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

[Bitteeinbit]

Hi all,

I like reading some of the reports here and especially love seeing the pictures of the gorgeous Chinese countryside. Big mountains, very diverse etc. Anyways, figured I reciprocate by posting some of my ride reports from other forums. The only modification I've done is adding actual pictures of the bike. You guys can skip my long-winded blah-blahs (I tend to write A LOT) as most of the info I say is irrelevant to 99.99% of posters here, but I figured you guys might enjoy seeing some pictures of different scenery.

Just got back from a 10-day trip so thought I should give a good update on road conditions for Khmerized (a few roads which he's GOT to drive on if he hasn't already) and others interested.

In a nutshell: I went from Phnom Penh to Kompong Cham, then on to Kratie, then on to Stung Treng. From there I drove to Rattanakiri, and finally down to Mondulkiri before returning to PP. I pretty much exclusively took small dirt roads, only taking the highway between Kratie and Stung Treng (as no other option is possible) and as I was pressed for time, took the highway all the way back from Mondulkiri. A bit under 2000 km. Bear in mind I almost wrote a novel and it reads more like a ride-report than a simple road-conditions report.


First leg: Phnom Penh to Kompong Cham

I left quite late, which was stupid but I really wanted to get my chili hotdogs from Lone Star before leaving as I knew I probably wouldn't be eating much western food for the next two weeks. Took the ferry near Naga and went up along the southern shores of the river towards Kompong Cham. The going was ok, road starts off alright, then turns to loose gravel (shitty), and eventually gets somewhat better.

Progress was slow due to my incessant stopping (I tend to do that on the first day out of any trip). Towards that first eastward bend, the “road” basically turns into a single track, sometimes right along the river and sometimes passing through people's homes.











South of those two islands westward of Koh Pen, the road turned absolutely shitty. You can see a spot where I tried to pass but had to turn back. Daylight was quickly going (around 5-5h30) and a road with a few puddles quickly turned into a mudslide. A lady walking alongside her bike on it had told me not to go on and that I couldn't go to Kompong Cham. I figured whatever, I'll try. Forget it, alone with darkness setting in it would be impossible. So I looked at my map, turned back and took another road. However, villagers told me that this road (which looked decent) eventually turned to crap also, and said I should take the ferry across to the Northern side. Ferry at this time (6-7pm) would be 10$. I reluctantly bit the bullet and took their advice. Once across it took maybe 10-15min to KC. During the dry season it should definitely be doable, and a very nice way of getting to KC. I might actually try it in a few weeks.

















Second leg: Riding around Kompong Cham
[See track above]
Relaxed around KC. Town has changed somewhat. Hadn't been there in around 2.5-3 years. More foreign restaurants than before, when I only recall one or two places being open. Was glad to see a small French joint which a few years back had taken 45 mins to make me a tuna sandwich had closed down. A friend of mine was in Chamkar Leu (in northern KC) so I decided to go there. Visited the place, rode around trying to enter a rubber factory but the guy wouldn't let me in. Then I took the road eastwards towards the riverside. Contrary to what GoogleMaps says, it's actually quite nice. After turning right and heading down towards KC however, it quickly becomes a red-dirt nightmare. Wasn't bad, it's just that by this time it was dark and since dust and headlights don't mix well, visibility was reduced significantly (as even in the evening it was somewhat busy, so dirt everywhere). They are obviously getting ready to pave that segment so should be nice in a bit. After a while the road becomes paved, albeit in a patched/roller-coaster way. Still, lot's of hairpin turns, great river views and lot's of villages along the way. I pretty much gunned it down but during the daytime it would be a very nice drive.

Third leg: Kompong Cham to Kratie

This way probably one of my favourite rides of the trip. The “riverside” road entrance is actually way off in GoogleMaps. I assumed it would be the road where the lighthouse is, but I kept going as GM indicated otherwise. This is where GM said the “road” started:




