Cycle Torque Rides Cambodia

Cycle Torque Rides Cambodia
About this Journey
In February 2013, Cycle Torque hosted a Cambodian Motorbike
Tours journey through Cambodia, starting in the capital, Phnom
Penh, and riding through to Siem Reap via the coast and the
mountains.
Ten riders made the trip: three staff each from Cycle Torque and
Cambodian Motorbike Tours, and four blokes signed up to come
along.
Tony Penfold tells the story of the trip, with the images shot by
Nigel Paterson.
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10 blokes riding trail bikes across Cambodia. Over 1000km of dirt, beer, waterfalls, jungle, massages, excellent food, tumultuous history
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and the extremely friendly Cambodian-Khmer people. All this to experience in seven days. Sounds fantastic? Well, yes it was.
The Gig
I was called into Cycle Torque HQ before head
honchos Pickett and Paterson. “Carnage, you are being
promoted from reserve paper clip boy to Cycle
Torque’s run-on Cambodia Squad. By the way you owe
us for the air fare.”
Can I pay it off starting in 2015, interest free? Yeah
baby I’m there.
Before leaving Sydney the Cycle Torque squad of
Publisher Nigel (aka PM due to his continual political
arguments on tour with Keg), Massage Matty (MM)
lover of Red Bull and cheap massages, and yours truly
underwent the random bag searches, body scans and of
course my favourite, the full body search. Ah I feel
better, where is the bar PM?
8.5 hours later we land in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
for a brief Heineken layover, before jumping on our 45
minute flight to Phnom Penh Cambodia. Immediate
news on the ground was, the King is dead. First thing
though, is we need a Cambodian Visa to enter. The
official says to me $20 USD and photo. I offer a $50
Aussie note, my first mistake of many for Carnage this
trip. He then holds out $45 USD, before removing $40
for me and PM’s fee. They look at PM and rightly
decide they do not want to keep one of his photos.
Good call I thought, but we are allowed entry and off
we go. Massage Matty offered himself up for another
cavity search.
We're back baby!
Typical crazy South East Asia taxi ride into the Capital
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First night in Cambodia, out seeing the sights of Phnom Penh during the festivities celebrating the late King’s life.
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Phnom Penh
Typical crazy South East Asia taxi ride into the Capital
Phnom Penh. Chaos all round. 3-4 passengers on every
100cc scooter and a pillion rider holding an intravenous
fluid drip bottle above her head leading down to a small
child. Yes, that was truly unbelievable.
Arrive at our digs, better go out and have a look around.
The city is pumping as millions are flocking in for King
Norodom Sihanouk's cremation the following day. The
King had abdicated back in 2004 for power to be
passed onto his son. The King was known as the
Naughty Boy, due to having 14 children to 6 wives.
hmm, interesting fellow. The King’s role is about
uniting the country via tradition and religion
(Buddhism). The real power of Cambodia is with the
Cambodian People's Party.
We take delivery of our mighty Honda XR250Rs the
next morning and the call is made by Owner/Operator
of Cambodia Motorbike Tours Jason Thatcher to exit
the city. The place is basically in lock-down and very
difficult to move around. But wait, what about PM’s all
white Fox riding gear. Gees, we have one of the Storm
Troopers from Star Wars along… didn’t help his riding,
sorry Nigel, thinking out loud again.
Jason gives the boys a little briefing regarding exiting
the city safely. We get on our bikes and Jason, aka
Wheelie, immediately has the front wheel of his TTR
in the air. And I must say, Wheelie continues this trend
for the rest of the trip. Great stuff.
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Respect
The king had long
abdicated, but the crowds
came to pay their respects
anyway.
This crowd was out early,
queuing at the palace:
everyone wore dark
trousers and a white shirt.
There was no pushing,
shoving or boisterous
activity, just an eerily calm
crowd.
The first day’s riding. Images are from Phnom Penh and The Killing Fields.
