Bye-bye Bangkok

Some scenes from the recovery days before heading home.

Once referred to as the Venice of the East, Bangkok had an extensive canal network, some of which still remains. The bike tour was great!

We cycled some impossibly narrow alleys (“soi”), especially in the old section known as Thonburi.

Khao San Road, perhaps akin to Bourbon Street in New Orleans

The colorful currency speeds up transactions since I don’t have to look at the numbers.
That costs 50 baht? Aha, the blue one!

The river and canal water taxis are fun, cheap, and faster than the gridlocked streets.

I made it back to my room just in time to avoid the daily storm.

My mom’s former exchange student Wachiraphon arranged a nice dinner with a great view.

the view from the tallest building, King Power Maha Nakhon

Food

There is nothing like grating it fresh to make your own coconut milk and coconut cream.

nori roll and mango smoothie at vegetarian restaurant May Kaidee

May’s famous mango black sticky rice. It was worth coming to Bangkok just to eat this, my all time favorite food ever.

Thai sweet crepes, or khanom buang, are seriously delicious.

Street food: assemble your own pad thai to taste, and they cook it for you. Great idea!

temple exterior detail from royal palace grounds
The palace temples and buildings glitter at night.

Gulf of Thailand

After crossing the border, the last two days of cycling were in Thailand along the gulf coast.
–Krong Pailin to Chantaburi, 26 miles, mostly flat, cloudy, 80s and humid
–Chantaburi to Laem Mae Phim, 50 miles, hills, drizzle, windy, 80s

Bike lanes!
The one puddle we encountered, our guide pointed to it and said, “Cambodia.” (Ouch.)

Squid (or as our guide says, “squish”) fishing is a major industry here, and the green lights used as the lure are an eerie sight at night. (borrowed photo) The lights can even be seen from space.

Wat Pak Nam Khaem Nu
Our rest stops in Cambodia and Thailand have been on temple grounds, which are open to all comers for temporary respite. This is a rare blue temple, perhaps as a nod to the nearby gulf.

*Hitting this giant gong three times is supposed to bring you fame. It resounded with the loudest and lowest thunderous growl I have EVER heard. It was SO COOL!*

Ahoy, monks!
visiting a Thai royal navy ship that is now a museum

Our guide is determined to share every dish in Thailand with us.
L-R: Curry, seafood salad, ginger chicken, sweet pork with a special leaf, morning glory, vegetables with sardine sauce, and crab cakes.

Gilligan’s Reprise

Boat from Siem Reap to Battambang

I’ve not had good luck with water transportation on this trip. It all started out innocently enough.

*heading out of the river toward Tonle Sap lake*

Thick water hyacinths make for tough going.
Thousands of people live on the waterways in Cambodia.

Once out of the river and into the huge lake, I quickly became concerned about our small boat in the high winds and huge waves, with no other boats visible. As water crashed over the bow, we surged up the waves and then banged down into the troughs, our unaffixed chairs sliding all over the deck. I strapped on my purse and wiggled into a life jacket while our guide Nak scrambled astern to help with the rudder. Two and a half tense hours later, we reached the lee of the far shore, completing the roughest crossing the captain had ever experienced.

I managed this photo before things got really rough.

And then the engine died.

Water hyacinths kept us from drifting while Nak and the captain bled the air out of the engine. Mark and Kirsten weren’t as concerned about the crossing, and Nak thought it was great fun. I apparently have a low “thrill” tolerance.

Once underway again, we headed up the tight and twisty Sangker river.

We saw thousands of swallow’s nests as well as monkeys, storks, and kingfishers.

The low, wooden cages in the foreground are an alligator farm.

Battambang to Krong Pailin, 58 miles, hilly, rainy, 70s

The grit and grime from riding rainy roads was even in my hair.

While peddlers are common everywhere, I haven’t seen whole roving stores in other countries.

The beginning of the rainy season is time for planting certain types of rice.

