January 9, 2013

Another long day with the dreaded headwind, but the weather was cooperating by being cloudy and the road was flat as usual. We had a pretty typical day with lots of waves and hellos in tiny towns. Our arms become practically unhinged from waving when school let out for lunch, releasing a flood of kids on bikes.

School's just letting out

We saw a carnival, but for some reason weren’t interested in going on the rides. Chandler did make a good point that Khmer carnies are probably following the same safety procedures as any other carnies.

Cambodian carnival

We also purchased some flattened rice. The rice is first roasted then smashed by a giant human operated smasher thing. It was fascinating to watch. Now we have to figure out how to eat it.

video of rice smashing

While we were watching some people use said device a young woman approached me. She lifted her leg and showed me a large burn which looked like she had pressed her leg against the exhaust of a motorbike. She started touching it and then holding out her hand or making eating motions. Nope, sorry, no money. So, she tried again. Touching the nasty burn on her leg. No, don’t touch it, gross. Once she realized I wasn’t giving her anything she tried Chandler. She motioned for him to take a photo then asked for money, after showing off the burn. This was the first begging we have experienced outside of the cities. Even though it is clear that the people in the small towns are very poor, most seem to be offering some good or service in an attempt to make a living.

Begging girl

When the sun finally came out, it made up for lost time with its intensity. We had to take a break. We stumbled on a “rest area” a few miles from Kampong Thom. The place had a restaurant and souvenir shop. It seemed like the kind of place that tour buses dump off people to used the bathroom midway between Phnom Penh and Some Reap. We had a few iced coffees and surprisingly good local fish and chips.

Kampon Thom is a decent size town that is new to tourism, so there are menus with English but we couldn’t find anywhere with Internet. There are a number of temples outside of town that have been cleared of mines and are becoming more popular. We ended up at a nice hotel that allowed us to bring the bikes inside and store them in the lobby. The most apparent attractions in town were two parallel bridges, one old one that the French built and a newer steel bridge that the Australians financed right next to each other.

Sunset on the bridge

There wasn’t a whole lot to do, so we ended up watching some Australian cable and passed out.

January 8, 2012

We woke up feeling good and decided we could finally try to leave town. We had intended to stay three days, and were there a week. Half the hotel staff came out to say goodbye. They also gave us two beautiful scarves as presents! If you are ever in Siem Reap, stay at the Ta Som guesthouse right on the highway. Very friendly, helpful staff and free breakfast.

The owner of Ta Som told us there is a guesthouse in Kampon Kdei, so that was were we decided to go. Once we were out of town, a loud clicking noise started coming from my bike, consistent with each peddle stroke. I had heard it before Siem Reap, but it wasn’t especially noticeable then. Chandler took a turn riding my bike, checked the derailleur and tightened the crank, but nothing helped. Without a great place to dismantle the bike we pressed on.

What are they collecting?

The guesthouse in Kampong Kdei was easy to find and for $5, the price was right. Chandler went to get us something cold to drink and I tried to take a shower. The water was cold, so I washed all the sunscreen, sweat and dust off my arms when everything started to smell kind of funny. I put my face under the water and suddenly I could place the smell. Pee. The water smelled like pee. Awesome. Now I probably smelled like pee too. Guess that is enough shower for me. Chandler opted to just take one the next day.

Streetview

Caught him kicking his shoe off

Kampon Kdei is a one horse town. Didn’t seem like there was a lot going on besides a wedding and the old men playing chess in the restaurant were we ate lunch. The market wasn’t even bustling as they are in most towns. The weddings in Cambodia are very loud affairs. From what we can tell, a tent is set up beside the street and everything is broadcast over loudspeaker, the prayers, the music, everything. The wedding across the street was so loud, we couldn’t carry on a conversation during lunch.

After lunch, we set about fixing my bike. A little boy came to help. Chandler took apart my crank and cleaned the bottom bracket bearings while I finally patched my tire. Luckily for me, I didn’t have to pump the tire back up. Our new friend insisted upon doing it himself.