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The Dark Side
A short ride out of the city, we are immediately hit with the Killing
Fields. A visit to Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre is something I will not
forget too soon. Inside the gate there is a memorial some several stories
in height. Enclosed in a glass case are thousands of human skulls in
memory of the estimated two million Khmer people who were
tortured and murdered at the hands of Supreme Dictator, Pol Pot.
These Killing Fields are all over Cambodia. Pot was at the head of the
Kampuchea Communist Party. The biggest grave at this site was found
to have 450 people within. Much of the excavation occurred in 1980
after the defeat of the Khmer Rouge, who ruled with an Iron Fist from
1975-1979.
The regime was all about breaking the people so they would always
bow/bend their heads to their masters. We are talking about culling
intellectuals which could simply include people who wear glasses for
example. People were tortured in Phnom Penh in a converted school
known as S21, before being transported out to the Killing Fields to be
murdered. And we are not talking about a simple execution via a bullet,
it was dead set cruelty. Pot died in 1998 whilst under House Arrest,
near the Thailand border. United Nations supported trials commenced
in 2007 hunting down the Chief Executioners and are still going on.
It is of interest that that the current Prime Minister Hun Sen is himself
a former Khmer Rouge Senior Commander, who has held power since
the early 1980s, under the banner of the Cambodian People's Party.
(CPP) And let me tell you I saw the CPP sign erected in the smallest
villages in places a long way from civilisation. Apparently Sen was
instrumental in getting the Vietnamese to enter Cambodia to help
defeat the Khmer Rouge. Mind you factions of the Khmer Rouge were
still fighting their own people in 1997, refusing to back down.
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Hitting the Trail
Back on the bikes we head South West,
cutting through a number of villages. Fairly
wide open tracks, but it is hot and you need
to keep the fluids up. Our first time dirt rider,
Novice Scotty aka NS, hits the deck a few
times, but he will show himself to be very
determined as the week goes on. Indeed
determination will be something we all need.
Greg, aka Keg, also has a few minor offs. If I
had to compare his love of beer with
motorcycling, I would call him a stunt/
freestyler. I thought I loved beer, but I would
be a mere trail rider compared to Keg. Note
to self, don’t get on the Piss with KEG. We
head to Kep and onto Kampot for our
overnight stop. Travelled about 200km and
it’s been a big first day in the dirt. Stacks on
the bikes become fines which equate into
Beer. So all good for me, but we will all
contribute as each day goes by.
The following morning all our bikes are lined
up out the front. Chains are being lubricated,
checks done and I know that all is well with
my bike.
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This is where you start seeing the advantages
of being part of a Cambodia Motorbike Tour.
We have a Nissan Patrol ute as a support
vehicle being driven by Visal. Now besides
being a big lump of a lad, his other job sees
him guarding the Prime Minister. So as a
result of his extensive Military Training etc,
he is packing a semi-auto pistol attached to
his side at all times. Copy that, can I help you
load my bag into the ute, Visal?
Strapped in behind the cab there is even a
spare bike just in case. So you only have your
day bag on your back with water, camera, etc.
It makes trail riding easier that is for sure.
I was using a Kriega back pack which allowed
me to carry a water bladder of two litres, but
it also has several handy separate
compartments for all my other bits and
pieces. The other strength for trail riding was
it had reinforced straps that came together
around my chest as well as the waist. Not
only did it sit well loaded, it kept all the dust
out.
On the road and at a Ghost House, where Khmer Rouge attacked and killed many people.
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Food on the road, the boys at the pub and the hotel itself we stayed at in Kampot.
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Lacals out and about (photo O’Connell), signs to attract Westerners.
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A beach stop for lunch. opposite page - locals coming out to see the tourists.
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Going Native
We ride close to the coast along twisty canal trails.
Great riding and suddenly you wander into a small
village. All the kids come running up to the bikes.
Yes they are very poor and you can see they don’t
have much, evident from their lack of clothing.
But they are all smiles and just eager to get close
and have a look at us and the bikes. We take
photos and show them on our digital cameras. It
excites them to see their photo. I go to start my
bike and nothing… dead battery. No problem, the
old motorised push clutch start via one of our
guides Leng. My battery will later recover and not
give me any trouble for the rest of the week. Leng
is our lead gun rider and at the back we have
Panda. Both carry every tool and spare that may
be needed.
