Shineray Long March (XY 200GY-7) ride reports (SEA)

[Bitteeinbit]

My pleasure euphonius. I write these mostly for another forum where people obviously know a bit more about Cambodia, making it easier to follow the posts. But given that I've got a Shineray and have gotten lot's of info off this forum, it's only fair that I'd reciprocate accordingly. Like you say, I write them mostly for myself as a kind of blog but I recently gave family members back home the link to this thread as it makes the story-telling more visual and interesting. Glad you enjoy the pictures. After doing some renovation/construction work, I currently teach in Cambodia. Certainly won't make me rich but I don't mind... I've considered making a move to China actually.

[Bitteeinbit]

Bike pics (boxes off):






Trip Report: Phnom Aural

Well just got back from another trip. I've pulled a bit of an InterNed here and wrote a small novel (and posted a million pictures) so bear with me or just scroll through the pics (if you want to stay sane, preferably not on Tapatalk). I had originally wanted to do a big trip to Battambang, Pailin, and do a big loop around to Preah Vihear over 8 days or so but then decided to take it easy instead and just do the road from Kompong Speu heading into Koh Kong. Mainly to see how far it went. On some maps it looks drivable but when in Koh Kong I had been told it was a hiking route (and it's advertised as such in tour books). I then spotted Phnom Aural and became obsessed with it. Not much information is available online, though this guy wrote a nice report online:
http://distantpeak.blogspot.com/2011...nom-aural.html

The drive to Kompong Pseu is one most have done a million times before. Stopped by Andy's place again before heading up north. The drive up north is gorgeous. The road that is. Hard-packed dirt road with no potholes. Stopped for a while to talk to the lone group of land surveyors there who told me the road is getting paved from Kompong Speu all the way to Udong (via Spien Deik). Completion time is set for 3 years. I actually like these roads more than paved ones as they still have the charm of a country road without all the traffic. The views however are somewhat charmless. Very few villages. I was wondering why they would pave this road when so many others are in need. I figured it might be because they had plans for another Bokor of sorts. Wrong. It quickly dawned on me: it's probably getting paved because a ton of lumber comes out of there and now a whole bunch of commercial farming fields are being set up by Koreans and Okhnas (sugar). Interestingly, the road is being built by the Chinese (no big surprise), but the guys setting up the electrical wires are all Indian.

A lone grandmother walking down the dusty hot road drew my attention. Stopped to chit-chat and she told me that the whole place used to be one vast forest with huge trees (trunks bigger than three people holding hands) but that 20-30 years ago they were all cut. Kind of depressing to see the current barren landscape as a contrast.






Along the way I stopped by a small “resort”. Easy to miss except for the sign that a Pagoda is nearby and the nice surroundings hills. Turns out it's a very charming cavern/cave complex similar to those around Kampot. The people who set it up did a nice job and you're all alone over there (they have little picnic/rest sports build along one of the hills). Spent two hours wandering around, then took a bite to eat before heading on.












Once I hit Ktouyt, I fuelled up and decided to head towards Pursat quickly to the edge of the mountains. However, the road is quite bad and I quickly realized I was running out of time and heading all the way out there was unrealistic so I went back to Ktouyt then headed north towards Spien Deik.
Town of Ktouyt:


Spien Deik is a cosy village with friendly people, only takes a few mins from Ktouyt. Ate a few fried hotdogs. Took my time getting there as I figured the last few km onwards to Srey Kahn would be decent. Wrong. The road from Spien Deik to Srey Kahn is crappy. The real issue is that it's essentially a series of bulldozer roads which do not appear on GPS. Worse still, half of the roads might start off as a GPS track but then veer off or simply end up as a dead end. Getting to Srey Kahn wasn't bad as you just have to head north and eventually you'll reach destination, getting back however... More on this later. I was getting a bit stressed with it now being 16h30 or so so started rushing a bit. In one of the sandier roads I fell as my right ankle did a 120 degree turn with the bike landing on it. Walked it off a bit and seeing it wasn't broken I kept going.

