I kept going a bit but obviously, this was no road. After maybe 200m villagers told me in no way did this road go on to Kratie, I had to take the riverside. Ok, so I went back and took to right road. It starts off great, then for maybe 3-5k turns into a muddy mess. Nothing crazy deep but the puddles were wide and long so getting briefly stuck in a possibility. But mostly, if you gunned it down the road standing, you'd just further wreck what little road they have left so I zig-zagged between the puddles following the scooter tracks. This stretch is actually easier on a small bike as some places go on tracks ride by a fence and with wide handlebars and a high seat, it's quite difficult to pass. After a few km, seeing as I had made so little progress I asked locals if the road ever got better, as otherwise I would turn back and take the highway (fuck this, I told myself). To my relief, they said it got better in one km, near the pagoda. And sure enough, after turning into a small track it eventually dried up near the pagoda and farther down opened up into a gorgeous hard-packed red-dirt road. This bit of driving was absolutely great. Beautiful views and lot's of small villages (Cham and Khmer), so plenty of opportunities to stop, rest or chitchat. The road also allows for fast driving if you want. Around that big bend, it goes from a hardpacked dirt to hardpacked mud and some gravel, so lot's of big tracks left over from the rainy season. Fast driving is still possible but gets shitty at times. Just south of that first big island (if heading east), the road becomes paved. What a relief and driving onwards still offers nice views and very fast driving. All in all this was a very nice stretch.
















Fourth leg: Kratie
I only spent one day in Kratie. Went to Kampi. Decent paved road, similar to the one along the river north of KC in the views/number of houses along the way but also suffers from the “rollercoaster” syndrome (like Highway#2 south of PP). I had actually never been to Kratie and it's a very nice town. Seeing the dolphins was exactly as I suspected. I imagined one of two things, with no room for alternatives:
1) Dolphins would be jumping out of the water Seaworld-style, swimming in front of my boat in packs as we raced down the river
2) One would barely see any dolphins. They would be 2km away and you'd see specs of grey emerging from the water.
Well, it obviously ended up being close to #2, with some dolphins emerging now and then. Was it worth 9$? Probably not, but I guess it's one of those “things to see” in Cambodia. Another check in the box I suppose. It was still nice, getting to relax on a boat all alone and see a few dolphins (though the sun was fucking hot).


Fifth leg: Kratie to Stung Treng

I originally wanted to go along the riverside but all my maps indicated this was not possible. So I reluctantly took the highway, but was also somewhat glad as I wanted to rush there because a friend's family lived nearby and I could sleep over there. The road is alright, though completely blown up in spots. They're going to patch those places up I guess. Some workers were on the road. More importantly, this is the most boring stretch of road I've EVER driven on in Cambodia (possible anywhere). No villages, no scenery, just boring old highway (and not a nice one at that). I figured there would be lot's of buses/trucks as it connects to Laos, but... nothing. I was alone most of the way which is nice but when a highway is this boring it becomes lame. All I heard was the “BAAAAAAAAAAR” of my bike and this is one spot where I wished I had a 600cc+. At least I made good time (2 hrs).


Sixth leg: Around Stung Treng
Not much in ST and it seems like the local Guesthouse owners have a racket setup where 6$ seems standard, though I finally found a nice place for 5$ (Cambod would be proud). It also always baffles me how I can get a nice massage in PP for 8000-10 000 riels, but 5$ is almost standard in the provincial capitals... I then went on to my friend's family's house, on Koh Preah. It's basically along the riverside road heading west, then south. Came across a new bridge being built by the Chinese (and Viets apparently). Looks like a 4-lane one too.

Road gets really sandy there but then opens into a beautiful red-road (finished this year if I recall). Great views, you cross about 15+ wooden bridges and though the road is somewhat narrow, there are no chickens or children running across. I was doing 75+ in many stretches. Loads of fun to drive down. Plenty of traction for a dirt road and nice views.


Took the ferry across (5000riels) then followed the road on Koh Preah, which was just finished this year as well. Pebble road but the island is VERY nice. Dolphins can also be seen around there. Spent two days there at their home and took some well-deserved rest. Very nice place to explore if you have the time to leave early on morning and leave later on in the day.



Island road:


Next day I went along the river but eastward expecting to see rapids (though anything called a rapid of waterfall usually disappoints in Cambodia). Well, there's absolutely nothing worth seeing there. So after arriving I just dunked my shirt in water again and went back to ST.