Of course when we stop you have the mobile
market suddenly pull up. What I mean here is a
bike either totally loaded, or it has some kind of
trailer set up. You can buy food, drinks, souvenirs.
The thing is, it does not matter where we are, one
always comes puttering along the track.
Unbelievable really, considering we are on trail
bikes and this will normally be a 100cc scooter
loaded.
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The red dirt would get into our gear and stay there, forever.
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The kids were nervous but excited to see the big Westerners on their motorbikes.Yes, one of the kids does have an Angry Birds T-shirt.
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High Life
We stop for some lunch at Ochheuteal
Beach. There is an oasis of restaurants and
bars along the coast. Mistake number two is I
get caught up sitting in the surf with WAMark aka WAM. He is 62 years old and is on
this trip with his best mate, wait for it, Keg.
Wam also went to Vietnam with Cycle
Torque last year and I should know better.
Anyway we have a few beers and a feed and
everybody is pretty relaxed enjoying the
gentle Cambodia sea breeze.
Some hours later we are on our bikes for a
short run into our overnight stop at
Sihanoukville. I decide to attempt some poor
riding on the sandy street. The burnout take
off goes well, the standup wheelie is getting
everyone interested, before I undertake the
hard brake, 180 degree turn for my run back,
when my bike is suddenly laying down and I
am standing above it with my hands in the air
trying for some applause. Well, I got more
than that and more importantly I was on the
board for a handlebar down Fine. All good,
no harm done, except a bit of pride of course.
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Gear checked in at our motel and 150km is
not enough for me. Leng, Panda, MM and I
go out for an afternoon hit out of single
track, sand riding, shonky bridge crossings,
dense jungle and finish up with a beer under a
waterfall. You have to be happy with that.
Fantastic loop and I will just say quietly,
Chief Guide Leng actually put a bar down. It
does not matter that he was stationary and
waiting for MM and I. You see I spent most
of the trip reading the back of Leng’s helmet
and I am hoping to see him later in the year
when he comes to Australia to have a crack in
the 24 hour enduro. Fantastic rider.
Making our way back to the hotel in the dark
was exciting enough. However I ran out of
fuel, but was lucky to be rescued by a local
who supplied a cordial bottle full of juice.
Back on the bike, children running around,
people repairing punctures in the middle of
the road with no lights on. Need to keep on
the job that is for sure. Quick swim in the
pool and out for dinner.
What a day.
Booze and food is unbelievably cheap, beaches beautiful, although there’s not much money around to keep them clean.
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Into the Jungle
Off and running early with an early stretch of single
track jungle style. I noticed it is substantially cooler
whilst surrounded by vines and heavy overhead
growth. A few minor offs but all good, before WAM’s
bike requires a bit of maintenance to the front mud
guard. He was complaining that the guard had come
undone and was affecting his steering… harden up.
Anyway Leng and Panda were all over it and we are
moving on. Again I cannot emphasise enough how
easy it is when you have guides/mechanics/support
vehicle.
We run down a little side track and wow, we are on
the beach. I notice the low tide and the sand beckons.
Before I finish this thought Darren, aka DRZ (he's
owned four of Suzuki's venerable trailies) is down
there strutting his stuff up and down the beach. I am
thinking it looks nice and hard and starting to pump
up, when suddenly DRZ throws his XR whilst
performing a slide through an unseen wet soggy
patch. Who would have thought… hmm, note to self,
try not to be an unsuccessful poser two days in a row.
No harm done, all good, time for lunch. Yes I did
have my moment on the sand in the sun. I just hope
PM took appropriate pictures which make me look
good.
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Prawns, stir fry, dust quenchers. Righto, how about an
afternoon of soft sand action through fallen jungle?
Three of the guys took the opportunity of an
alternative road route, which again is the beauty of
these tours, in that Wheelie can always provide
options, depending on riding abilities.
