Cycling the back roads of SE Asia
Monday, February 20, 2023 at 03:05AM
On the Mekong
The roads were sometimes dusty, usually filled with school kids and shoppers, often quite narrow, and alive with motorbikes, tuk-tuks, and old single-speed bikes. But always fascinating. My son-in-law Aaron’s and my biking trip through Cambodia and Vietnam was a wonderful experience.
Sunrise at Angkor Wat
After meeting at the Siem Reap airport, Aaron and I took a couple days to explore the popular tourist attractions in and around the city. (Aaron is a minister on a sabbatical who agreed to join me on this trip.) Using the pleasant Saem Hotel as our base, we toured Angkor Wat temples, Tonle Sap lake area, museums, and the city market areas before starting our week-long organized bike trip with Grasshopper Adventures. The evenings in Siem Reap we spent going to a cultural dance show and Cambodia circus. I had been to Siem Reap in 2009 and had a memorable experience. Blog post here. The city had grown and modernized exponentially, but was still a great place to visit - perhaps even better.
Dancer at cultural show in Siem Reap
On the first day of our seven day tour, we were picked up by our Cambodia guide Siya. A smiling, talkative fellow who would be with us for the first few days, he happily explained food, customs, and jokes and was a great bike mechanic. After a long drive to an area where we set up our bikes, we rode for about 28 miles of very dusty and potholed rural roads, stopping at a set of pre-Angkorian temples known as Sambor Prei Kuk midafternoon. It was one tough ride. The heat and dust were almost overwhelming. Aaron was too tired to eat supper at the lodge that evening. The heat throughout the trip put a damper on my appetite as well.
Bike were set up and taken apart everyday.
The next two days of biking took us through small villages on islands in the Mekong River, mostly on narrow paved roads. Small shops lined the roads, often with racks of large Pepsi bottles filled with gasoline. Cattle walked the streets and pulled carts.Throughout the tour, children and many adults shouted “hello, hello” as we passed by. Fields of rice, fruit trees, and vegetables hugged the roads, often with cattle and field workers in them.
Common site in rural Cambodia
We usually used the grounds of Buddhist temples to set up and take down our bikes and stop for breaks. Friendly monks.
At a small rural Cambodian temple
On day four, I explored the Royal Palace of Phnom Penh and the National Museum before getting loaded onto a boat that took us down the Mekong to Vietnam. Boarding the boat we met our Vietnamese guide, Bao, a cheerful young man who loved showing off his country.
Guide Bao showing a hyacinth mat.
Days five and six we biked about 30 miles each day on much better roads, again mostly in small villages and farmlands on islands. Bao would often stop us at a place to see some local small business person making rice paper, silk weavings, hyacinth woven mats, or sticky rice-filled bamboo leaves. At each stop we were given coffee and a snack by the business owners. We took ferries to cross the rivers - sometimes four a day.
Ferry crossing
Our last day was in Can Tao where we visited a floating market and took a final van ride to Ho Chi Minh City where we were dropped at our hotels midafternoon.
Portable supermarket
Grasshopper Adventures treated us well. The pandemic had crushed the tourist industry for three years and the local guides and drivers were very happy for customers. Our bikes (our were ebikes) were fairly new and performed flawlessly. (Maybe not the riders.) We stopped often to drink water and were treated to a large assortment of fresh fruits midmorning and midafternoon. A beer from the cooler was offered at the end of each ride.
Midmorning and midafternoon snacks - very healthy
Our evenings were spent visiting local restaurants filled with SE Asian cooking. Lots of rice, lots of pork, lots of fresh fish, lots of bok choy, lots of noodle-filled soup. Duck and frog was offered in one place. Served family style, our small group of four could pick and choose the dishes we wished to try. It was a great part of the trip. But by the end of the tour I was craving a hamburger.
Field in Vietnam delta
Accommodations were very high class. While our first night was spent in a modest lodge, the remaining nights were in very Westernized large hotels with swimming pools, restaurants, bars, and spacious rooms. I prefer staying more modest places, but at the end of a hot day of biking, a dip in the pool and a cold beer from the in-room fridge were great.
Fresh frog, anyone? We drank coconut juice right out of the coconut almost daily
I've spent the last couple days in Saigon, mostly reading, writing, and taking short walks on the city’s overcrowded streets. Street crossing here is an art form. Aaron, not having been to Vietnam before, did the museums and Chi Chi tunnels. After rejecting the crowded bunk bed filled hostel with no AC I had booked, I found a nicer hotel nearby. Aaron stayed with my son’s inlaws who have a large home here where I stayed when I visited three years ago for his wedding.
Saigon traffic
All in all, a great trip. Lots of culture. Lots of exercise. Lots of good company with both Aaron and the Canadian couple who were on the tour with us. The days were always hot, the roads busy and rough, and van rides were long. But I am sure glad I did it.
One of the nicer biking roads
155 more photos of the trip can be viewed here: https://dougj.smugmug.com/Travel/2023/Cambodia-biking
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On a side note, I am now glad that I blogged about most of the trips I’ve taken over the past nearly 20 years. My next task - to compile them into a book written primarily for my own enjoyment.
My souvenir elephant shirt
Reader Comments (4)
Was the whole trip planned through an agency (who supplied the guides, for example) or was it a combination of your own planning plus a tour assistance? Trip looks amazing - however, better you than me.
Hi Floyd,
I used Grasshopper just for the week-long biking portion of the trip. They took care of everything - bikes, program, transportation, hotels, meals and guides. I just had to pay for a few extra beers. They offered 3-day tours of Siem Reap and Saigon for before and after the trip, but I thought they were too expensive so we did those cities on our own. I sometimes grumble about paying for organized tours, but when in a strange land, it's really nice not having to worry about everything.
Any travel plans in your future? Good to hear from you.
Doug
Very cool elephant shirt! Wow, what an incredible trip! I’ve never traveled out of the country, so it’s always fun to read about other’s adventures. You got some great pictures and fun memories.
Great stories, wonderful pictures. Looks like you had an incredible trip. Thanks for sharing it all with the rest of us.