Boy was I relieved when I spotted some houses. The first village is Srey Kahn 1 (official name, but the villages are also collectively called Aurol) then the village chief's house is in village #2 further down the road. He's a friendly guy and offered to let me sleep at his place. Says they get foreigners relatively often, anywhere from nobody for a month to someone (or usually, a group) every two weeks or so. I showered with the village's well then talked to two different guys/guides. Met a guy randomly and he said he would take me for 30$/day or I could take two guides for 50$/day. When I said I only needed one guide he said: “Pii neah teuk pneek”. Basically, he said with only one guide it would be boring because “no one to talk to”. What an idiot I thought. He also insisted we needed three days to get to the top (but I knew it was doable in two, as per the report linked above). Talked to another dude later in the evening that the village chief brought over. He kept saying it was only doable over three days. When I broke down the trip into segments, they would spout out figures that made it possible in two days but obviously they want the extra cash. By now it was past 7pm and I was getting annoyed so offered a lower price (for two days) which he refused. He went home, I relaxed and thought about what to do. Slept like shit that night (it gets cold there, plus the sound of barking dogs and pig snorts always makes for bad sleep). I woke up late (7am or so), the dude from last night was there but my ankle hurt quite a bit from the night's cold and I was feeling cheap for various reasons. I just went for a walk, then decided I was in no condition to go up so told him so. I figured I would walk/ride around then head back to PP in the afternoon. Took a walk then drove onwards to Village#3 and beyond to scope out the trail head.










Then, out in the middle of nowhere, ran into two women and a man setting up a fence:


They almost looked like homesteaders, having a home in Village#3 but had just claimed a plot of land in the forest to grow mango trees. We chatted a bit and when asked where I was going, I told them I was just checking out the trail. Turns out the guy had brought foreigners to the top 5 times before. We really hit it off and I liked the guy a lot already. When asked if it was doable in 2 days, he said it was. Great, A no-bullshit kind of guy. It was now 11am or so and my ankle was already feeling better. I got excited and asked it he would be free to leave that day. He looked at his wife and niece and said sure. We did a quick negotiation and settled on something which I thought was quite fair and decided to meet up at his place in an hour as we both prepped out stuff. We would also drive our bikes there to avoid any other “fees” (the other guys insisted on keeping my bike in the village, adding another 20$ or so in transportation fees). On the way back to pick up my stuff, I hit some nasty branches and my chain derailed. I couldn't help but wonder if it was a sign of things to come...

After getting my chain back on, I packed what I figured I would need (a second set of pants/shirt, short+t-shirt, good Pezl headlamp, knife, etc.) and headed to my guide's house in Village#3. My biggest issue was water. He said he just drank the water from the rivers but I thought I should pack bottled water. I decided to drink 1.5 liters or so before leaving and packed 7 bottles of water (or 3.5 liters). Really not much but I know my body and I've done this before and figured that as a last resort I could drink water from the river... Once at his place, we said our farewells to his wife and left around noon. We drove along the trail for a while, crossing three small rivers and then parked the bikes in a bamboo forest.






Motobike parking:


Even by my standards, Soyt (his name) set a brutal pace. I have a naturally long and fast stride and I'm no stranger to marching but I also haven't set foot on a real mountain since 2008 or so and barely do any walking when around Phnom Penh so I was sweating bullets from start to finish. He seemed worried that we wouldn't be able to make it before nightfall so I just shut my trap and followed him without complaining. Surprisingly, we arrived at the first camp by 13h15. We took a short rest at the tiny river nearby and ate a bit of rice. I suggested we go halfway to Camp 2 and sleep along the way but he seemed determined to reach Camp 2. He was right, as there isn't really any good spot to camp anywhere besides these two spots. Sorry if most pics are blurry, my phone was soaked in sweat (I was wearing the best hiking pants ever: jeans...).




So at 13h30 we stepped off again. Now the first 2/3 of the trip from camp 1 to camp 2 is pretty unforgiving. Steep uphill climbs all the way, along with 200m or so of scrambling. We kept the same fast pace, heart pounding non-stop with a few short rests. We arrived at camp 2 at 15h20. Sounds like a short walk but boy did it feel good. I now had 5 bottles of water left (2.5L) and felt pretty good about that. I now understood why many people do it over 3 days. Allows for a slow pace and more stops. Though starting in the morning would have meant more time (and less afternoon heat to deal with).

We set up camp and started our fire. Cooked the rice (with still water..., which he also drank despite my protests) then the fish (2 of the four live fish he had brought). Also grilled a bit of the dried fish which had been left there just to be sure it was ok and he made a salad with a mango he had brought and a leftover onion. Quite satisfying. I haven't been camping in ages and it felt great. Tried dozing off but around 10pm it already got fairly cold. I broke the number one rule of sleeping outside and slept with my clothes on (I knew it would be a mistake but had no choice given that I knew I would get cold regardless). A bit before midnight I untied my hammock and used it as a ground sheet next to the fire. I fed it all night but barely slept anyways. Got a bit of shut eye between 2-4am, or at least I think I did. No matter, wasn't expecting to sleep much anyways as I knew it would be a cold night.




