From Ban Lung to Stung Treng: And back to relaxing

February 6, 2015

The next morning our groovy gang dispersed. Caroline and Maite were cycling the same way as me, at least for a little while, and it would have been nice to cycle with them. I didn't, though, because they left at 6:00am and at that sort of hour not even cycling with two cute French girls can beat a good lie-in in a comfortable bed. I took my time, had a lazy morning, a final meal in the restaurant, and finally left at 14:00pm.

24 hours later and I was settled in another guesthouse 145 kilometres away in the next town of Stung Treng. Up until very recently cycling across Cambodia must have been a difficult and adventurous undertaking on bad dusty roads, but these days there is a newly built modern one. I had a smooth, paved surface with a good shoulder, little traffic, flat terrain, and a strong tailwind to blow me along. It was pretty much perfect cycling. Or it would have been if the locals hadn't covered the shoulder with that stupid white vegetable, forcing me into the traffic lane.

There were lots of these Guy Fawkes style scarecrow people outside of homes along the way. I don't know why. This one was a bit politically incorrect

There were also lots of 'controlled' fires along the way. There was nobody actually controlling them though, so it's a wonder they don't get out of control

Ah, come on, I don't need this in my bike lane! I think it's tapioca root, by the way

In contrast to Ban Lung, in Stung Treng I avoided the backpacker area down by the Mekong and instead took a room in a quiet guesthouse a little further out. I ended up staying here three nights, partly because I was feeling a little sick with a sore throat, but mostly because I was feeling lazy. It felt good to do nothing.

The view from my guesthouse wasn't bad either

There isn't so very much to say about Stung Treng and it doesn't have an awful lot to offer, other than to watch the sunset over the Mekong, which I didn't do. One interesting thing I noticed when I was walking around the town was that I was the only one walking. It was quite a dangerous activity, matter of fact, to try and walk around Stung Treng, because everybody else was on a motorcycle. I tried to work out what this meant, and how it is that in such a very poor country people are still able to move everywhere using fossil fuels. Is it good? Is it bad? Does it mean that they are not actually that poor? Or does it mean they are misspending what little money they have making oil companies rich? These are the kind of thoughts that occupy my mind when I've nothing better to do, and when I'm nearly getting run over with every step.

The trouble with playing badminton outside of course, is that if you reach for a shot you are likely to get hit by a motorcycle

"Oh no, this is Cambodia, we don't walk"

06/02/15 - 57km

07/02/15 - 88km

Today's ride: 145 km (90 miles)
Total: 36,922 km (22,929 miles)

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