recent posts
- Day Of Food – Cambodia
- Cycling Flat Out
- Quiet Times At Angkor Wat
- On The Temple Trail
- 22,000 Kilometre Photo
- Laos By Numbers
- Lizard Days
- Cycling In Coffee Country
- Merry Christmas From Laos
- Adventures On ‘The Loop’
most read posts
random images
archives
- January 2012 (7)
- December 2011 (6)
- November 2011 (7)
- October 2011 (8)
- September 2011 (7)
- August 2011 (7)
- July 2011 (8)
- June 2011 (8)
- May 2011 (11)
- April 2011 (11)
- March 2011 (6)
- February 2011 (6)
- January 2011 (6)
- December 2010 (5)
- November 2010 (6)
- October 2010 (4)
- September 2010 (9)
donations
Day Of Food – Cambodia
On the all important food front, it has been thoroughly enjoyable to cross into Cambodia. An abundance of fresh fruit, what we call ‘pot-luck’ dinners (where you pick what you want to eat by seeing what is in each pot) and Cambodian-style icy desserts in all but the smallest towns means we’ve rarely gone hungry. If it wasn’t for the heat regularly robbing us of our appetites, I’d have some concern about the balance of calories eaten vs burnt. – Posted by Emma
Cycling Flat Out
We were eager to arrive in Phnom Penh, which was the biggest city we have visited since China. Flat roads devoid of anything to divert us from cycling gave us reason to speed south, and besides, closing in on the end of our trip, we both wanted to see how far we could cycle in one day. Phnom Penh holds dark poignant memories of Cambodia’s past and as we rode into the city that saw a forced exodus of its population into the surrounding countryside, the thought of these events swirled around my mind. – Posted by Justin
Quiet Times At Angkor Wat
Awaking at 4:45am, I silence the alarm quickly but make no move to get up. We’ve both had a restless night in our too warm hotel room with a fan that only works at the fastest, noisiest and most sleep-disturbing speed. I’m already exhausted by the thought of starting the day at this hour, let alone heading out on a sightseeing binge. “Maybe we shouldn’t go today?” I trial the words on Justin. He’s quick to agree and rolls over to go back to sleep, but I lie awake in the stifling heat and reconsider. If I give in today then I’ll have this same internal battle another morning. The words are formed before my brain can compile a counter argument. “Maybe we should?” – Posted by Emma
On The Temple Trail
Watching yet another slow sunset over the Mekong while sipping a cool fruit shake and gently rocking in a hammock we felt a twinge of guilt at having so easily succumbed to the charms of Don Det island leaving our sense of adventure behind on the mainland. Amongst days of doing nothing much, we planned our onward route through Cambodia with an eye for adventure including another off-road fling and visits to remote temple ruins. – Posted by Justin
22,000 Kilometre Photo
The 22,000 kilometre photo was taken on the way to Dam Dek, Cambodia on 7th January 2012. After a drink stop we managed to convince one of the local guys to pose for a photo with us and contribute the two fingers we needed for our total. Its possible his initial hesitancy at being photographed was due to the strange footwear combo we are wearing. Our excuse was we were cycling due west for most of the day and only one foot was in the sun. – Posted by Justin
Laos By Numbers
We purposely slowed down in Laos, giving ourselves almost two months to cycle less than 2000km through the country. From steep climbs in the north to heat waves in the south, our cycling wasn’t without challenges, but extended breaks in Luang Prabang, Vientiane, Pakse and Don Det ensured that days off the bike outnumbered days cycling for the first time in our trip. Among our most treasured memories are the children of Laos who enthusiastically waved and shouted sabaidee whenever they spotted us cycling by, some almost falling over in the process. While we saw little wildlife in what was once the land of a million elephants we were still won over by Laos’ lazy charms. – Posted by Emma
Lizard Days
We’re woken every morning by the soft ‘splosh’ of string fishing nets hitting the water, the slightly off-beat thump of a drum being hit at the temple across the river and the comically loud ‘eh-eeerh’ emitting from a gecko through our thin bamboo walls. Rising not long after the sun has pulled up into another brilliant blue, ‘no weather’ sky, we pull pillows, sleeping mats, books and computers onto our shady hammock-adorned deck and settle in for another day of idleness. Spending our last nine days in Laos on tiny Don Det island, the already slow pulse of our journey in Laos has come to a standstill. – Posted by Emma
Cycling In Coffee Country
Emma loves coffee and the Bolaven Plateau in Southern Laos is a major coffee growing region. Could it be fate, luck or has the planning behind our entire cycle journey been leading towards Emma’s coffee Nirvana? As we head south from Thakhek the presence of coffee becomes impossible to ignore. Every small collection of shops we pass through requires a stop for mugs of thick black Laos coffee or cleverly tied and twisted takeaway bags full of ice, sweetened condensed milk and more of the black stuff. – Posted by Justin
Merry Christmas From Laos
The second Christmas ‘on the road’ finds us taking a pause at Kingfisher Ecolodge in Laos, where we’ve stretched our budget for a few days of watching elephants and buffalo stroll across the wetlands from our secluded porch. With not even a Christmas tree or elevator-style carols to disturb the tranquillity, we suspect this would be a great place to get away from the madness of the season. We managed to sneak in a little bit of the Christmas spirit with Santa visiting our bungalow in the night, delivering food-based presents in a familiar looking red backpack. – Posted by Emma
Adventures On ‘The Loop’
Some waterfalls aren’t meant to be found. I’m looking at a wooden outrigger anchored to the concrete pier, down some steep steps at the edge of the tiny dusty settlement of Ban Phon Kham. We’ve ridden our bicycles down to the rivers edge to see if someone will take us on the hour long boat ride to Wang Fong waterfall upstream in Nam Kading national park, but the lack of security for our fully loaded bikes and windiness of the day has made Justin an unwilling partner. Its the same price for one person so he suggests I go alone. – Posted by Emma