Anyway we spent hours ploughing on through sand
and on several occasions I was able to warn PM of
changing conditions via the Sena Bluetooth
communications. This equipment is dead easy to fit
to a helmet. You switch it on and it wirelessly finds
the other unit, which in this case was in PM’s helmet.
Range is good for up to 900 metres. I am talking
about talking to your mate, bike to bike, with no
wires. The units are simply re-charged via USB. For
the tech heads, you can pair up your phone, plug in
music, GPS and more. The unit is smaller than a
mobile phone and basically just attaches to the side of
your helmet. I did not even know it was there. With
ear plugs in, riding a trail bike, the clarity was crystal
clear. Awesome bit of kit. Not only good for providing
warnings to the boys behind, but also great for
requesting your mate to switch on his video or stop
and take a photo.
Our guide Leng was setting a cracking pace, nothing
unusual there. We pull up and he is talking to a couple of
locals. I take the opportunity for a drink and it seems like I
needed litres of the stuff. Leng was just checking his route
and he never really missed. Again how good is it to have a
local out front who speaks the language. We slide into a
small village and stop at a small bridge, currently under
construction. All the males were standing around with axes
and other shiny sharp utensils that could penetrate my
helmet… I am thinking. Leng goes up, does the negotiation
whereby a few US dollars change hands and we are waived
across the toll bridge without incident.
We continue on and we end up at a river crossing. Now
what we have here is two slim boats that are joined together
by a flat wooden platform. Okay fellas, only 4 bikes at a
time. Down the sand bank we ride onto this small punt
which has the Whipper Snipper long shaft prop outboard
attached. We cross and are now in the village of Chi Phaot.
Tonight we are staying in a traditional village house. First
though, we all jump into the back of the Nissan with an
esky full of Adult Beverages and off we go to the local
waterfalls. Now having a quiet cool drink sitting in a
waterfall is the way to finish off any day. Keg decides to host
a leech or 2 to a party on his leg. I am thinking they must
like beer.
A natural massage in a waterfall, although there was one unwelcome guest.
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Another day, another idyllic lunch stop.
Lead guide Leng gives some locals a few dollars for helping with directions.
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Penfold and his reflection on the beach.
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A river community was repairing its bridge when we rode through.
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This is the bike ferry. The car/truck ferry is 100m upstream.
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The ferry crossing was a serious hoot, although Penfold almost shot the ferry back to the other side when he wheelied onto shore.
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That’s O’Connell behind the camera and Darren enjoying the ride.
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In the Mountains
A group of local ladies cook up the best feed. I am
really enjoying the tucker, nice spicy sauces. Yes
we have plenty of rice and other assorted stir fry
dishes, but the flavour is fantastic. I was fairly on
the tooth all trip and did not get any stomach
problems. Just stick to the bottled water and
avoid eating tucker such as salads that have not
been cooked. DRZ and NS had a great story of
hunting and eating rodents in Vietnam prior to
this trip. These two western NSW blokes would
eat anything.
Later whilst having a quiet beer, I noticed a
scooter stop out the front on the dirt street. It
was dark, but I noticed the very pregnant pillion
get off the bike and seek out a drink for dad and 1
small child still sitting on the bike. They drink and
then ride off. This is typical of the Khmer people
being happy and just going about their business.
My kids would be complaining that the DVD
player is not working. Earlier, the same day I saw
another pregnant lady climb off the back of a bike
carrying a 20 litre Gerry can full of fuel. Tough.
I must comment on our digs. It was hot and I
spent the night under the mozzie net with a fan. I
was kept entertained all night by Keg and Wheelie
going ape shit over a barking dog. I don’t think I
saw that dog at breakfast… or maybe I did, oh
well.
Righto let’s get into the biggest day of challenging
single track, more shonky bridge crossings,
combined with extremely steep rock climbs. Well,
how good was it, fantastic. Talk about having a
crack through the jungle, I cannot wait to look at
the video footage. Humidity was almost
unbearable. Sweat. I could not drink enough to
keep sweating.
Everybody had their moments, but I’ll stick to
just sledging Matt and PM for the moment.
