Drats! Still not working here in Shanghai.
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This is a super-cool ride report - thanks for taking us along!
:popcorn:
Yeah, pics were there a few days ago, but not now (Beijing).
Hopefully the pics are working now. We also have a Flickr account here for your viewing pleasure: http://www.flickr.com/photos/trojantraveler/
Pics work now.
Great Trip and these pictures are awesome!!!
A spectacular report and fun read - the photos are beautiful and can't believe what a true adventure you all are having! Enjoy!
Yup, working. Great excuse to have a gander at them once again!
Ride Report - Stung Treng to Phnom Penh (The Long Way)
From the ride between Chhep and Stung Treng:
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Our last report left us on the bank of the Mekong in Stung Treng, very close to Laos. The 200 or so kilometers from Stung Treng to the capital of Ratanakiri Province, Ban Lung, would take us only 3 or 4 hours, but having to ride on the corrugated dirt road made it one of the worst rides of the trip. I started riding in the softer sand off the side of the road to avoid the bumps but ended up wrecking when I got stuck in a rut. Very unfortunate, but everything was okay.
Ban Lung is a wonderful small town accessible only by bus over the dirt road. The airport there has been closed for the past 3 years, but NGO flights coming in every Friday and land on what is left of the runway.
We shacked up in a cozy hotel off the beaten path and immediately started asking around about the so-called "Highway of Death," or the tiny network of dusty trails between Ban Lung and Sen Monorom 120km or so away. It didn't take us long to find Ron (pronounced Rune), whose brother ran a tour company and made the introduction. Ron said he would take us to Sen Monorom for US$60, and that it would probably take the better part of the day.
We decided to take 2 days to explore the area a bit and get well-rested for the grueling trip. The first day we rode to the Yeak Loam Lake about 8km outside of the town.
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Reportedly a volcanic crater, it had beautiful fresh water and very few people save for wandering groups of local boys that would climb up and leap off the 20 foot trees sprouting from the lake's banks.
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And so the day came where we were to conquer the Highway of Death. We had heard a lot about this route from ADVRider Jacl-Kampuchea who had done it in the rainy season (crazy...) when it was all mud. Every year the paths change and when the rivers are high, it is impossible to even cross. We knew it had to be done though, as this entire diversion eastward from Stung Treng had been for the sole purpose of completing this wicked path.
After meeting with Ron and his friend at 6am, we sat down for breakfast before the festivities began.
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This river that we crossed by ferry is what the opening scenes of Apocalypse Now is based on. Despite its rickety looks, the boat was actually quite sturdy and took the four of us across. 2 Shinerays and a Honda Dream. The one thing that makes me so upset about riding trails in SE-Asia is that no matter what you do or how bad-ass you feel after a particularly grueling ride, some local does it every day on a scooter out of necessity!
What followed was some of the most tiring riding ever. The sand was extremely soft, and it was everywhere.
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At first I thought it would only be small pockets of it, that if I toughed it out for a while, the hard packed dirt would eventually reemerge, but it didn't. The entire day was spent riding through puddles of sand. Literally, when you rode into them, it would react like water and splash sand particles. The front and rear of the bikes constantly lost traction and broke out, and speed was almost impossible to maintain. I didn't shift out of 3rd gear the entire day.
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As Ron bounced joyfully ahead, his friend was able to get some good photos of us lugging slowly forward. In retrospect it would have been a good idea to put knobbies on instead of using the road tires. Also, to have brought some lightweight gear like Pete's armor would have helped because the sun was brutal. For a section right before the first small village where we stopped to chug an entire crate of waters, I even stripped down to my underwear because I felt as if I was going to pass out in the bulky riding suit.
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Despite the toll the heat and riding was taking on my body and patience, I was thankful that Pete was so slow that we got to rest a lot and pose for pictures. :WTFamI
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Despite Pete's extensive sand-racing experience, his bike did not fair so well.
All in all, it was a great experience that I would love to do again if I'm ever in Ratanakiri again, but perhaps without the luggage next time. Needless to say, when we hit pavement again outside Sen Monorom, I wept tears of joy.
After sleeping like logs, we made the trip to Phnom Penh. It would be the last stop in Cambodia before heading to Vietnam, and Pete's last stop on the trip. I was also looking forward to meeting with Peader from the ADV Rider forums, as his ride reports around Cambodia had been such a helpful resource. I was thankful that the roads around the city were so nice, but despite our best efforts we still ended up riding into the night.
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Heading out from Sen Monorom on a freshly paved road!
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About 60km outside of Phnom Penh we crossed a bridge.
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We even busted out the tripod to celebrate the occasion. This will be our album cover.
Due to good luck, we found a hotel which happened to be right around the corner from Peader's bar. We ended up spending more than a week in Phnom Penh, me for the insanely lengthy and difficult Vietnamese permits, and Peter to arrange travel back to the USA. While we managed to hit all the usual morbid Phnom Penh tourist sites, what I enjoyed the most was the MX6 motocross race. Very cool that it was happening three days after we arrived!
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We convinced some guards that we were foreign journalists working for a motorcycle website so they let us roam around the inside of the track to take photos.
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It was a great day, with a Thai rider beating out the very strong New Zealanders in the final race.
Next stop...Vietnam!
Wow, what a treat. Keep the report coming and thanks for sharing.
Thanks for yet another amazing report. You guys are great at making others dream.
Looking back at the first post, i realize you guys have been on the road for 3 months already! That's fucking cool. It's gonna be hard to readjust to real life after something like that....