Seventh leg: Stung Treng to Banlung

Like all the roads I took, I had traced this out before leaving PP. I figured I would go to Siem Pang, then on to Vonsai, then on to Banlung. GoogleMaps, as well as all my paper maps indicated a nice road there. So off I went towards Siem Pang, but took a small detour which was lot's of fun (turned left at a place which said “Mekong Bird Resort”. Great village trail that probably goes all the way to the tip, facing Stung Treng :




Once at the crossroads I figured I should go see the Laos border for shits and giggles. Walked into Laos, met a French guy doing a world tour. He was heading for SHNV and then PP. Had done France-Johannesburg along the Eastern coast then back up (both east and west Africa). Onward to Turkey/Middle-East upwards to Russia, then back down to Mongolia, China, Laos and heading into Cambodia before storing the bike and taking a short trip back to France (had been on the road for 16 months). Cool guy to chat with, he was actually sponsored by Yamaha France (bike, riding gear etc). Hopefully I'll meet him again when he comes back to PP. Here's his website where he outlines the paperwork needed for crossing boders:






From there I went back to the fork in the road and headed for Siem Pang. This stretch of gravel road is pretty bad. A few stretches are ok for a dirtbike but it's deceptive as soon enough you'll hit HUGE dips in the road so progress is fairly uncomfortable.


Once at SP I asked about the upcoming road condition. They said groups of dirtbikers came by regularly (20+) and that the road was bad right now (hopefully I'm not giving away a trade secret). Doable but not really a road. Well let me tell you, they were right! It's not a road at all but rather a dirtbike trail. Not really possible for a barang scooter-rider though I did see two-three small bikes doing the trip carrying goods! Leaving so late and going alone was a BIG mistake which is hindsight was downright stupid. There are only two villages along the way, who can can get by in khmer but mostly speak Lao. It's actually a lot of fun though. Often it's a sandy mess (15-20cm+) for hundreds of meters, but sometimes it turns into hardpacked red dirt where you can accelerate, though it's usually quickly followed by more sand.






You cross around 10 creeks or so, the first one (from Siem Pang) still being quite deep when I went and leaving me wondering how the small scooters fared here. The others were fine, though sometimes the other side has such deep mudtracks you had to drive down the riverbed looking for another way up. As with all such tracks, following the path of least resistance (ie: the tracks left by small motos) offers the best ride, though revving through the puddles was great. The water level was perfect. Sometimes you go through bamboo forests, sometimes across rice paddies (with tons of crosstracks so knowing which way to go can be somewhat hard). If you have a bad sense of orientation or no nav skills forget it. Knowing it was so bad I would have left MUCH earlier. I started it at 2pm and the guys told me it would take 4hrs to do the 60km or so. They were spot on, took me just under 4 hrs (with lots of stopping). If you're an experienced dirtbiker with friends an protective gear you could cut that time down but being alone with no protection (I know, I know), I didn’t want to test my luck. Didn't get a ton of pics as after a while I knew time was of the essence and even with my huge headlights, didn't want to still be driving in the dark. Turns out I only drove 10m on the crappy trail in the dark before it became a decent dirt road again. What a relief! Went on to Banlung on a nice hilly road (though in the dark so couldn’t appreciate it much).



















At one point you need to take another ferry:















So to anyone reading this: DON'T ATTEMPT ALONE. And START EARLY. I dropped the bike twice (though driving at less than 5km/h) but had I injured myself or had bike probs it would truly have been a shitty situation (I had a hammock in my gear though, lol). Not much civilization along the way, though there are two army outposts, two villages and some (illegal) loggers. But basically the only thing driving there are those mini-tractors (which make huge ruts) but they can't do the whole journey as at time it gets too small for them. BUT, if you like dirtbiking this is the place for you. This route is most likely impossible during the rainy season (I want to say impossible, and locals said impossible but I know somewhere someone could probably do it with inflatable rafts or something). When I got to my Banlung guesthouse I popped open my PREMIUM whiskey as reward which I had bought from supercheap before my trip. Well-deserved.


Eight leg: Around Banlung
I met a guy who said he could guide me through the “Death Highway”, said it was really sandy, would take 3 hours between Lumphat and Khaoh Neak. So if we were to do it, would need to leave Banlung at 5am, arrive at Lumphat 6am, eat breakfast then leave. 60$. So though I had originally planned on going to Mondulkiri but now figured I shouldn't because:
1) I wouldn't have time to see both Rat and Mondul.
2) I was sick of driving on shitty roads.
I had never been in eastern Cambodia so figured I should maximize my time in Rat and go to Mondulkiri independently later on when I had more time, maybe around Christmas. So I drove around Banlung for a few days. Visited Yeak Laom lake near town. Very nice. Walked around it, which was refreshing, then setup my hammock and drank some beers and dove/cannonballed/swam at one of the quiet peers with some Cambodians. The next day I went to enquire about visiting Virachey National Park. Well their fees are reasonable (13$/day for guide+ small fee for food, hammocks etc). Buuuuut, 60$ for the boat, LOL. Only three guides. A two-day trek is like 125$ so I decided fuck it. A few of the tour companies offer nice treks too. Next time I'd like to do one of those trekking tours. My dream would be to take a Cambodian girl (if I can ever find a girlfriend, lol) and take her there to make her a bit hardy. Going with a female tourist would probably be cool.