Matt manages to drop his rear wheel off a bamboo
bridge and if it wasn’t for Yours Truly, Jason and
others, he would have dropped a metre or two
into a creek. PM helps by switching on his Replay
helmet cam.
The Karma gets PM though: his rear wheel drops
off a bridge soon after. He’s saved by the others.
Then he copped a puncture and damn-near flogs
out the clutch on his XR, thanks to the biggest
hillclimb on the trip.
I don’t think he will forget that day too soon, but
neither will I just quietly.
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Up early in the mountains and you’ll see things most tourists never find.
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Did I mention we were in the jungle? Man O Man, my
biggest moment was when I got caught up in the vine whilst
trying to pass some water. Dangerous stuff!
Sometime later we stopped at a hut in the middle of
nowhere. Did I explain the importance of spotting an
Orange Esky/Cooler? When you spot one, you know that
you are welcome to food and drink even though the place
might not look like it offers anything. But they do and they
saved me, because I was just about out of the old cool
drinking stuff. Huge feed of carbs, some plant which tastes
like potato. Noodles, sign me up. Couple of Red Bulls, why
not? Fill up my water bladder and drink another litre before
I get on the bike and I was starting to feel a bit better. How
about Massage Matty? He had limited dirt riding experience
and he had taken a bit of a caning, but then again so had
Panda, our corner man. Anyway MM discovered Red Bull on
this trip and so he now had three loves, bikes, massage and
The Bull. Oh and of course his lovely wife.
Another decent hit out after lunch before we stopped in a
village for some arvo smoko. You should have seen all the
children come out to meet us. Wheelie had given us a heap
of toothbrushes to give out to the children. That’s right,
they have no toothbrushes. What a great initiative. Jason is
very involved in Children’s charity work in Cambodia.
The only way to top off this most awesome challenging day
of riding is to jump from a ledge into a waterfall. No worries
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Tony all good, yes it’s deep enough. I followed Leng over but
I reckon I have 20kg on him which sprung to mind as I just
touched the bottom. I just sat under pumping waterfalls for
about an hour just letting the shoulders take a pounding.
It had been about 200km of solid riding. A big day in
anyone’s world. My notes say if you did not have a lot of
experience, you would need a lot of motivation and fitness. I
am glad my condition was not too bad, which I know helped
me plenty. We ride into a large town called Koh Kong. The
boys settle around the ute for a couple of beers (0.50c per
can) and discuss the day’s ride. I take off my boots and I
notice heat rash around my ankles from all the sweat and a
bit of swelling. Unfortunately this will haunt me later.
Hey MM, where are you off to? Oh sorry, I didn’t see the
lady masseuse. A short time later MM is letting all the
stacks fade away, at a cost of $6 per hour. I prefer the
waterfalls myself.
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The wedding
After conquering the previous day, I was feeling
pretty well on my game. But, then came Friday and
we were told we were in for about 300km of dirt.
Now 300km on an XR250 is not easy, no matter
where you ride the thing. Let me tell you, this day
was going to hurt all of us. Keg, WAM and Novice
Scotty were all up today with the rest of us. There
was no alternative route.
The gravel ride over the Cardamon Mountains was
not too bad a start to the day. Steep as hell though,
which resulted in my XR running like an old bull, due
to the altitude. Like many areas we had seen,
Cambodia is developing. And this means vast
amounts of natural jungle is being mowed down. In
this case we are talking about dams and hydro power.
We rode in through quarries where they were
blasting out fill, rode over huge bridges under
construction, passed several dams being worked on.
It was truly very busy and when a few trucks came
along, you literally due to the thick dust, could not
see a thing. Meanwhile just over to the side, you are
looking at serious thick jungle. Wheelie commented
that last time he came through, the area was indeed
all jungle.
We stopped for a pic on an uphill grade. DRZ came
flying up, finishing with a big skid which
unfortunately for him resulted in another fine…gees I
like free beer.
We continue on for several hours and then we are
riding through some tight track surrounded by
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bananas. Had a real good run through here following
PM, which ended with a village on the horizon. Time
for lunch. Well you should see us, dust, from head to
toe. I was literally covered it in and chewing on the
stuff.