Soyt's compass, which I found kind of cool:


Dried fish left by some rangers:





The next morning we left our stuff at the camp and headed out towards the top at 06h40. The climb from camp 2 to the top is a lot easier than from camp 1 to camp 2, but our pace was slower than before and we reached the top by 08h20. Not much to see or do. Just take a few pictures, rest, eat a bit and head back down.










Mount Oral: 1813m


We left the peak at 08h45 and arrived back at camp 2 by 10h10. We then packed the remaining items in our bags, rested a bit, ate a tiny bit and started marching towards camp 1 at 10h30. I only had one bottle of water left by now so knew I would be ok but was still dehydrated and would have liked another litre or so. The climb down that steep bit was obviously harder than going up.





We arrived at camp 1 at 11h50, where I was so thirsty I drank some water from the nearby stream. It's been a few days and still no dysentery so I'm ok. Besides, it tasted great and unlike at camp 2, it's clear running water from a mountain so can't really be bad. But man would it have been nice to have a camelpack here... After a five minute break, we left camp one and arrived at our bikes at 12h15, drove back to the villages where his wife was waiting for us with a meal (he called her once he got service again at Camp 1). I wasn't hungry so just rested a bit, thanked him, paid him and left. Picked up my stuff at the village head's house (who was absent). Joked with the ladies for a while before paying the village head's daughter for the night I spent at their house and then left at 14h45.
Now... The way back down to Spien Deik was a fucking nightmare. I took several wrong turns, had to backtrack several times through sandy roads full of roots which could easily give a nasty flat tire. I ended up in dead ends with bulldozers and was literally screaming my guts out in exasperation. Took me a full 2 hours before I reached the main road eastwards of Spien Deik. Save yourself a ton of trouble and just take one of the eastwardly roads or pay a local 2$ to drive you there... Jesus I was pissed. It even started raining on me and though I would usually enjoy it, after wasting an hour and a half through these logging roads it was just annoying. Taking the most direct route just leads to confusion and getting lost. I have a really good sense of direction and can use a map and compass with my eyes closed so I think part of it was me just being pissed off that I managed to get lost so my pride was at stake (and also the fact that I wasted an hour of daylight. I really wanted to reach a paved road by nightfall).




I then took the main road (which is a mixture of all sorts, but in poorer condition than the Kompong Speu-Spien Deik road) all the way to Udong, then turned south on HWY#5 towards PP. Got back towards 19h00.

[Bitteeinbit]

Been a while since I posted. Here's a 2500km ride I did a bit over a month ago. As usual, just skip the long-winded text as I copy-paste from another forum where people generally understand what I'm talking about (in terms of places and all that).



Trip Report: Big Loop#2: Battambang, Pailin, BMC, OMC, Preah Vihear, Kompong Thom

So I decided to do one last “big trip” before the rainy season really sets in. I had been wanting to go to Battambang for quite some time now. Just never happened. Had planned on doing this trip during Khmer New Year but postponed it for lack of time as well as wanting to just relax in the empty city instead. So finally the opportuinity to do this “Loop” came up. My main goals were Battambang (which I hadn't visited in almost 4 years to the month) as well as Pailin (the only province I had yet to ride in). I was hoping I wouldn't hit too much dirt as my knobby rear tire was bare, so I switched it with an old semi-knobby Michelin tire I had laying around (semi-knobby as in pretty much a street tire). To top it off, one of my rear shocks had a slight leak (I know, I know...). My gut feeling told me most roads would be fairly nice by now. I was last at Preah Vihear a week after the May 2009 flare-up and assumed that this would have sparked a lot of road construction in the Northwest. I was right... This is yet another picture-heavy post (all of which are still taken with my 5MP phone camera so bear with me)...

Day 1: PP-Battambang
As usual, I left gloriously late (10-ish despite getting up at 6h30). The drive up was fine, stopped by a friend's place near the market at KM6. Battambang has changed a bit but not too much. It still has that charm and to be quite honest, I think I like it better than both Kampot or Kompong Cham. I spent the first day/afternoon riding around town, remembering sights and scoping out eateries. Despite wanting a western meal (as this would be the only stop on my trip with western food) I ended up eating 3 BBQed eggs on the river, washing them down with two beers. I later wandered into a beer garden to eat tuna salad and have another drink. Ended the night with a well-deserved massage (I always deserve them).














On day 2 I rode around town some more, visiting the museum (which is surprisingly good) as well a few regular Battambang sights (train yard-above-, bottling factory etc). Went to Riverside Balcony Bar for a bit before going to some khmer joint for a burger and ending the night at Madison.