My helper

Once he realized we were willing to socialize with him, he wanted to entertain us. Chandler got a tour of the fruit trees across the street, in english, twice! He got a praying mantis for us to take photograph. That poor bug got tortured by the kid. He spread out its wings and arms for us to see. He killed ants and tried to force feed them to the bug, which it actually did participate in, occasionally also biting the kids finger. The worst moment was when he stuck bug’s head in a bottle cap full of water so the bug could have a drink.

Praying for help Mantis

He was forced to leave the mantis when it began raining. This was the first real rain we have seen since arriving in Asia. Puddles formed quickly and the dusty road was soon very muddy. We retreated to our room to read and play several rounds a rummy. After a while we got hungry and walked over to a restaurant. The town didn’t have any streetlights, so it was very dark. The wedding was still going on, with the knob on the amplifier welded at 11. We had a nice meal and Chan had a few beers, while we peered out into the dark with the torrent continuing, blasting away on the tin roof. At this point we awarded Kampong Kdei with the award as the “Loudest Town of All (so far)”.

Rainy day

January 7, 2013

The alarm went off three times before Chan was able to drag himself out of bed and turn on the light. We got dressed and were out the door by 545am. The temples were a few kilometers away from our guesthouse. My stomach was a little upset, but I assumed that was just due to hunger. We made it to Angkor Wat and found a spot on some rocks as the first rays of light were coming up.

The sunrise was beautiful, as everyone said it would be. We headed back to the guesthouse for breakfast so we could hit the road. My rear tire has a slow leak and I had forgot to pump out up yesterday, so it was slow going. About half way back, I felt something rumble in my stomach. Oh no. That can’t be good.

As Chandler ate breakfast, I got sick again. We just can not leave Siem Reap. I took a Cipro also and began to feel better after a few hours.

Playing in the dark

Tomorrow, we will be leaving Siem Reap…hopefully.

January 6, 2013

Another couple of cycling tourists checked into our guesthouse. They managed to catch us at breakfast and joined us. It was really nice chatting with them. They had been on the road for 18 months, starting in England and had traveled almost completely overland. They had a lot of great advice, including taking some Ciprofloxacin for Chan’s continued stomach bug.

Whatever we caught was hard to shake but we decided to do a short ride to see the silk farm outside of town. The farm is pretty cool and they give a free tour of the entire operation.

The process begins with moths laying eggs. When the baby caterpillars hatch they will eat only mulberry leaves.

Moth laying an egg

Silk caterpillar

When the caterpillars turn yellow they are ready to be transferred to a basket to make their cocoons. They make their cocoons from a single strand of silk that they spin around themselves hundreds of times.

Spinning silk cocoons

Only 20% of the caterpillars are allowed to reach adulthood to make more caterpillars. The cocoons are left out in the sun, and then boiled to kill the caterpillar inside, otherwise they would destroy the silk when emerging from the cocoon. Apparently, the little dead bugs make a delicious snack and aren’t wasted. Our guide ate a few, but Chandler and I weren’t up to the challenge. The boiled silk are then spun together to make threads for weaving.

Making thread

The natural cool of the silk is yellow, so it is usually then bleached and dyed. The last step is weaving the silk into beautiful scarves or other fabric.

Weaving

Unfortunately, the tour guide rushed us through the tour rather impatiently as we came right before lunch. We would have liked to linger and take more photos of the process. It was still really cool and I’m glad we took the time to go to the silk farm.

January 4 – 5, 2013

Well it was bound to happen. The god of the porcelain bowl came calling, demanding repentance. Chandler got attacked in the evening and spent the night in the bathroom. I thought I was in the clear until I got hit the next morning. It was not fun. We spent the next day resting and recovering our energy. Chandler did manage to get a few chores done and by the evening I was able to join him.