Okay, where to begin...
I last updated in Phnom Penh, just as I was about to head out on the motorbike tour. It is now Monday the 9th June, and since then I notched up another year in my life. 23 is now what I have to remember when asked my age. And I've already failed at this once.
I arrived in Bangkok safely last night, and am still in awe at Thailand's capital city. I knew it was going to be big and bold and loud, but after spending a month in more laid back countries like Vietnam and Cambodia, Bangkok is proving to be a real shock to the senses. I love it.
I never really thought myself a city boy, but rather grudgingly I think I have to accept that I am, given that I do feel quite at home in big cities like this. I love the remote places too, but there is something reassuring about the buzz of big city lights. Even the computer I'm using now has THE largest monitor in the world. This is a far cry from the motorbike tour of South Cambodia I did last week, which has been the highlight of this trip so far. Here's how it went.
I met the tour operator Bernard the day before starting, and was immediately impressed by this large- charactered French man with heavy French accent to match. In true European (not British) fashion, he was typically carefree and nonchalant, telling me not to worry about this or that, waving his hands with every other word. I met Vuth, my personal guide, who turned out to be one of Cambodia's top off-road bikers, and a complete nut on his bike. This guy was fearless, drifting round corners whilst standing up and racing through what seemed like un-passable roads at lightning speed. I later learned that the only other person to ever beat Vuth in terms of speed and nut-job crazyness on his bike was an off-road rider, who was apparently ranked number one in France. Setting off at 8am, Bernard had just two pieces of advice. One, be careful around Phnom Penh as the drivers have no brains, and two, if you hit anything or anyone, EVEN if it isn't you're fault, DON'T STOP TO SORT IT OUT, JUST DRIVE AWAY AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. This really helped settle my nerves (!) Bernard said this was due to the fact that in Cambodia, the foreigner is always in the wrong, and so diplomacy doesn't work. In the event of trouble, just run. I couldn't help imagining trying to ride off after an accident, perhaps with a broken leg or worse. Shouldn't we at least swap insurance details? Insurance? Not something the Cambodians are familiar with it seems.
But as soon as we hit the open road, all this was forgotten. The bike, a 250cc Honda endurance bike, was much bigger and more powerful than I would have imagined for a 250. The sound of the engine was deep and not disimilar to a small Harley or Ducati. Compared to my 4 cylinder bike at home, which has more of a scream rather than a roar, this smaller enginged V-twin bike made an awesome noise when I twisted the throttle, prompting all smaller Cambodian bikes to quivver in fear, their riders instantly soiling themselves at the sound. In my head at least...
So there I was, riding this fast and very comfortable bike through various Cambodian terrain in the burning sun, with a strong, cool breeze. It was just as I pictured. Off-roading, however, was much harder than I anticipated, and consequently, much more fun than I realised too. At first when we hit some dirt tracks it felt like the bike would flip or lose control over the bumps and holes, but instead, it handled it perfectly. The key, according to Vuth, was confidence. If you hit the uneven terrain slow or tighten up in fear you risk falling. After a while this became more natural, as the back wheel started to drift and I started to get some air over jumps. I fell over once, riding on what I found to be the hardest terrain to master- sand. It looks innocent, but both the front and back wheels find no traction on this surface, and before you know it, the bike is zig-zagging and losing control. Vuth again provided the ironic solution. Go faster. This is hard to do when you've fallen once already and every instinct in your body is telling you to slow down. But it worked.
We rode for a good 10 hours or so that first day, with breaks in between for lunch and drinks. Turns out Vuth also knew and appreciated his food, ordering some very tasty Khmer dishes. Funnily enough, one of the dishes he ordered has been one of the best culinary experiences on this trip too. Funny because it was raw prawns, and I HATE raw food. To me it makes no sense to eat something cold and slimy when it tastes so much better cooked. If you're stranded on an island without matches or Ray Mears, fair enough. But if you got some fire, cook it! BUT, this dish was seasoned and prepared in a way that agrees with my tastebuds. Lots of ginger and chilli, some garlic, spring onion and fish sauce, topped with lime juice. The acid or something scientific cooks the prawns (kinda). Now, I had been forwarned by everyone not to even look at raw or undercooked seafood, so at first I hesitated. But Vuth assured me that it was plucked out of the ocean we were sitting next to minutes before, and so was completely fresh and safe. I'm glad I didn't listen to my instinct telling me not to eat it, because those raw prawns tasted b.e.a.utiful. No exaggeration I swear. Stupidly, I didn't take a photo because when they first appeared on our table, I was not impressed at all. Raw prawns!? And then when I realised how tasty they were, I was too distracted to take photos. Fortunately for you, raw prawns are quite easy to imagine.
A boat trip later and we were on Rabbit Island. Rather foolishly I had visions of a resort hotel, powerful shower and comfy bed. (We were covered, head to toe, in orangy, fine dust- in desperate need of a shower). Ofcourse, Rabbit Island was more like the scene of Castaway. No shower, one squat toilet and a beach hut with what I could only guess to be cockroach poo covering the not so comfy bed. It was r.e.mote. Once I got over the fact that I had to sleep in poo and dust, with no fan let alone air con, I somehow stopped caring. The flipside was that you could see a million stars from the beach, with no light pollution, and only the sound of the waves crashing against the sand that was 10 steps away from my poo bed. It was nice.
The next day Vuth decided I was ready to graduate to medium level roads, and we hit some much harder trails. Twice we had to cross small lakes (actually massive puddles from the rain but lake sounds better), which got me soaked, but I didn't fall in, which would have killed my camera. Given it is rainy season, we also hit some intense rain, which felt like paintballs being fired into my face. Saw one crash on the way home, and nearly had one myself, but survived in the end, tired, smelly, dusty, poo-covered, wet, bruised, battered and shaken, but alive, and very satisfied. I would highly recommended it anyone. And after trying out the buses in Cambodia, bike really is the best way to see the country.
Tomorrow I'm flying to Surat Thani for 4 days of beach, sun and sand. Oh and apparently thousands of other people looking for the same. Score.
In other news, I saw a Tesco advert on TV yesterday. You know you're missing home when the sight of the Tesco logo brings you to tears.
Till next time...
