Indo-China on 8 Wheels

Angkor Wat and other temples nearby

List of temples visited:

1) Angkor Wat - main temple. Beautiful, must see

2) Angkor Thom (see the Elephant Terrace)

3) Banteay Srey Temple (the pink one)

4) Ta Phrom Temple (aka the jungle temple, aka the Angelina Jolie temple)

Recommended for seeing sunset: Bahkeyn temple - must climb to the top, allocate time to get to the top

A Final List

After returning back to my own bed and hot showers, I’ve had some time to reflect on the trip and here are my top 10 (+bonus) favorite moments/things.

-Karen

1. S-21/Killing Fields/Landmine Museum: I have to admit that I was pretty ignorant about Cambodia’s history before the visit. I quickly crammed by watching “The Killing Fields”, reading about its history in my $3 guide book and hearing a first hand account from our tour guide. Despite having a cool name, the Khmer Rouge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge) and Pol Pot (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot) claimed 1.5-2 million (out of 7 million) Cambodian lives in the 70’s. The country is still repairing itself from this tragedy as we learned there are still 6 million active landmines - one of the worst landmine problems in the world.  We visited S-21 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuol_Sleng_Genocide_Museum), a school turned into a prison where 17,000 inmates were captured and tortured. Only 5 survived and the rest were buried in the Killing Fields, almost 400 sites throughout Cambodia. The visit to S-21 was depressing but necessary as I gained much respect for Cambodians who are survivors and who are always smiling and happy despite their devastating history.

2. Biking: 350 miles and three countries through various terrains. From riding with a face mask to block out the dust in Cambodia, to learning about rubber trees, to riding with motorbikes through the city, every mile was exciting and everyday I wanted to ride more. As we rode by villages and cities, kids would be excited to scream “Hello”, wave and run after us as if we were celebrities and never once did it get old.

3. Food: Food was one of the things I was looking forward to the most before the trip and it didn’t disappoint. Despite being “whited”, we still had our fair share of deliciousness: Milo energy bars, spiders/beetles I didn’t eat, noodles, breakfast buffets, morning  glory, chilies, curries, amok, fruit juices (esp lime), pho… Favorite Restaurants: Banh Thai, AHA Cafe, Amok and Hoi An. Favorite Breakfast: Westin. Overall weight gain: 4 pounds.

4. School Visit: It was just an hour but visiting a grade school in a small village on our last day in Thailand was one of the most rewarding experiences of the trip. We were greeted with such excitement as if they have never seen foreigners before. The kids spoke very little English and were a bit shy but  warmed up to us quickly especially to JuAnne who taught the students the English words for body parts including “feet”.

5. My Travel Companions: The line before the trip in spending 2 weeks with Danny, Rahul and JuAnne - 2 doghouses for Rahul, 2 grumpy days for each person and at least 3 fights. Instead, we had zero instances of each and we became closer friends though anti-social with the rest of the group at times. “Wherever you are, whatever you do, I will be right here waiting for you…” This trip ranks on the top of my vacation power rankings and only because of Team Indochina on 8 wheels  - the laughs, the tumbles/tweets, the investigative reports and …

6. Big 2: What every day revolved around. How many games can we fit in? What kind of dares could we come up with? Danny and Rahul getting 39 points, the look on Rahul’s face when he was holding all 13 cards, Danny dancing on the bar, Rahul eating the chili, the day it came down to 2 cards with Rahul losing, Rahul smelling Danny’s stinky gloves, Rahul’s poor negotiation skills, the free dinners…

7. New Year’s Eve: The night everyone rallied. Dragging our feet while dodging motorbikes through the streets of Saigon, we were exhausted after 2 bars and a coffee shop before midnight. At midnight, we counted down at the opera house and were ready to call it a night until JuAnne took the leadership position and rallied everyone to the next bar. Soon, shots of jacks were being downed instigaged by a Danny I didn’t recognize. We ended up closing out Sheridan’s and Apocalyspe Now and to Danny’s and Amy’s dismay we didn’t make it til 6am but came pretty close to it.


8. The Simple Life: We took a boat to a couple fishing villages in Cambodia and Vietnam and observed the real “simple life”, unlike Danny’s interpretation of it, where families lived with bare necessities on a floating house. I felt very blessed about the luxuries I have and it was humbling to see how happy they were leading such a simple life and inspired me to lead a less extravagant life - though I’ll still need Wifi.

