottom of the mountain. There is a food stand and a number of kids around. We ask them to look after the bike and start walking up the mountain.

There are a good number of modern religious buildings and colourful statues up here. One of those small temples is under construction.

This is how the ornaments along the roof of the building are being produced from cement.

From here we walk back to the bottom of the hill. Close by are the ruins of an 11th century temple called Preah Vihear Chann, under a corrugated roof.

From here ride back through the nearby village and follow a very good dirt road, assuming that it will lead straight to national road 1, which is only very few kilometres from here. We keep riding.

However, we do not arrive at any national road. To the contrary, while we keep going on this dirt road it turns into a narrow path with many bumps. At one point I realize too late a huge whole right in front of us and we ride straight into it. This whole is not easy to see from where we are coming. Riding through this whole is not as bad as I anticipated when I noticed it first, but from now I ride more carefully.

This shot is taken from where we came and the whole is right between the concrete blocks.

From the other side.

Myself taking pictures of wholes in roads.

We continue riding for quite some time but we don’t reach anywhere and the ‘road’ is getting worse.

We come across what appears to be a massive irrigation project.

Finally we arrive at a village where our ‘road’ meets another ‘road’. We ask some people how to get to the national road and Neak Luong and they show us the way.

From here it is only few kilometres to the main road. When we arrive there I am glad to ride on a paved road again. I can see from the milestones along the road that we are more than 28km away from Neak Luong, possibly already in Svay Rieng Province.

Along the national road.

After some time we reach the ferry over the Mighty Mekong River at Neak Luong. There are actually two ferries which take turns crossing the river.

Some people sell a variety of fried insects as snacks which seem to be very popular.

A blind man is playing a traditional string instrument while a young boy plays a drum (he does so very well) and collects money.

On the ferry.

We reach the other side of the river. National road 1 is suddenly very narrow on this side of the Mekong and not in very good condition. At some point we run out of gas and by some litres along the roadside.

It is getting dark when we are coming closer to Phnom Penh. Traffic is getting increasingly dense and chaotic until we finally reach the capital. We ride to the Java Café to have diner, including some of those fruit smoothies.

This weekend it is time to go on an overnight trip to the provinces. Maraile is ready to go and we plan to visit Prey Veng and to go there via Kampong Cham. Prey Veng is not so far from Phnom Penh but not connected to any national road. Accordingly, it is said to be a very provincial and sleepy town. The road distances are from Phnom Penh to Kampong Cham 129km and from Kampong Cham to Prey Veng 80km. Prey Veng to Phnom Penh is 90km.

We start at about 9 am and head north on national road 6A and later on national road 7 to Kampong Cham. We take it easy and have a break when we are not so far away from Kampong Cham anymore, at the national road, across a place where many big buses stop.

From here we ride another 20 minutes before we reach Phnom Pros& Phnom Srei (Phnom Bproh & Phnom Sray, Phnom Proh & Phnom Srey), which are two modern hill top temples located few hundred meters from the national road on the left hand, about 5km from Kampong Cham and rather easy to spot.

Phnom Pros & Phnom Srei means literally Man Hill and Women Hill. There is a story related to these temples which has a number of variations and is mentioned in any guide book. Essentially, a man and a woman wanted to marry and Khmer custom requires that the man must go to the woman’s parents before going to his own and seek permission and blessings. The man challenges this tradition and they organize a competition on who can build a higher mountain before sunrise. The women outbuilt the men by lighting a fire at night that makes the men belief the sun is rising and they stop working while the women continue. That is why Phnom Srei is higher than Phnom Pros and also why Khmer men are still expected to ask the women’s parents for permission.

We ride up Phnom Pros on a wide and not very steep road, passing two gates. This is one of them.

This is one of the temples on top of the hill.

Over there is Phnom Srei.

This is inside.

A wooden elephant.

There are some food stalls close by and we have some rest.

The monk is feeding lotus seeds to the monkey.

After some time we continue the trip to Kampong Cham, where we find a restaurant and have lunch and coffee. Then we continue the trip to Prey Veng, with short visits to a Mekong Island and a Rubber Plantation.

This is just outside the restaurant.

This is at the bridge. The water level is considerably higher than just a few weeks ago. Moreover, the tower on the opposite bank was under renovation last time and painted only white while it now has gotten also some red painting, which looks good.

