Back to Bangkok

Well, we have pretty much finished.

We left Cambodia yesterday and cycled over the border into Thailand. It was the strangest thing; as per my previous post, the town on the Cambodian side of the border is pretty remote and we didn't see any other foreigners. But the minute you cross into Thailand there were hordes of tourists, all there to do visa runs and get extensions to their time in Thailand. The differences between the two countries is stark and immediately apparent. Thailand really is pretty first world, with a highly developed infrastructure, excellent roads, highways and so on. The rutted, pot-holed roads we had cycled on in the morning were a memory but so was the peace and quiet, the small friendly villages and frequent sugar cane juice stops.

The rain started pretty much the minute we got over the border so we flagged down a songthaew (jeep) and got a lift to the nearest big town. On arrival it was still raining so we decided to keep going all the way to Bangkok. We arrived about half eight in the evening, loaded up the bikes and, horror of horrors, started the ride to our hotel.

It was the first time we had ridden in Bangkok, and most certainly the last. My heart was going like the clappers and my palms were a hot sweat. Mike had ripped his rear tyre that afternoon and had done a botch patch up job with a bit of plastic from a tube of face cream. It worked suprisingly well but he had had to partially deflate the tyre and also detatch the rear brake so he swerved rather alarmingly as he cycled. We had to go about 5km along one of the busiest roads in town (Sukhumvit, for those who know) and I really did not enjoy myself. At one point another cyclist (the only one we have seen in Bangkok, and who was lit up like a Christmas tree with endless flashing lights which made our single front/rear light seem a little paltry) flew past taking pictures, then stopped up ahead to take a video as we passed. All great fun but yet another obstacle to be avoided.

It was with great relief that we pulled up at our hotel and were told that there was a room and we didn't have to go any further.

So, that's it. The cycling is pretty much done. We notched up 3,500km which seems quite respectable. We will miss it.

Meg and the Princess Prostitutes

Back in Battambang we went to see a circus performance one evening. This was put on by a local charity, which teaches performing arts to poor children in rural Cambodia. It was held in a mini-top down a rutted side street on the outskirts of town, but was actually rather good. The first part featured a couple doing a Khmer version of the tango which was extremely acrobatic and involved a woman in a pretty red dress being launched all over the place. Both children were completely entranced; we described her as a princess and throughout the second half, which was a more sombre though equally acrobatic piece, portraying the horrors of war through dance, Meg continually and loudly asked when the princess would be back.

A couple of days later we were in Pailin, a small town on the border with Thailand with a seriously wild west feel about it; it was one of the last Khmer Rouge strongholds. The bike ride there had taken us up and over some hills; nothing too big mind, but hills all the same. Anyway, when we got there we went off to try and find some food and the only place we could find was a huge almost empty restaurant with a stage on which a solitary man was singing some rather tuneless Cambodian ditty to the distinterested few diners. We sat down for dinner and after a while a woman in a dramatically short dress came on stage and started to sing. Meg was entranced. 'It's the princess' she cried and immediately insisted in going up to the (empty) dancefloor and gazing up at her in raptures, whilst doing a few twirls. Mike felt sorry for her so went to cut some moves on the dance floor with her.

Later, when the song finished, Meg followed the singer around the restaurant, still shrieking 'princessssssssss'. The woman looked very pleased. Mike explained to our waiter that Meg thought the singer was a princess at which he gave him a lewd wink and said, 'princess yes, but also good boom boom girl', the local slang for a lady of the night.

After dinner another woman turned up, in an even shorter skirt and a pair of the highest stilettos, accompanying a couple of Russian business men. No prizes for guessing what she was up to, but again Meg was entranced and as soon as the Russians left, she rushed over and they had lots of cuddles.

The moral of the story; princesses come in all shapes and sizes.

3,340km and counting.......(not that we are bragging)

We chalked up our 3,000th kilometre about a week ago, riding around Angkor Wat and have since added a few to the odometer, bringing us to 3,340km.

Are we proud? Yes.
Are we bragging? Absolutely.
Do we have buns of steel? Clearly.


Truth be told it is fairly easy to chalk up the distance in Cambodia as it is FLAT AS A PANCAKE. There isn't even a ripple in the landscape - Suffolk is like the Himalayas in comparison. It's not really the most interesting cycling either, as it is the end of the dry season so the fields are brown and parched. But we still pass through enough friendly villages where we get cheered on our way to enjoy it. Today, for example, we stopped for some sugar cane juice at a roadside stall, and a few minutes later a woman who spoke English rode up on a motorbike. She lives in Boston but is back visiting her family; half an hour later we were ensconced in her back yard eating mangos freshly picked from the tree.

We are now in Cambodia's second biggest city, Battambang, staying in a snazzy(ish) hotel and enjoying our last couple of days before we head for Thailand and brave the rains. We'll keep you posted.