Speaking of rice, the best I’ve had was at Jaan Bai in Battambang. The vegetable curry was also amazing.

This gecko measured about 1.5 feet and croaked his name all night long, “gec-ko, geck-ko.”

Yin and Yang

Skip this post if you don’t want to know about some of the harsher realities of bike travel in southeast Asia. Like any tourist, I’ve only shown you the best photos of the prettiest things. But if you’re curious about the full experience, here it is.

Vietnam was by far the worst for trash, everywhere. If you stick to the most popular tourist areas, you might not encounter it quite this bad, but you will certainly notice it.

Bali and Vietnam excelled in roadside fires, the smoke from which irritated the respiratory system. People sweep up their properties daily, then burn the trash/leaf piles since there is not much of a garbage removal system.

The grit and grime is a cycling-specific downside.

mostly encountered in Cambodia’s gas stations and wayside temple grounds

I don’t have photos of every unpleasant aspect I encountered, so here’s a sampling of what you might expect if you cycle or visit here.

Heat
High humidity
Heat rash
Road rash
Chafing
Sunburn
Hydration/electrolyte issues
Poverty
Repressive governments
Hyperinflation
Touts/hawkers/pushy proprietors/being hassled/touristy markets
Haggling
Air pollution
Poor water quality
Anti-malaria medication side effects
Decisions: for every photo posted, there are five that aren’t

For any unpleasantness I saw or experienced, there was also balance in nature’s beauty and the amazing resilience and friendliness of the people.

Angkor

There are Khmer temples that predate Angkor. The Chenla empire was headquartered at Sambor Prei Kuk near Phnom Penh from the late 500s through the 700s. Hundreds of temples remain.

*Prasat Chrey temple in the grip f a strangler fig at Sambor*

Angkor (near Siem Reap) was the capital city of the Khmer empire from 802 to 1431. All that is left of the approximately one million people and their hundreds of square miles of urban sprawl are more than one thousand stone temples in various states of ruin. Angkor Thom is the name of the walled, 3.5 square miles at the empire’s center that contain many, but not all, of the Angkor period remains. Temples were constructed either as Buddhist or Hindu shrines, then re-purposed and switched around according to the current king’s preference.

Incredibly, you can mountain bike on top of Angkor Thom’s south and west walls. To the left is a very large moat.

Bayon temple stands at the very center of Angkor Thom and was built in the late 1100s. Like many large temples, it has its own moat, representing the ocean.

Bayon has 54 towers, each of which has this benevolently smiling face on four sides.

Biking some great single track to the entrance of Ta Keo.

Cycling has to be the best way to visit Angkor, since you can get into the forest and visit ruins most visitors never experience. Our guide Nak is not only an excellent cyclist, he is very knowledgeable and proud of Angkor, sharing with us the best views, interesting details, and fun routes.

The movie “*Tomb Raider “*was filmed here.

I thought strangler figs covered all of the temples at Angkor, but in most cases they have been removed since they are destructive. Preservationists balance the trees and temple at Ta Prohm to let us see the beauty and interplay between man and nature, and to understand what the temples looked like ca. 150 years ago before restoration began.

Banteay Srei was constructed in the 900s of hard red sandstone. Its delicate carvings have survived in stunning detail.

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat is just one temple complex out of the Angkor region’s approximately one thousand temples. The largest religious monument in the world, it was built in the early 1100s.

Long galleries on lower levels protect amazing wall carvings depicting daily life, battles, and other stories, histories, and mythologies of the empire.

At the top level of the highest tower. Yes, those stairs were very steep! (The tourist access side has a hand rail.)

The view from the top, which only the king and highest priests would have enjoyed. The complex grounds are so vast that you cannot see the large moat surrounding them.

Cycling:
Siem Reap and Angkor, 26 miles, warm and sunny
Siem Reap and Banteay Srei, 40 miles, rainy/muddy/70s