Cycling the back roads of SE Asia

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

Wild or domestic - who's happier?

Every street and every road I’ve been on in the Philippines has dogs sharing it. Seemingly unmindful of cars, trucks, and bikes, they seem to own the place. In appearance, they run the gamut from healthy-looking beasts as pictured above to genuinely scroungy - thin, limping, and with patchy fur. 

But they all look pretty happy, They are not aggressive and rarely even bark. The boys all look to have retained their boy parts and one often sees a female that is obviously nursing. I was once told that the reason dogs here are pretty mild mannered is that the ones who are ill-tempered as puppies are the ones that are eaten. Makes sense.

I sometimes wonder just how happy domestic dogs really are. For the majority, they are regularly fed, walked, and taken to the vet. They usually have a long life span. And yes, they are petted and snuggled and given treats. But in return they lose their sex life, their freedom (leash laws, you know), and even dignity when trained to play rather humiliating tricks.

I sometimes ask myself should I be so lucky as to be reincarnated as a dog, would I rather be a street dog or house dog. A scabby-looking mongrel with testicles or a plump, pampered, and neutered hound that sits by the window yearning for the master to come home, go out for a walk, and open a can of Alpo.

As a human, I have really only experienced the domestic life. And who might be our “wild” humans? The homeless? The eccentric hermits? The artists so committed to their work they lead unconventional lives? Criminals? Perhaps there is not a good comparison on the human side to the Philippine street mutt. Unlike dogs, we humans do seem to be able to choose our lifestyle - at least to a degree. And dogs don’t compare their lifestyles to those of other dogs.

I probably wouldn’t like being a dog like the ones pictured above. But I do experience a twinge of envy when I see them.

Do you have what it takes to be a bum?

The photo above is this morning’s breakfast at a small resort hotel near the airport I will be leaving from tomorrow. Quiet, clean, inexpensive and secure with amenities - pool, bar, and restaurant. After a few days with my brother and sister-in-law at their home not far from here, I have a couple days to relax. Truly live the life of a bum.

I’ve had a few opportunities to be a bum over the years. I’ve spent time in Phuket, Dominican Republic, and Ecuador at small resorts where I have had little to do , and nothing required, except eat, sleep, swim, walk, read, and write. Sound like heaven? Well, it can be challenging.

I’ve worked since being a kid - farm chores, college jobs, and 43 years as a professional educator. Even while holding a full time teaching/administrative positions, I also consulted, wrote, and served in professional organizations. Let’s just say I was rather busy most of my life.

Now I have almost nothing on my to-do plate. I volunteer - a lot - but certainly not full time and at my discretion. So even at home there is always something to do.

Not so being a traveling vagabond. It’s an adjustment. Here is what you need to know to be a happy slacker…

Pick a good location. I personally love small resorts that are away from big cities. Less traffic noise, better places to walk, and usually friendly and personal. Pick a warm, inexpensive country. Stay away as much as possible from popular destinations. Funny how I’ve never seen a movie star where I stay.

Go easy on the eating and drinking. For many people, relaxation includes a beer or Coke in one hand and a bowl of chips in the other. I usually have a healthy breakfast, skip lunch, and even have a light supper. I do like a couple beers in the evening.

Talk to people. I am not the most outgoing of people, but I enjoy short conversations with others I meet. Where ya from? How long ya staying here? Recommend any good restaurants? 

Travel light. Take just a few changes of clothes. Easy to find a local laundry or have the resort wash your clothes. I pack everything in a carry on rolly-bag/backpack. So far no complaints about my odor.

Be good to yourself. Nap. Get a massage. Take a walk. Just lay near the pool. It’s work to accomplish this without a shadow of guilt, but you will adjust.

Have a book to read and a project to do. I load my Kindle before every trip. Nothing like a good book to read with no distractions. I usually have a writing project. Most of my books were written in part at a resort’s pool side table. It’s that lack of distraction thing again.

Maintain a routine. Although it is a 14 hour time difference, I still read my newspapers in the morning. They are just the ones from the previous day.  I still walk an hour or so a day. I keep up with my email and social networks on my small travel laptop. I nap each afternoon.

Schedule a tour or two. I am looking forward to my adventures on Siagaro and Palawan Islands next week. I plan to do some boat tours, some snorkeling, and guided hikes if available. I won’t go crazy, but I do plan to break up the week.

Adjust to the culture. As Dorothy once said, “Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.” Buy a new SIM card for your phone. Eat street food. Ride in tuk-tuks and jeepneys and local buses. Walk in the residential areas, away from the tourist spots. If you don’t, you may have just as well checked into your nearest Holiday Inn. There is a backpacking culture too from which one can learn how to slow down and be spontaneous.

Do it your way. It may take a few tries, but you will find your own happy place being a bum. Or perhaps discover that a life of leisure is just not for you. In my pre-retirement plans, I figured I would spend at least three months a year as a total slacker. I have found that four or five or six weeks is plenty - and not consecutively. Do what you want without the need for approval from anyone else. Perhaps that is the real secret.

Any hard learned lessons from my readers about being a bum?

Well, that’s enough work for today.