The next morning I literally gorged myself at the Sunrise (a friend's recommendation) before setting off towards Pailin. The road (as doktor_d has previously said) is nice and smooth. Stopped by some mountain “resort”.





Visited one fo the demining schools (two Lebanese guys were working there). Tons of places being demined, though perhaps a bit surprisingly, they apparently hardly ever find anything (once per year the guy told me... I guess it depends on the area).



On my way into Pailin, I stopped by the local waterfalls. One of the best waterfalls I've been to in the kingdom. Surprisingly, this is actually a perfect time to go. The rocks made it a “natural” waterslide. I couldn't resist and slip-and-slid along with some chicks.






A recreation of doktor_d's old picture (which I spotted while searching for Pailin stuff):


The Pagoda:


Later on came the shock... Tried to get a room. All booked. Huh?! At first I figured the lady was just wary of foreigners. I later stopped by a very dodgy place. They had two 2-bed rooms available (for 6$) but I figured I could do better. I then saw another place. Also full. Holy shit! I got a motodop's assistance and visiting other places. I visited a total of 7 guesthouses (all of the cities' guesthouses, three of which were 50+ bedrooms), ALL of which were full (except the original crappy one). This has never happened to me before. You can usually just show up in any provincial capital unannounced and get a nice room in a new building for 5-8$. Staff said that lot's of people were coming over from Phnom Penh because of the King's birthday. Weddings, “da lane” and all that bullshit. Truly pissed me off. Fucking Phnom Penh Khmers... Not much to do in Pailin anyways so drove on the next day.

The red dots show my original “planned” route. The road probably exists but I obviously missed the turn. Either way it really wasn't obvious because I took the correct road leading up to it, but then later realized I was way off track when my back was to the sun (I noticed I was off-track around the blue cross). Either way this is a brand-new road (they were painting the lines when I was there), almost perfect. A few loose-gravel spots but the rest is perfect tarmac. Given that my tires were ill-suited for much dirt anyways (and enjoying a smooth ride for once), I pushed onwards. The road offers some nice views and some hills with nice rock-climbing potential.








Decided to make a quick stop at Poipet (I've never been). Well, that was a time-waister. A true shit-hole. Might be more interesting at night obviously, but if you're not into gambling... Whatever. Had a coffee and went onwards to Sisophon. I had last been here maybe a bit over 3 years ago or so. Roads are more paved but it's quite a nice town. A good nightlife and big enough to see some interesting things (imo). Also, quite a few decent eateries. Tried to connect with a friend who lived nearby but couldn't. Got some clothes washed, got a hotel, hung around, drank, ate some more, drove around etc. Topped it off with a massage (again, well-deserved). I could easily have stayed 3 nights or so here.

The next morning I headed towards Beantey Chmar. The road started off good but as Typhoon said in the Road Conditions thread, it quickly deteriorated. Tons of those annoying ruts that just cause a ton of vibrations. No way to avoid them either. Sometimes I could take the lower shoulder (construction going on) but generally it wasn't very nice. The temple itself is quite nice, though it's a huge mess. A lot of it has collapsed but the carvings are truly some of the most spectacular around. I don't remember the ones at Bayon much but they are probably on par.










Some pieces are apparently missing...


At one point, I heard the sound of a helicopter. For a second or two I thought it might just been some farming machinery, but I've heard enough choppers in my life to know what they sound like to I ran towards the sound. Sure enough:


That being said, it's a generally quiet temple at the moment. I was all alone until whoever was in there landed. The locals told me they do get buses now and then and a chopper lands every few days as well (!). All that will change once the road is finished (1-2 years). Visited the temple and then lingered around for a few hours, chatting with people in the market (getting marriage proposals wherever I go#$%) or sellers. Ban Xeo for 1000Riel, truly amazing! Staying in a local homestay or guesthouse would be worth it imo, it's a nice little village and has tons of smaller temples around (though I tend to get “templed out” rather quickly). While sitting in town, I noticed one of my front shocks had a leak... The bike was taking a beating.
One of many smaller temples nearby:



Leaking oil from my front shock:



People told me the drive onwards to Samrong is much nicer and faster than the drive in from Sisophon... Well, talking to ladies rather than motodops is always a bad idea. And khmers tend to be bad with time estimates. If they tell me it takes 3 hours to get somewhere, it takes me 1. If they tell me 1 hour, it'll take me 2... Either way it is a bit better but not by much. I had actually never been to Samrong before. Nice, although very quiet and everything is really spread out. Relatively few decent eateries, though several nice hotels.