So instead I drove up north to Ta Veang. It's a nice dirt-road drive, filled with some rather steep hills and tight corners (with random 4X4s driving like maniacs around them, driver beware). Some big ruts do to rain obviously, loose at times. Once there there's really nothing to do. Played two games of pool with some locals, ate, napped then went back to see the Chaa Ong waterfalls, which were actually quite spectacular by Cambodian standards (or any standards for that matter). You can shower under it which is nice after driving a lot. Oh, and I also helped out two Indians who had run out of gas.




It's also worth noting that the roads to ALL waterfalls are pretty crappy, which is somewhat surprising. But it also allows for relatively few tourists (most are in the process of being upgraded).


That night in an Indian restaurant I met a guy who said he had just done the Death Highway two days ago with a Frenchman on the back of his moto. He said it was quite easy. Alone he could do the bad stretch in 1.5 hours. He also said it wasn't too sandy now (my main concern, as driving through sand isn't fun unless you're gunning it on sand dunes in Morocco or something). He said he charged 60$ to go all the way to Sen Monorom or 40$ to get to Khaoh Neak. His comments stuck in my mind and I took his number for later reference. The next day, I packed the bike and went to see the gem mining places near Bokheo east of Banlung. This is a VERY nice mountainous drive on a freshly paved road, no patches, smooth surface the whole way and none of that “grainy” pavement but a nice smooth grippy surface which tired just grip on. I suggest going to Vietnam along this route. Khmerized would love this on his bike. Nice views too.

Heading back to town, went to see Ka Tieng waterfall, which was also quite nice. The way I had planed it I had two choices: head over to Kratie that afternoon, then onwards to PP, or call that guy up and go to Mondulkiri. Well I figured “I'm here, I'm queer (uhhh, what?), better do it now while I can and it's still around” so around 11:30 or so while at the waterfall I rang him up and asked if he would mind doing it with me that afternoon (stupid again, but spontaneous). He said sure. Locals at the waterfall told me it was easy to find your way now and I didn't need a guide, but after my experience on the Siem Pang-Vonsai stretch, I figured I'd rather pay for someone to accompany me in case I had mechanical trouble or an injury. So we agreed to meet in Lumphat, I went down from that waterfall (south of Banlung) to the main highway (VERY VERY NICE DRIVE, albeit unfortunately short).
That road is obviously going to get paved very soon, and the obvious next step is the Death Highway itself (given that the road from Khaoh Neak to Sen Monorom was also apparently nice now). I adjusted my rattling chain over there and then met up with him and ate at his house (or father's house, young guy with a wife and 2-month old son). Quite pleasant.
Road to Lumphat being prepped for pavement:



Ninth leg: Banlung to Sen Monorom

I stocked up on water as he bought a spare innertube and brought his tire repair kit along (my demand). Took the ferry (10 000r, a bit of a ripoff but oh well). Well you wouldn't have guessed it but across the river, waiting for the ferry were two SUVs (NGOs) who has just done the trip from Mondulkiri, so I knew it couldn't be that bad. And sure enough, it really isn't bad at all. Progress was quite fast (WAAAY faster than the Siem Pang-Vonsai stretch, though I was with someone so obviously my confidence level was higher). This guy was a real pro, it was obvious he knew the road well, also took the spots with less sand, high ground etc. I just followed his tracks. In true khmer-style he had no helmet or cap and was in flipflops and was faster than me (waited now and then for me to catch up, haha). But my honest thoughts were “What “Death Highway?”. Some loose sand/dirt but the sand's grain was either much bigger than the sand on the SP-VS stretch, or very-very fine (moondust type) both of which in my mind offer more traction than “middle-grain sand” if I can call it that, lol. Despite my overly confident attitude I actually fell more often there than on the SP-VS route (only hurting myself a bit once). I guess I was driving too fast for my own ability at times. Either way it was much easier, but overall way less fun than the SP-VS drive. You mostly drive on open terrain (I assumed I would be under a canopy of jungle trees). I think it would be a fun ride on the back of a moto, similar to the Siem Riep-Preah Vihear treck a few years back. Nonetheless, still took us a while to get to Khaoh Neak. First two thirds were done very quickly, but the last bit was slowler (despite being a bit easier imo, maybe I was just tired). Took around 3 hours to get to town (around 17h00). Still fun, but this year they upgraded the road so apparently it's much easier than 5 years ago or so. Rainy season would be really hard too.