From here we ride a few kilometres along the river until we reach the place where there is a big island right in the river. Last time there was not much water but a provisional bridge from the mainland to the island. Now there is much more water and no bridge anymore.

This is where the bridge used to be.

From here we head back to the bridge, cross it and follow the excellent and wide road. It is about 15 to 20km from here where one turns left to continue to Prey Veng on road 11. Opposite the junction is a rubber plantation. We first turn left and ride for some time on some sort of road into the plantation. There is not much to see so we ride back to the road and follow road 11 to Prey Veng.

The road is in good conditions. There are plantations on both sides of the road for a long time.

There are a number of vehicles but not many. Those there are tend to travel risky. This mini bus has containers filled with what I assume is petrol on its roof, on top of which some people are sitting.

These guys do not seem to have fixed the heavy goods on their trucks at all but race each other and engage in overtaking manoeuvres that are quite risky.

The scenery along the road is actually pretty; houses build in light forest with many ponds in front and behind them. It also seems that there was more rain here than closer to Phnom Penh.

At some point not so far away from Prey Veng we stop at the roadside to have a break. It does not take long until a number of villagers have gathered. Among them is a 14 years old boy who speaks excellent English and introduces us to all the other people around. It seems those people are as impressed with his English as we are and seem also proud. He claims that he has a car, and points out a car on the opposite side of the road, that he uses to go to school every day. Although this fellow is very young I tend to believe him.

Prey Veng town is not far from here. We ride there in one go and aim for the Mittapheap Hotel based on a short review of the (short) list of hotels in the guide books. The Mittapheap Restaurant is right across the road and described in the Lonely Planet (which is old) as the “only one real restaurant in town”. It is very easy to find and we make a short ride through the town to check if there is a place that strikes us as being more appealing. We do not find any and return to the Mittapheap, where we get two decently sized and cleaned rooms at modest $4 each.

This is in front of the hotel and the road ahead leads straight to the riverside.

After only a short rest we go on a walk to the riverside.

This is road 11 and in this direction leads from here to national road 7 and Kampong Cham. In the other direction it leads to national road 1 which it meets at the Mekong River in Neak Luong (Neak Loeang, Neak Loeung), where the ferry is. Mittapheap Hotel is right at the turn of the road, next to the Tela gas station.

This is at the market.

This is apparently the place where hair dressers do business.

This is the road that parallels the riverside. I think it is very beautiful.

This is in front. It is possible to come here by boat so I assume this is a river. By now there is not much water in it. I assume the whole place is flooded later in the rainy season, and that those homes are temporary ones.

It does not take long until some children emerge from the settlement.

We hang out for some time. At some point I note that one of the kids is called by its parents for diner. It disappears in one of the huts but returns after very few minutes with a plate of rice and fish, to have diner right here.

We continue walking along the riverside.

We arrive at some sort of bridge with a road on it that reaches about 100 meters into what is the river during the rainy season. It is almost dark now and there are many people hanging out here socializing. We hang out, too. For some time it seems to start raining very soon and we see lightening but it does not rain.

Later we go home and have diner at the Mittapheap Restaurant. The food is good. What is irritating is that there are a large number of insects, covering a wide range of species and sizes. Some of them are very big, it makes a loud bang when they fly or jump (depending on species) into various objects in the room. When they jump on your shoulder you can feel the weight.

Later we walk over to the hotel. There are many insects wherever there is light and presumably also where there is no light. We hang out on the veranda of the hotel for rest of the evening. The road is getting very calm quickly, there are no people on the road and besides some animals roaming around and a child screaming here or there it is very quite.

Today the plan is to go to Takeo (Takaev) again and to visit Angkor Borei and Phnom Da (Phnum Dai) with two friends: Maraile and Becky. Becky is a motorbike enthusiast while Maraile did not yet discover her passion for bikes. While I visited Angkor Borei by motorbike a few weeks ago, we want to do the trip from Takeo to Angkor Borei with the fast boat.

We go with two motos and take it easy. The ride to Takeo is pleasant, as the road is ok and there is not much traffic. It takes us about 2 hours to get to Takeo.

We ride straight to the waterfront. After only very few minutes some locals approach us inquiring whether we want to rent a boat. While the guide books suggest that the ride to Angkor Borei should be $15-20 these guys suggest a price of $25. We negotiate for quite some time but the captain does not give in at all. His main argument is that the engine of his boat is very big which is true (40PS). We ask if there is a boat with a smaller engine at a better price and there are many boats around but we learn that there is no other captain. After considerable time we agree to $25, park the bikes and get into the boat.