9. Our Tour Guides: Our tour leader Joe and the regional tour guides - Bund-dito, Sam and Tom answered all our annoying questions about corruption, how they feel about America and personal questions we would ask about their own lives and also provided us with words of wisdom (“No money, no honey”). All of them spoke good English and were honest and genuine in providing us valuable insight into their culture and their countries’ history. I will especially remember Sam, who was passionate and proud of Cambodia despite witnessing the horrors of the Khmer Rouge. Hanging out with them outside the tour bus, on and off the bikes (Joe drafting behind a motor bike/bus) brought good times as well.

10. Angkor Wat: The must-see on all visitors list in Cambodia, this ranked low on my final list but it would be a sin not to include Angkor Wat and the 6 neighboring temples we visited on the list. Angkor Wat was powerful, the carvings were lavish and the jungle temple illustrated the power of nature but after all the visits, I was pretty templed out. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with how Angkor Wat has sold out by charging $20 a day and is in poor condition (http://indochinaon8wheels.tumblr.com/post/67646592/the-man). The return visit to Angkor Wat at 5:30am: Sunrise FAIL.

11. The Westin in Bangkok: I miss the Westin.

Until the next one….

After one last bowl of pho at 5am at the Saigon airport followed by a round of dim sum at the Hong Kong airport, it was time to go back to clean bathrooms, hot water showers and mosquito free rooms. The trip was a great way of seeing the countries on and off the beaten path. I certainly have learned more than I can remember about the history and the people of these countries. For example, in Thailand boys are given a certain number of trial attempts of living the life of a monk before they are no longer accepted as monks. Raw rubber from the tree smells like dirty socks. A school bus in the village was a pickup truck packed with kids in the back. Cambodia imports almost everything including electricity and therefore prices are more expensive than Thailand. The edges of the large palm leaves (or some other tree?) are sharp enough that the were used as machetes in the killing fields. Floating village in Cambodia had schools, pool halls and even a basketball court. Floating houses in the Mekong are hooked up with antennas as everyone has at least one TV. Each boat in the floating food market ties the produce sold on a pole to anyone can see from afar. In Saigon, people celebrate New Year’s Eve by getting on their motos and cruising around town in what seems like crawling traffic.
Good times. Until the next adventure….. -JuAnne

Joe, our bike guide

He wears smiley socks and USPS bike shirts. He loves drafting behind any moving vehicle to gain some distance. He occassionally races with us on the road and loves to cycle ss much as we do! His typical day with us on this trip goes about like this: Joe, we want to eat what you’re having. Joe, can you get us some coffee in the snack kitty? Joe,can we skip a temple so we can make it back before the artisan shp closes? Joe, where can we find coconut chips and dried durian? Joe, can I get your scrabble board for the bus ride? I don’t know how he put up with all our questions but he definitely took care of us on this trip. He even took us bar hopping on New Year’s Eve and showed us his moves to Ice Ice Baby. - JuAnne

The Journey

If you had told me 2 weeks ago that I would have biked this whole way without riding in the “Waaambulance”, I would not have believed you.  Here’s a quick-n-dirty summary of our trip:

Day 1: 20 km/13 mi - Thailand - warm-up ride through Khao Yai National Park, temple stop.
Day 2: 95 km/60 mi - Thailand - through the backroads, Budhist temple stop
Day 3: 70 km/44 mi - Thailand - 8 km. rolling hills, rubber trees
Day 4: 90 km/56 mi - Thailand - hardest day, reservoir, local school stop, fresh market
Day 5: 40 km/25 mi - Cambodia - cross border and ride to Siem Riep
Day 6: 30 km/19 mi - Cambodia - Angkor Wat temples
Day 7: 70 km/44 mi - Cambodia - Angkor Wat temples, landmine museum
Day 8: no bike - Cambodia - spider eating day, bus journey to Phnom Penh
Day 9: no bike - Cambodia - S-21 Genocide Museum, Killing Fields, Royal Palace
Day 10: 40 km/25 mi - Cambodia - bike to border of Vietnam, night boat tour
Day 11: 50 km/31 mi - Vietnam - backroads of Vietnam, homestay night at local village
Day 12: 40 km/25 mi - Vietnam - narrow path through local villages, over bridges
Day 13: no bike - Vietnam - explore Saigon
Day 14: go home

- Rahul