Day 29: Preah Vihear City - Sra´Aem - Frankie goes to.....Indochina

January 21, 2018 to January 22, 2018

Day 29: Preah Vihear City - Sra´Aem

Routing: #62

What does make a day on a bicycle a good or a less good one? Sunshine or rain? Head- or tailwind? Shoulder yes or no? The scenery? The destination itself? From my own experience any of these factors may have considerable impact on the final assessment but in the end it all depends on one other question: expectations met or not? Today could only become a decent day as I did not expect anything - neither from the ride itself nor from Sra´Aem as my chosen destination.

"Why did you pick that route then?" - is a fair enough question. Most other people come to this remoter part of Northern Cambodia to visit the Preah Vihear temple, which has been subject of a Thai-Cambodian border dispute for ages. The last violence broke out in 2011 with several people getting killed. Visiting the temple is not on my to-do list though, I am up here for another reason. I have read a lot about the recent history of Cambodia trying to understand the beyond-belief atrocities of the Khmer Rouge regime. They did not slaughter people of different ethnic or religious background, which is sick enough, but their very own so to speak. When the Vietnamese invasion in 1978/1979 officially terminated their reign of terror they withdrew to this very northern part of the country and basically continued their doings until the end of the 90s. - And? What has that got to do with riding my bike up here today? - I am simply curious to see whether I can sense why the people responsible for the genocide against the Khmer people could live up here unchallenged for more than 20 years. No idea how that shall happen - probably very reserved or even hostile locals? I will just go and see.

When I left my guesthouse in PVC this morning I did honestly have not much of a clue what the ride would be like, apart from the 80+ km as a distance. There is one recent blog from the same British couple I mentioned a few days ago but they didn´t really answer all of my questions. So here is my own summary: The first 25 km out of PVC were nice. Really nice to Cambodian standards actually: no roadworks, no dust. Plus trees providing some shade and attractive, industrious villages all the way up to the intersection #62/64 where you would turn left for Kaoh Ker/SiemReap or right towards Sra`Aem as I did.

From here the scenery did unfortunately deteriorate to the same lonely monotony like on my first day in Cambodia. At least the road was much better, apart from a 3 km section approx. 50 km from my destination. Heading north meant of course going against the wind which I didn´t mind initially as it gave some relief from the scorching heat. Later into the ride I ran out of steam though, probably because of the heat, probably because of the strong headwind, very likely because of the evil combination of both.

Coming into Sra`Aem I was surprised to see the amount of available guesthouses in this non-descript settlement. I had a look at a couple and did in the end book myself into the Chhouk Tep Guesthouse right in the center as they offered me a corner room (two windows!) on the top floor with an attached balcony for 10 US$. Happy here! Friendly owners and staff, very clean room, good restaurant next door and a typical coffee shop just opposite. Two nights again as I have four more days until meeting Jan in Siem Reap.

As the small restaurant not far from my guesthouse kept their meat and fish on ice I decided to have some of both for breakfast as this might again be my only meal before dinner

....an did continue so for a while. This is one of the typical Cambodian stilt houses.

Happy South Korean cyclist Doin on his 3-years-RTW ride

I certainly prefer this animal story over the gecko/insect one. When I came to the 62/64 intersection I stopped at a stall for a drink. When my helmet moved I thought it had got stuck on a branch until the girls broke out in laughter. I looked up and saw their pet-monkey trying to pull it off me

After that intersection the 62 showed its less attractive face

And certainly didn´t improve the further north I got

Back to colours: This fellow was enjoying his lunch while I was doing the same with my cane juice

Weird! I came along dozens of those brand new bungalows in the middle of nowhere. Must be related to the heavy military presence in this area

If you look at the bike from the front you understand why I make such a fuss about headwind

My second day in Sra`Aem started with answering at least one of my questions: All men in this typical Cambodian coffee shop would have been around in the late 70s and 90s. None of them was reserved or even hostile. Just the opposite. As the whole population up here so far by the way

Sra`Aem High Street. Free trade dominates free flow of traffic. Good!

Same topic as on my previous entry. I can only hope the fish I had last night was not bought here

Preah Vihear City - Sra`Aem. The coming stages should see me stopping in Anlong Veng, Banteay Srei and then Siem Reap

Today's ride: 86 km (53 miles)
Total: 2,312 km (1,436 miles)

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jan houtermansHallo Frank,
ich hoffe, Du nimmst es mir nicht übel, dass ich Dich durch vorschnelle Planung in Annahme, Dein Rückstand sei ein nicht mehr aufzuholender, genötigt habe, an Orten, für welche manch Präsident zu drastischen Worten greifen würde, sollte er sie beschreiben müssen, Deinen Aufenthalt über das landläufig übliche Mass zu verlängern. 2 Tage Preah Vihear ohne Tempel, 2 Tage SraAem, vermutlich 2 Tage am Grabe des Pol Pot in Anlong Veng.

Aber vielleicht hat es ja auch Gutes an sich, hat sich ein ungeplanter Aufenthalt schon häufig als ein Glücksfall erwiesen.
Bis in Bälde
Jan
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6 years ago

Frank RoettgenTo jan houtermansGenau wie Du sagst, Jan. Während die zweite Nacht in PVC eher der Vortagesetappe geschuldet war, habe ich in Sra'Aem "freiwillig" verlängert. Genau das ursprüngliche Kambodscha welches ich garantiert nicht in Siem Reap finden werde. Hab gestern fast den ganzen Tag auf meinem Premium-Balkon gesessen und dem wuseligen Treiben zugeschaut. Klasse! Hattest Du meine Mail gelesen, dass ich mir in SR ein Hotel etwas westlich ausserhalb gebucht habe? Das Angebot war einfach zu verlockend! Bis zum Wochenende! Frank
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6 years ago