The boat is fast indeed and it is not by accident that those waterways are referred to as ‘water canal highways’.

Leaving from Takeo. I mix Maraile’s pictures with mine.

This is where two water highways meet.

There is very little water in the ‘highway’ but many boats. In fact one of the reasons for coming here after I came here only very few weeks ago is that the area spectacularly flooded during the rainy season. The rainy season should have started long time ago but it did not. For this reason, water levels are very low and countless boats got stuck in the more shallow stretches of the water highway.

The water highway is very straight and much is going on its banks and in the water. People fish and children play, swim or look after all kind of cattle.

The last stretch of the river before reaching Angkor Borei is narrow and has many turns and we ride at very high speed.

Then we reach Angkor Borei.

The boat stops on the left side of the river after we pass the main bridge. A museum is located here right next to the river. It seems to be noon break when we arrive but after a few minutes people open the door and we can enter the museum. The visitor’s area consists of two rooms. We meet an archaeologist from the US and her husband who work here. They say that few tourists find their way here and provide us with some background information.

There is an air photograph showing clearly visible the town’s well preserved massive city walls that are witness to its Funan past. These walls were built of brick some 6 meters high and had a defensive moat next to them. The massive size of the walls suggests that the town needed to be defended from attack by neighbouring states or rival factions and were built to protect a sizeable population.

Within the city walls more than 10 temples have been identified, but sadly, as with much of Cambodia’s heritage, indiscriminate looting has already taken place of most of the artefacts at the archaeological sites. There are several canals originating from the Funan period.

This is the second room. The carvings on the right hand are taken from Phnom Da. Oddly, there is a basket that contains bones, without any explanation.

Most statues are from between the 6th and 12th century, meaning that the civilization which built them far predated the Angkor period. One of the archaeologists suggests that this is one of the very first urban centres in Southeast Asia. Little is known about this period. I ask whether the inhabitants of this city were Khmers and he says that we do not even know that. They may have been Muslim Cham also.

There is a statement written on the wall informing visitors about Cambodia’s Vanishing Cultural Heritage. I think it is worth quoting in full here:

“All of the objects displayed in the Angkor Borei museum – architectural fragments, sculptures, ceramics, beads, amulets, and even human bones – are important parts of Cambodia’s cultural heritage. Cambodia is losing its cultural heritage at an alarming rate today, as people saw, chip, haul, and dig artefacts and architectural elements out of archaeological sites. Despite the passage of strict laws to protect Cambodia’s antiquities, goods are leaving sites by truck, cart, boat, and plane and find their way into private collections throughout the world.

The rapid destruction of Cambodia’s natural resources has become a source of international concern and so should the destruction of Cambodia’s Cultural Heritage!”

We learn that some archaeological work is being carried out right now at one part of the wall where people are cutting into it in order to build a new house. Taking advantage of this opportunity, archaeologists measure and document the structure and age of the wall. We get three moto taxis and join them. The side is on our way to Phnom Da.

Maraile on the moto.

Parts of the ancient wall.

Then we head to Phnom Da.

Unlike when I came here last time , there is a guard at the bottom of the mountain collecting $3 from visitors, which I find quite a price. We negotiate down to $2 and don’t get tickets. Then we climb up the mountain.

Carving on the ground inside the temple.

There is a nice view from up here all the way to Vietnam. People are working in the field.

The collapsed roof of the temple.

From here we walk down the hill and over to another one which is part of the same set of hills. I recall that one of the archaeologists said that one of the temples was rebuilt by a French architect and I assume it is this one.

This temple is actually two buildings in one, as there is one inner room and another one around it, so you can walk all the way around the inner room without leaving the temple.

From right to left: Becky, Maraile and myself.

After a short break we head back to Angkor Borei. We ride to the market to get $ notes changed before we can pay the moto drivers.

Becky on the moto taxi.

Maraile.

At the river.

Angkor Borei is a rather rural place but there is a phone shop like everywhere else in Cambodia and there is network coverage throughout our stay.

We get on the boat and head back to Takeo.

Again we come across many boats that got stuck. It is striking how those people and their daily lives are directly affected by the drought. While in Phnom Penh you read every day in the newspaper that the rain did not start yet, but the pictures one can see here are much more telling.

Bricks are moved from one boat to a smaller one by one through hard labour, presumably to free the bigger boat and move the goods to Takeo with the smaller one.

