Angkor Wat by Bicycle

Siem Reap, Cambodia

April 16-20, 2014

With Eric and Michelle Martin

     Our Cambodian adventure began as we stepped off the bus in the border town of Aranyprathet, Thailand.  We had heard that the border was teeming with scammers waiting to take advantage of confused tourists and made it through without getting conned into one of the entrapreneures offices where they "help" you obtain your Cambodian visa (at an inflated cost, of course).  We got our visas, no problem, and made it through the border in about 3 hours, most of which was spent standing in line in the sweltering heat with our packs.  Once on the other side, in Poipet, Cambodia, we were rushed onto the "free tourist shuttle" that would take us to the bus station where we could purchase our tickets to Siem Reap.  The shuttle took us to a station in the middle of nowhere, with no options to leave... we'd been scammed by a tour company trap!  To make matters worse, the station was pretty much abandoned due to the Cambodian New Year.  Again? Really?  How long does this holiday last? This meant there was no food, and we hadn't eaten in hours and still had a several hour journey ahead of us.  So, we bought our inflated bus tickets and awaited departure.  As we read more about Poipet, it turns out that two tour companies pretty much rule the city through bribes and corruption, and taking their buses is really the only way for a non-local to get out of the city... so we felt better about that.  After a cramped, sweaty 3 hour bus ride in which we were not allowed to open the windows for some reason (at one point the driver actually pulled over, got out of the bus, walked to the back where we had cracked the window, and motioned angrily for us to close it) we arrived in Siem Reap.

     When we arrived, the hostel we had hoped to stay in was fully booked, so we wandered through the allyway until we came across "Motherhome Guest House", which turned out to be the best hostel I have ever stayed in!  Big rooms, nice showers, and a fantastic buffet breakfast including made to order pho.  On our first full day in Siem Reap we took a tuk-tuk to a butterfly sanctuary and to the landmine museum which was eyeopening and moving.  On the way back, we got caught in a downpour!  The driver pulled down the plastic curtains around us, bought himself a poncho, and pushed through the flooded streets!  That night we visited an amazing night market, full of part amazing, part crap, and part smelly fish stalls

     The next day we hopped on the barely functional bikes provided by Motherhouse and braved the city streets and beyond on our journey to the ancient city of Angkor Wat.  On the way we came across some adorable monkeys on the side of the road being fed by both tourists and locals.  Despite my warnings that monkeys are terrifying and mean, we pulled over to check them out.  It wasn't long before one was stealing Kevin's water bottle, and then planted himself on Kevin't bike seat.  When we tried to shoo him off he just laughed at us (okay, maybe not... but only because monkeys can't laugh) and his little monkey friend hissed at us (that part really happened)!  We finally re-took posession of our bikes and continued on our way.  We visited Bayon (in Angkor Thom), Ta Prohm, and Angkor Wat.  On the way back we stopped by a roadside market for a snack of crickets and tiny whole frogs.  The crickets were actually quite tasty, like soy nuts, but the frogs did not get great reviews by Kevin or Eric, the only two brave (?) enough to try them.

     While touring Angkor Wat by bicycle was a truely memorable experience, we did not fully take into account the effects a heat index of 105 degrees has on a person after 8 hours of activity.  We were all beat, and I quickly spiraled downhill from what we think was a combination of heat exhaustion and an adverse reaction to anti-malarials.  Just imagine the worst food poisoning EVER, knowing you have to get on a bus the next day for 11 hours.

     Motherhouse let me stay in the room well past checkout the next day while we awaited our night bus to Sihanoukville.  While advertised as a high end sleeping bus with AC and an on-board toilet, what we got were single-bed sized berths to share that were only about 65 inches long (keep in mind that Kevin is 6'3"), and no toilet.  We did make a bathroom stop in Phnom Penh where I used the most disgusting squat toilet ever!  But don't worry, after you get done the lady who takes your money to use the toilet can also make you a delicious iced coffee, scooping the ice with her bare hands... yummy!  There was a full wet-ones bath on the bus after that experience followed by a sanitzer scrub down.

     Let's just say we were all relieved when that bus ride was over and we arrived at our new beachfront home, Indigo Resort in beautiful Sihanoukville.




Kevin is ready to go!

 

Monkey Devil



Line of tour buses at the entrance to Angkor Thom... this is when it's handy to be on a bike!



Bayon

Handstands in Bayon

Ta Prohm

Angkor Wat

Stairway to the libraries at Angkor Wat

Monks at Angkor Wat

Market in Siem Reap