The afternoon session saw us enter another village,
but as I approached there were several colourful
tents up and there were literally hundreds of people
dressed up in their Sunday best. What the hell is
going on here? Middle of nowhere, Friday arvo,
interesting I thought. There is an entry point and we
are all welcomed off our bikes and guided through.
They give us a gift lolly treat as we enter. Sit down,
beer is put in my hand and food put on the table. The
beer could be colder, but hey I have been gargling
dust all day. I then get handed a glass with ice in it
and my beer is poured in. People are coming up
shaking my hand and toasting. Wow, this is great.
How hospitable are these people? Yes, you may have
guessed, we had stumbled into a wedding. Food and
beer on board, we decide to make a contribution to
the happy couple’s slush fund. I had noticed a book
running at the entrance.
How would Australians treat a group of Cambodian
motorcyclists if they wandered into a Sydney
wedding?
We quickly came up with a wedding present - $100 and went on our way.
It was truly a lovely experience.
Scenes from a Cambodian wedding.
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We move on from the wedding
feeling fresh, however the afternoon
shift was going to turn into Man v.
Trail. Basically we rode through an
area which consisted of huge
washouts and whoops, but this went
on for several hours. Throw in some
sand and fading light and things
suddenly became a little more
challenging. You could be just
cruising along with reasonable vision
when suddenly one of these
washouts appeared. But they were
deep, so if you were caught it was
going to bite. This is where fatigue
does not help matters. The whole
area which wound its way around
the base of a mountain range goes
under during wet season. It was
during a small drink break, an old
local comes putting down the track
on his trusty 100cc scooter, weaving
and manoeuvring around 2-3 feet
deep washouts. I watched and
thought, ‘I am on a trail bike, fully
armoured up… harden up son and
get going’.
The sheer length of the day was
taking its toll on all of us. On one
particular occasion I saw Wam cut
back onto the main track to just
miss hitting Wheelie, who was
accelerating from a standing start. I
watched and thought, ‘Gees imagine
if we had a bingle out here’. No
chance of the trusty support vehicle
helping out where we were. There
will be a heap of video footage
including this close call.
I estimate I have consumed
approximately 5-6 litres of fluid for
the day and then I hear we still have
a bit over 100km to go. Gees….
We pushed on and pulled up at the
ever reliable orange roadside drink
stop. No cold beer. You see I was
currently riding with Keg and Wam.
So Leng performed a wonderful
piece of magic. He obtains a big
block of ice and then spends the
next 10 minutes with a can of beer
in each hand, continually rolling the
cans over the ice. The result is a
reasonably cold beer, which by this
time of the day was very much
deserved. Thanks again Leng, Keg
really needed that beer.
We finally hit the black stuff as we
approach the city of Battambang
and what better way to finish off
300km in the dirt, than with a
frantic bit of night riding. Yes Friday
night in city traffic with 10 XRs
powering in and out of traffic. Great
stuff.
PM had to take to the dirt shoulder
when a two-up scooter simply pulled
across in front of him: the rider
didn’t see him.
“I had to go around or I would have
gone through,” PM said later. “I’m
just glad no-one was walking along
the edge of the road just there…”
We made it to our hotel but our
support vehicle was still some way
behind. So straight down to the
pool, have a shower and I dive in.
Fantastic. Might just swim over to
the pool bar and partake in a quiet
ale. What a day.
It truly was a huge day and I must
say well done to the all the boys. No
major offs or injuries.
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Onto Siem Reap
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Saturday morning we vote to crack out 2 hours
on the black stuff for our ride up to Siem
Reap.
Motorbikes here are the sole mode of
transport and people just get everything done
on their bike, no matter what the load.
How about a motorbike with a trailer
attached, which contains 6 full size pigs
already cooked. They were obviously heading
for one of the many parties that evening for it
was Chinese New year.
So we are powering along the black stuff
before we pull into a servo for some fuel and a
drink. I am keen for a choc hit, but the best I
can find is a whole packet of cakes. Now all I
will say is, I thought I could simply purchase
one of the cakes. When I reached the register
I was told I would have to buy the whole tray
of 24 cakes. The cost was $2.50US, so all good.