This guy is standing next to a machine that is as tall as he is and the propeller stirs in the mud but the boat does not move.

Back in Takeo.

After a short break we get on the bikes and ride back to Phnom Penh.

The plan for the next two days is to take it easy and then to go back to Phnom Penh by bus. There is not much to report here and I limit myself mostly to pictures.

After I have breakfast I take a moto taxi and ride down to the beach. The sea is sort of choppy and the sky is covered with clouds.

After I have only a short rest I leave again, to the Occheuteal Beach. I get myself a deckchair and spend the next hours mostly with reading and sleeping.

There are a number of Khmer families and a considerable number of people with cameras offering the service of taking pictures of other people enjoying themselves.

At some point I have lunch. Later dark clouds emerge and it starts raining and storming heavily, although for only a rather limited period of time.

Later in the afternoon I leave to visit Snake Island. Unlike on the occasion of previous visits here I see a good number of monkeys.

It is getting dark already when I leave, to the Chez Claude guesthouse. This guesthouse is rather mid to upper range at $20 per night. However, it is located on a hilltop opposite Sokha Beach and has a beautiful view in all directions. It is interesting in terms of architecture, too, as it assembles a number of bungalows from a wide range of styles. There are many stairs to climb.

In the evening I talk to one of the guesthouse staff about the possibility to do a boat trip to a number of islands. He tells me that at this time of the year there are no such trips because there are strong winds and frequent storms.

The next day, weather is nice and sunny in the morning and I visit one of the places at Victory Beach where I have seen boats before. Indeed I find a boat and a captain who is willing to do a multiple hour trip to three islands for $25. The engine turns off a number of times after we start.

The first of the three islands is very close to the mainland and I assume it is Kaoh Pos (Koh Puh). We pass along its coastline and there is a nice beach in a park-like green setting in a bay, and nobody seems to be there. There are considerable waves and the rather small boat is moving up and down.

Sihanoukville.

There are now very considerable waves. I can see that the next island we are going to visit is a couple of kilometres away, and that there do not seem to be many boats around.

We pass a small island where a concrete structure seems to be under construction.

I find the sea is really rough and ask the captain whether he thinks it is a good idea to visit the other islands. He says it is ‘difficult’. After some time we decide to turn around and go back to visit Kaoh Pos.

The captain offers a diving mask and fins and I go for an extended swim. Later I walk along the coastline for some time.

Our boat.

Then I walk back. On the way I come across a local police post. I imagine that it is nice being stationed here work wise, as it is an appealing place and there is not much to do.

Police post.

The engine seems unwilling to operate again when we leave the island.

The captain agrees on $15 for the trip as the involved distance was pretty small. I have some food at the beach and hang out for a while. Later I take a moto taxi and go to the Snakehouse. This is a combination of a guesthouse, restaurant and zoon. Visitors can see various animals, most of them snakes.

Those are cobras.

There is a restaurant which is nicely decorated, with some big jars covered with glass in which there are snakes. I find that the food is very good and prices are reasonable.

This crocodiles is right next to one of the tables.

I stop once in a while on my way home to take a picture.

The other day I bought a ticket for the ‘big bus’ to Phnom Penh for just $3 in the guesthouse. This is good value, given that you have one seat just for you in an air conditioned bus that is considerably faster, and more comfortable than the minibus. It may even be safer and I hear that there is insurance covering damage to passengers injured due to an accident.

I pack my stuff, have breakfast early and go by moto taxi to the place where the bus leaves. I find a comfortable seat in the back of the bus which leaves not too much after schedule. I use the opportunity to sleep for a bit.

The bus stops exactly where the minibus stopped on my way to Sihanoukville. This is at about halve the distance between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville.

This is inside the bus.

The landscape that passes by outside the window looks very dry for most of the time.

Gate of a factory along the road. During lunch time we come across a number of factories where break just started and masses of mostly female workers walk out of the gate. Due to the speed I fail to take a good picture.

This is a checkpoint where fees are being collected for using the road. The existence of these checkpoints is subject to controversy among politicians of various parties.

This is where national roads 3 and 4 depart some kilometres outside of Phnom Penh.

Pictures of King Sihamoni at the roadside.

Car dealer just outside Phnom Penh. There are many of them around here.

Phnom Penh Waterpark.

Back in Phnom Penh: Around Central Market.

I ride home with a moto taxi.