Cambodia by Bike – Siem Reap to Sihanoukville

August – September 2008.
By Brad Taylor

In the fall of 2007 Averyl (my wife) and I decided to do a big trip, not an all-inclusive type of trip but more of an adventure travel type of trip. A few months of research we decided to do a van supported bike ride across Cambodia, from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville, through GAP Tours. Our adventure would begin on August 21 and would see us back in Toronto on September 11, 2008.

Our trip would begin with a 15 hour, direct flight, into Hong Kong with a two hour layover before a connecting flight to Ho Chi Minh City, where we would then catch another short flight into Siem Reap, Cambodia. However, our 15 hour flight turned into a 17.5 hour flight as a typhoon swept through Hong Kong the day before and closed the airport. This misfortune however, allowed us to spent the night in Hong Kong (and see some of the city) before catching our flight into Vietnam the following day.

Upon our arrival in Siem Reap, we were disappointed to discover that our luggage didn't. It was a good thing that our trip didn't start for another three days as we had time to get to the old market (Phsar Chas) to buy some clothes before our luggage arrived.

Having the extra three days was great as it allowed us to explore Siem Reap on our own and do a side trip to the Floating Forest just on the outskirts of town.

After three days spent exploring Siem Reap, and hazy nights at Temple Club, Angkor What and Dead Fish Tower, we met our tour guides and got fitted up with the bikes we had rented. Our tour began the following day with three days of guided tours through the Angkor National Park.

The next morning as we set out to see the Angkor National Park, we discovered that we weren't the only ones to miss connecting flights. The other three people on our tour had not made it in yet so we had a guide to ourselves as we set out.

After riding 6km to the gate to the park, we got our Angkor 3-day pass and continued riding on towards Ta Prohm (the Angelina Jolie Temple from Tomb Raider).

Ta Prohm is magnificent! It's surrounded by lush jungle and towering trees, you almost miss it when you approach as it's so camouflaged. The outer area of the complex is not in the best of shape as a number of the walls have collapsed over time or under the weight of the trees growing on them.

The next day we rode from our hotel into the Central Angkor Thom area to view the Baphuon, the Bayon and the Terrace of the Elephants. The Baphuon was interesting to see as was the view from the Terrace of the Elephants but the real prize was the Bayon. The Bayon is surrounded by 37 standing towers and is covered with 215 stone faces of King Jayavarman VII. The bas-reliefs here are also breath taking, dictating historical Khmer events and battles.

From Angkor Thom we arrived at Angkor Wat, the jewel of the Angkor National Park. The first think that struck me about Angkor Wat is the sheer size of it; it's approximately 1 square kilometre! Our tour guide walked us around the main complex explaining the stories (such as the "churning the sea of milk") depicted in the bas-reliefs on the outer wall of the inner complex. Once we entered the inner complex we were disappointed to discover that the upper main spires were being repaired so we were not allowed to climb up and into them. After wandering around through the four libraries it was time for dinner and an authentic Apsara (Khmer Traditional) dance show.

On our last day in Siem Reap we were up at 5am to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat! It was spectacular, the pictures and video I shot don't seem to do it justice as the colours were incredible.

From Angkor Wat, we made our way out to Banteay Srei, a temple quite off the beaten path but well worth the journey.

After our time in Siem Reap our real adventure began bicycling down to Sihanoukville on the Southern coast of Cambodia.

From Siem Reap we rode to Kompong Cham, the capital city of Kampong Cham Province, where we stayed in a pretty rundown hotel on the banks of the Mekong River.

From Kampong Cham we rode into the capitol city of Cambodia, Phnom Phen where we stayed for two days to see the city and rest before the next leg of the trip. Phnom Phen is a very large and dirty city that has quite a dangerous feel to it. We didn't really enjoy Phnom Phen however we did manage to get out and see the Russian Market, Elsewhere Bar, Heart of Darkness, The National Museum and the FCC.

From Phnom Phen we began the ride down to Takeo. This was a 70 km ride through a very non-tourist area of Cambodia. We met a lot of really nice Khmer families on this ride as the kids would wave and yell hello as we rode by and the families would all come out to see us as we stopped for water.

While on route to Takeo we got to see some of the darker side to Cambodia and its history. We stopped and toured the Killing Fields on the outskirts of Phnom Phen. What a sombre experience that was. We had already caught a glimpse of the civil war that ravaged the country as we passed C1 105-mm Howitzer guns abandoned in the fields. Taking all this in, it really is amazing how friendly the Khmer people are after the atrocities of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.

I'm really not sure why our tour brought us to Takeo, other than the ride, as there wasn't anything to see or do. Averyl and I did try and take a walk around but after a nice conversation with a monk, we decided that the town was pretty shady to be so we went back to our hotel.

The next morning we departed Takeo, all too happy to leave, and rode on to Kampot. The remainder of the biking was breath taking was we rode through incredible back country through plots of rubber trees and peanut fields. This was definitly the worst road I've ever been on. The dust on the road was about an inch thick and we were caked in it when the ride was over.

We arrived in Kampot, a beautiful little town situated on the Kampot river shadowed by the Bokor Mountains. With a day to spend resting in Kampot, we took some time to get messages at the Seeing Hands (a massage school for the blind) while enjoying the view of the mountains.

The ride towards Sihanoukville from Kampot was to be our last. It started out nice but as we rode further we began to enter the mountains before arriving at the coast. We passed through a number of rice fields and little harbours before the ride got to tough and we jumped in the van for the remained of the ride.

Sihanoukville is a rather large port town on the gulf of Thailand and doesn't really have a whole lot to offer tourists other than the beaches and islands. We spent our last day with our tour taking a trip out to snorkel off one of the island in the gulf. The snorkelling was incredible, so many different types of fish and the colours of the rock and coral were so vivid.

Our tour was to end by heading back in Phnom Phen by bus, but we had four days left before our flight so we decided to stay in Sihanoukville instead of returning to Phnom Phen. We spent one of the days taking a day trip out to Ream National Park in hopes of seeing wild tigers! Of course we didn't see any, but I did get to swim under a waterfall where all the king cobra snakes like to stay away from the sun... Not the most comforting of feelings...

We also got to witness one of the most incredible thunder storms I've ever seen. It poured for about 14 hours straight blowing up out TV and knocking out power for a few hours.

After a scary bus ride back to Phnom Phen (swerving every 50 feet to avoid dogs) we were onto our plane destined for Seoul, Korea, to transfer onto our flight back to Toronto.

Cambodia was one of the most memorable trips I've ever been on and am dreaming of the day when I can go back. I'd highly recommend going to see it first hand.

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