January 17, 2013

Kampot and Sihanoukville are 105km apart so we tried really hard to go to bed early, but the western backpacker’s guesthouse next door was blasting music until midnight. Not just an annoying variety, but the same two songs, over and over and over, for hours. When we woke up at 530am, Chandler and I actually discussed our mutual dreams of cutting the power or throwing the stereo into the river. Despite our annoying neighbors, we woke up in good moods and ready for a long day.

We had already scoped out the restaurants and knew who would be open early for breakfast, a bakery in Kampot. We also picked up some cinnamon rolls for later.

The riding was great outside of town. Finally, we had a tailwind and were flying without too much effort. We passed through a few cute fishing villages.

Fishing boat fishing

Bikes looking good

One of the more interesting things I have noticed is that the further south we’ve traveled in Cambodia, the more Muslims and mosques we see. I thought Cambodia was only really a Buddhist country. The people are just as friendly and curious about us as anyone else.

The road was in pretty decent shape with a few stretches of highway widening construction. The shoulder disappeared when we hit the intersection of the two highways. Not too big of a deal because there was flat, dirt trail adjacent the road which was partially packed by motos.

Sugar cane lady and friends

Whenever we have a really big ride, I try to mentally prepare myself beforehand. I knew there was a 6km hill right at the end of the ride, just north of Sihanoukville. I began imaging this one hill would be worse than the combination of the three hills we did outside of Sangkhlaburi. While there wasn’t any shade or a shoulder, so we were in the road, this 100 meter hill was a piece of cake. The best part was coasting down hill to town.

The globe seems a little off

Overall it was a pretty easy ride despite being one of our longer distances – tailwinds rock!

We found a nice hotel, cleaned up and headed straight for the beach where we watched the sunset and enjoyed a pile of crab. Second dinner included pizza and pineapple shakes before relaxing in our room with some TV.

Sunset