Once in Khaoh Neak we decided to push on to Sen Monorom (another 95km or so). He was originally supposed to just take me to Khaoh Neak and head back, but a friend of his in Sen Monorom knew a Swiss couple who wanted to do the trip on the back of motos, so he headed onwards to Sen Monorom with me. Despite what everyone had told me in Balung, this stretch is absolute crap. Or maybe it felt like crap because it was nighttime (and my main headlight was out, luckily I have massive LEDs) and was tired from driving all day. I had to follow him closely because if I was too far, the dust would be high and visibility crap. I ha to be close enough so the dust didn't have time to rise too much but obviously we'd both be covered in dust by day's end. We tried driving alongside each other but it didn't allow enough freedom of movement to evade the ruts/potholes and I always had a tendency to go faster than him so since I was the one with safety glasses and scarf, I followed. But honestly, this road is crap. FULL of potholes and those perpendicular “speedbump” type ruts which are annoying even on a dirtbike. The last few km seem to take forever because it's all hills. Finally we made it to town around 8h00 or so. Took a long shower, finished my whiskey and headed to the only bar in town to meet a few of the local expats. Seem like a nice bunch.

BTW, where does Icebear work in Banlung? There's only one expat bar/restaurant in town so I'm assuming he's there.



Tenth leg: Sen Monorom to Phnom Penh

Left at 8am and boy oh boy, this is a nice road. Brand spanking new, twists and turns in the montains, nice views and best of all I was all alone (maybe because it was a Monday?). The pavement is gorgeous and this is a must for people like Khmerized with bikes made for nice pavement. I recommend doing it in the morning, nice a cool, beautiful views and a slight mist in the distance. Great way to cap my trip. I generally don't like driving on highways in Cambodia but this stretch is great.


Took me a bit under 6 hrs of actual driving to Phnom Penh (but 8 hrs in all with stops). Only gets bumpy in a few stretches but gets better again quickly. I though I should go to Kompong Cham but it's faster to avoid it altogether and go down south. Stopped by a 70-year old rubber plantation/factory with original buildings which was quite interesting. They let me snap as many videos and pics as I wanted of the rubber-making process. Was pretty cool.






Once I crossed the bride north of PP, the road became total shit. Huge traffic as well. I really needed to escape PP and now it was back to reality and the frustrations of traffic and SUVs I guess.



Oh, and here's a pic of my homemade glasses (lost the frame so had to use a bit of barang resourcefulness). Did it with 3 different coloured lenses (though I never wore the dark tinted ones) and worked beautifully:

[Bitteeinbit]

A daytrip:

Daytrip: Kompong Chnang

As with most of my trips, it started with staring at a map and spotting something of interest. I saw a nice loop to the east of Kompong Chnang which seemed surrounded by mountains. So I set off on a Sunday morning (I always seem to end up leaving late, 9H30...). Upon arriving, I checked out the town. Scoped the port for later as a ferry would be needed to reach Kompong Hau. I then set off to check out the famous pottery village (where most of those sellers in PP come from. The ones on carts driven by cows).
Curious rock "piles" nearby which offer nice views:






I then went down to the port and facing stairs, was told the path was slippery and I should take the stairs down. It seemed plausible but with all the guys starting to surround me with big smiles and insisting I go down the stairs, I thought it might be just a ploy for them to see some barang going down stairs. Nonetheless I obliged. I asked about the ferry but there are actually only 4 ferries per day and I had missed the last one, so would need to pay 12.5$... Being a cheapo and already tired, I decided I would come back at a later time to check out that loop I so wanted to see so went to check out the airport instead.

Port:



A lot of fun little loops near the airport as well. I had heard old reports saying you couldn't get into the Control Tower but I had no issues getting to the roof and snapping pictures.

Weird berms...?