I cable tied them around the handlebars and
for the rest of the ride I would cruise up
alongside various bikes or vehicles and offered
the cakes to the kids. Awesome video footage
and you should have seen their faces. They put
their hands together as in praying and bow,
thanking me.
Short day in the saddle as we arrive at Siem
Reap. As I dismount my bike for the last time,
I think about the ground covered over the last
week. The people, sites and the sheer
challenge of the ride itself can only be
described as fantastic. All the fellas have
formed a close bond and it will be weird not to
get up and go riding tomorrow.
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Angkor Wat & Surrounds
I am now off to the Angkor area.
Known as the Angkor period where
the Khmer people ruled by Kings, saw
a dysnasty from mid 9th Century to
the mid 14th century. During this time
not only were they in control of what
we know as Cambodia, but the empire
also stretched into Siam (Thailand)
and Vietnam. And what do kings with
power normally do? Well they use
slaves to construct magnificent
temples. The Angkor area has around
500 temples, but the World Heritage
Listed #1 tourist attraction is the
Angkor Wat temple. You have to see it
to believe it.
Briefly it was constructed over a
period of 37 years between 1113AD and
1150AD. Wat meaning like church,
Angkor the place, sometimes referred
to as the City of Buddhists. But
initially the Temple was dedicated to
Hinduism, before they changed their
beliefs to Buddhism. And how do we
know this? Well the magnificent
carvings along hundreds of metres of
stone which tell all the stories. These
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stones though are huge and they were
floated in small canoes from far away
places. Angkor Wat has a full water
moat surrounding it which is
approximately 5.6km and it would be
an easy 50 metres plus across. All this
dug out by hand. It truly is
unbelievable.
You may have seen pictures of Angkor
Wat at sunrise. The sun comes up
from behind and the temple is
reflected in the moat. It truly is
something worth seeing. We also
visited the Ta Prohm temple. This is a
temple that has been eaten up by the
jungle vines. In more recent times this
location was used in the filming of
Tomb Raider.
But what happened back in the 14th
century? Well some say big storms
broke the Angkor reign, however it
was the invasion of the Siam (Thai)
people who drove the Khmer people
out. So there is a period of 300-400
years where the temples were basically
left, many unattended and generally
not maintained. It was not until the
1850’s when the French arrived, that
the magnificent Angkor area was put
back on the World Map. There are
now many United Nations projects
being undertaken where other
countries sponsor restoring the
temples.
Angkor Wat was able to escape
deteriorating like many of the other
temples, due to it having the moat
which stopped the marching jungle.
Fantastic, could spend days there.
I sit down in an English theme bar in
Siem Reap called the Yellow
Submarine….yes it is a Beatles bar. I
talk to Jason Thatcher at length about
his Vietnam Motorbike tours
and the Cambodian operation. Basically he can
accommodate and plan whatever sort of
motorbike tour you would like to do.
Cycle Torque had a ball last year in Vietnam and
this trip for me has reached greater heights. Jason
mentions to me, that later this year he has an all
female group riding motorbikes around Vietnam.
We discuss his involvement with the Cambodia
Children`s Fund over a period of 4-5 years. More
recently he has been involved with SISHA, South
East Asia Investigations Into Social And
Humanitarian Activities. In short, human
trafficking.
Yes there are many problems in this third world
country. The people appear to have very little, but
we were always greeted with a smile and a wave. I
certainly return to Australia knowing that I am a
lucky man, but I think I will appreciate everything
much more. It is a credit to Thatcher, an
Australian businessman working in Cambodia,
who devotes so much of his time and money to
help the Khmer people.
Thanks for the great ride Jason and hope to see
you soon. All riders received a sculptured glass
trophy with a bike and number 1 upon it from
www.cambodiamotorbiketours.com. Very nice.
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Angkor Wat just after dawn.
Above: Tourists are everywhere, but Angkor Wat is a big place. Right: Ta Prohm, where the vines are reclaiming the temples.
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