The next morning, after seeing a post by shitegeist, I decided to check out Spean Tip. So I drove in the opposite direction from Anlong Veng in the morning and tried to find it. Locals call it O-Jii, though as you get closer they start calling it Spean Tip. In town, people told me it was only 30-60m (though it's supposed to be much bigger). With all this contradicting info, I was worried about being disappointed. I was not. It's hard to tell (and you might even miss it completely is not careful), but it's big. There are several small bridges (both Angkorian and new) on this “old road” as the locals call it, I got out on both the sides and bush-wacked my way through. It's hard to get a full glimpse as there's a ton of vegetation in the way. You would need a machete to walk next to it, and even then it might be impossible.








To give an idea: that stick sticking out on the left most wall is 2m high:


After some time, I found the two ends of the bridge and marked them with sticks. Then I paced it: 84 paces. Hmmm, seems about right, I then used my GPS: yep! 147m long. Once you realize how big it is by poking around here and there, you can't help but be in awe. It's a truly spectacular piece of engineering. I measured 16m from the bottom on the bridge, under the culverts (14.5 at the top). I guesstimate around 16m high at it's highest point. I was really happy I made the trip. The nicest bridge I've seen to date. I can give GPS coordinates for those who want them.
For visual reference: I took this picture from one end of the bridge and that tall dark-greenish tree in the background is where the bridge ends:


I then drove to Anlong Veng. Ate, then walked around the new market. I'd been here before when it was all dirt roads so I've seen the usual sights. However, I couldn't remember seeing Polpot's cremation sight, so I decided to do the short drive up to the border. A joint Khmer-Thai venture it building a big casino. Cremation sight is well... A 5 minute stop. Cruised back down the mountain with the engine off, took a nap in Anlong Veng then drove onwards to Preah Vihear.

The WHOLE road from Samrong onwards is pristine pavement. Military tension as well as a desire for “votes” have truly pushed (road) development up there.



They're building a whole lot of Army family housing in Odor Meanchey as well. You can't tell from this picture, but the rows of houses/plots of land go really deep and extend much farther. Good project.



Once I reached a key junction, I wondered whether to head to Kulean to sleep (I wanted to visit Koh Ker) or sleep in Tbeng Meanchey (where more options would be available). Since I wanted to limit my driving for the next day, I wisely decided to find a place to sleep near the temple. That way I could visit it while it was still cool out and NOT have to drive back to TbengM the next day. I quickly found a place in Sayong and surprisingly, despite being a small village, they had quite a few stalls open even after dark. Ate and chatted with some girls.
Sayong village:


Koh Ker is quite nice. A lot of smaller temples. Tons to see, though the main temple is the most impressive. The road has also just been upgraded this year. They currently get ~20 foreigners/day during the rainy season and up to 300/day in July as well as the high season (12 000/year). However, this figure will probably increase to 30 000/year next year. The road is paved all the way to Siem Riep as well as Tbeng Meanchey...
Two friendly dogs kept following me around the whole time. If I whistled, they came:





A friend along the path (with size 13 boots for comparison):





The main temple:



A bunch of villagers had been hired to cut the grass (they do so once a month) and I decided to join in for the fun of it. After a short while, I got into "the zone" and ended up cutting grass for just under 30 minutes without noticing it. Once you get the knack of it it's not too bad. Very zen in that, as with most monotonous jobs, you can just shut down your brain or chit-chat as time passes by.






Did a few portraits of the eldest/most extroverted of the bunch who kept joking along with me (mostly about getting married):







Was trying to get a stoic/heroic pose from this kid and this is the only one where he didn't crack up:





Resurfaced road to visit the temples:


Seeing temples in the early morning really makes a difference in terms of appreciation. After seeing all what I wanted to see, I went to Tbeng Meanchey and took a nap, then drove onwards to Kompong Thom. I had “saved myself” for some western food at Moodymac's “Run Amok”, but unfortunately they don't open till 5pm. Kind of a disappointment as I had been looking forward for it all morning and didn't eat in anticipation of having a burger and pizza. No problem, at least I saved some much needed time as it was close to 3pm by now. Ate some num paos and drove back to PP, taking another break in Skun.

Kind of ironically, I got a flat tire 10km out of the city. I rode in much crappier conditions along the way but I couldn't get pissed as it happened right in front of a shop who helped me out. I had also just driven through really isolated areas so I thanked my lucky stars that the bike held up despite two busted suspensions and that I only got a flat on the outskirts of town.

[SabineHartmann]

Great report!!!!! So sorry, that for me the photos dont open
But partly I can use my imagination, 3 years ago, we made the Mecong Cruise from Saigon th Sian Reap