Good morning Cambodia. Route 13 ends in a fantastic red dirt track just before the Cambodian border, love cycling on red dirt. Bye bye Laos, love you lots, hello Cambodia, who are you? Moving on, the red dirt gave way to brand new road, previously, the only way here was by Mekong river boat. Terrain is scrub and woodland, quiet and unpopulated, then later a few people/buildings from which kids would excitedly yell 'hello'. Off the beaten trail once again.

Landmines

There's an eery feeling glancing from the road-side into the bush, hard to explain. Here's all this wonderful land, trees, natural resources and no one has moved in, there are no villages or houses. Perhaps its because the road is so new, but more likely it's the land-mines, the travel advice for Cambodia is never to leave the tarmac. I'm taking rest stops on the tarmac, but pee from the roads edge into the undergrowth, just feels more civilised. Hopefully, a flow of urine doesn't trigger a landmine, and I rather hope to un-earth one. Cycling on and small settlements appear, houses against the road-side, and long lines of cows grazing close to the road-side, none venturing to pastures greener. It's as if life exists in one dimension on a piece of string, no sign of life away from the safety of the tarmac.

Bridge

There's a new bridge before Stung Treng, an impressive structure that appeared finished, but was actually blocked to car traffic. I crept around the barrier and came face to face with hooligans wanting a toll, a bit worse for drink. Obviously a scam, I played the dumb tourist until they gave up. Then cycling downstream I saw cars/trucks using the old ferry crossing, and that was probably the reason for the blocked bridge, it'd been donated by Japan and bad for business.

Stung Treng and happy with the 5$ room, TV and hot shower, food similar price to Laos, except beer which has doubled. The guest-house owner attempted to frighten me into buying a bus ticket, saying the road had bandits; and so I cycled to Kratie feeling a tad nervous.

Rest day at Kratie, the fruit-shakes are exceptionally good, and after arriving, wolfed down 5 shakes and 1 beer only, a shake/beer ratio of 5:1, and why not. Well situated on the Mekong, market, food, shakes, good views, relaxed. Lovely and hot here, sweating in the humid evening heat, cool drink at hand. A little more bustle than Laos, a little rougher like an uncut diamond, some might say messy/unclean, he he he.

Red Spokes

Brilliant red dirt roads from Kratie to Kompong Cham. There's a more direct route on good tarmac, but once I'd start just couldn't stop from going further, it'd be a longer ride to the next stop, who cares. The charms of going cross country through a never ending series of great classic paintings, kinda like a Cambodian version of Constable. Bright sunshine, haystacks in front of houses on stilts, farmyard animals.

People were so friendly, I soon developed a sore throat shouting back 'hello' to each and everyone. Once the first person spots you, the whole village knows. More exhausting than the riding than riding on the dirt, umpteen million times, infectious enthusiasm. Abandoned using the map, dead reckoning & compass, besides how hard can it be to follow a huge river like the Mekong. However, got tricky towards the end, and loads of fun with villagers pointing the way. The tracks narrow and at one stage I felt as if I were riding through everyone's back, path and garden merged into one and I passed oxen, chickens, kids playing, adults relaxing, very cool... Had to push it though, bumpy sections made for slow progress and daylight was running out, a euphoric punch of the air, as I saw the main bridge crossing ahead, arriving sun set for a guesthouse along the river front in Kompong Cham.

After a good nights sleep and several milkshakes later, it was back to the main road, which could've been dull, was certainly long and straight, but the eye candy was most excellent, another photographer's dream with rural landscapes, plus a heavy dose of drink stops, having a double milkshake at one stop, slurp, slurp and 4 iced coffees with condensed milk. Great drinks in this climate.

What's this coming towards me? a cyclist sitting way too high up, stupidly high, you wouldn't believe it either, it's a man on a penny farthing, and not only that, he's wearing a red-coat and pith helmet, in the style of the old British Empire solder, the era of Queen Victoria, don't you know. A most interesting chin wag on the roadside, turns out Joff is doing a Penny Farthing World Tour, panniers en all, the bike only has 1 gear only, and he's done the mountains through Tibet, etc... As well as being stylish, the pith helmet works as a cycle helmet, Joff showed me a whole punched by a rock from a Tibetan landslide. Great chat, alas we both had to be moving in opposite directions to beat the sunset. For more information see pennyfarthingworldtour.com.

Then I came across a Dutch cyclist Osman, very experienced, another long chin wag at the road side, and rush off to Angkor Wat, with enough spare time for 2 iced coffee stops, before sunset.

Angkor Wat for Christmas

Siam Rep, base for exploring Angkor Wat Temple Complex, another 8th wonder of the world. Here for a good Christmas stopover and keen on seeing the temples, they are unique, as you have ancient temples mixed with jungle. Staying at Smileys Guesthouse, but this is misleading, as the staff don't smile, its family owned they seem to mostly just lie around doing nothing. Can't complain at 6$ a night, shower & TV, and theres a brilliant communal area for lounging around.

Siem Reap, literally "Siam Defeated", commemorates a Khmer victory over the neighbouring kingdom of Thailand. These days, however, the only rampaging hordes are the tourists heading to Angkor and this once quaint village has become the largest boomtown and construction site in Cambodia. It's quite laid-back and all in all a pleasant place to stay while touring the temples. It's a nice compromise between observing Cambodian life and enjoying the amenities of modern services and entertainment.

Stretching over some 400 sq. km, Angkor contains the magnificent remains of several capitals of the Khmer Empire, from the 9th to the 15th century. These include the famous Temple of Angkor Wat and, at Angkor Thom, the Bayon Temple with its countless sculptural decorations. A huge area, most people hire tuk-tuks for the day, but of course, us cycle tourists have our bikes, and after 80km in the last 2 days, I'm having a rest. It's unique, seen lots temples before, these are special, the scale and atmospheric, jungle growing through temples, ancient man-made and nature mixing together. Lots of tourists clambering around the ruins though, still worth it, I went to many places at the wrong time of day, the hottest temperature, with few people around.

Road of Legends

In travellers circles, there's much talk about the next section of road from here to the Thai border. pot holes big enough for cars, face masks to counteract dust, many other riders blogs mention hiring a pick-up truck. All psyched up for a groovy dirt ride, but the road was only moderately bad, having been repaired (sort of) a few years back. Fortunately the wind blew dust from passing trucks away from my 'cycle lane'. I enjoyed it, a pleasant ride in the sand & gravel.