That next opportunity to do that loop I wanted to do would come a week later, over Christmas break. I decided to go back to Kompong Chnang to visit the loop, then on to Pursat for the night. The next day, I would go to Koh Kong via the Cardamoms, stay there another day and then come back to PP.

[Bitteeinbit]

A 4-day trip:

Ride Report: Phnom Penh-Kompong Chnang-Pursat-Koh Kong-Phnom Penh


Day 1: Phnom Penh to Pursat with stopover in Kompong Chnang


Despite my best efforts, I STILL left at 9h30, lol. I made it just in time for one of the ferries (I have the timetable). Went down the stairs again to everyone's amusement. Ferry takes ~30 mins. The loop is great. Lots of hills, little loops around mountains. A lot of hiking opportunities (some hikes apparently taking as little as 40 mins-probably 20min if you don't have flip-flops)-so easily combined with other activities). The road is a beautiful red earth on, but obviously gets smaller/rocky if you go around mountains or veer off the main road:






One guy insisted on getting me some palm fruits and palm juice from a small container. He would even stop on his ascent to pose for pictures, lol.



Great views from the many hills along the way:


Pre-Angkorian temple:





Came across a whole hill being broken down into gravel by villagers. They heat up the rocks with fire, then a big chunk breas off. They then chisel away until the pieces are small enough for concrete/gravel. You could hear the patter of hand-made hammers hitting the stones all across the mountain.






Boat ride back to Kompong Chnang:




All the guys going back up those stairs did so walking up the stairs with their motos on the path. Though I did the same to get out of the boat as it was too narrow and high, I had done that ride up the week before no problem so started up but then, to my horror, I slid (maybe because this time there was some mud a bit before the climb or maybe I just did a wrong move). Slid down a few stairs sideways (front wheel to the left of the path, rear wheel to the right) before coming to a stop against those baskets on the side, almost hitting a kid... I didn't fall off or stall but needed some guys to help me get both wheels off the stairs and back on the path and walked it the rest of the way up. Lesson learned: play it safe dummy. Could have ended much worse.

I arrived after dark in Pursat, ate and went to bed.


Day 2: Pursat to Koh Kong

I managed to get on the road after a nice breakfast a bit past 8 (which for me seems to be good). The road to Pramoyi starts off paved for around 20 km, then becomes pretty bad for a few km before turning into a fairly standard red-earth road.

Used car+ car parts dealer (with trees growing out from the hood of some cars)


I made good time getting to Pramoyi but it was too early for lunch. A guy told me they had places to eat farther down to Veal Veng and that the road conditions were the same. Well that wasn't a small fib but more like a big lie. The road is MUCH worse fom Pramoyi to Veal Veng, though never insanely bad making it fun. Pursat to Pramoyi is flat, but the road on to Veal Veng has nice climbs and descents. It's also impossible to get lost. I could tell that during the rainy season it must be much harder. However, it took my a long time to reach Veal Veng. Took a ton of pictures, got phone calls, made rest stops etc. At times the road is nice and flat and sometimes it's a bit rougher:






Town of Veal Veng (so I was told but looking at the map it might not be). It's worth noting that I'm not sure if I ever reached Veal Veng. Many people didn't even know where Veal Veng is. It's both a small village and a srok. Unfortunately I got there a bit after lunch time and absolutely no one had food... Finally one girl accepted to cook me some noodles. I stocked up on water (I often don't carry any water with me) and put a tad more gas in, just in case. One guy forgot to put his air brakes on as his parked truck started rolling down the hill towards the houses. Thankfully, the driver managed to run and stop it before any damage was done.




There's a river crossing with a big broken bridge, but there's a small bridge built to the side.




A bit further down there's the river crossing (roughly 20cm of water, apparently year-long) which V12 had told me about. Kids swimming, and anything can cross it and you just have to follow the high stones (big stones, not pebbles), which aren't the slippery kind thankfully.







I hard heard of a waterfall near Osoam but locals all said there was no such thing. Further down there's a fork, you need to turn right. The left one goes to Osoam village. A bit further down this road, you reach a power station. Upon reaching it, there are two roads. Apparently the one straight ahead is the old one and not very good. I was advised to turn right so I did. The road after Veal Veng is actually very nice throughout. It's only bad where they are building the dams (still nice and ride but full of rocks in some parts because of the heavy machinery). Since the projects are huge, it doesn't stretch out a bit (not just one dam, but a whole series of dams/heavy construction over a big stretch), but once you pass the last one, the road becomes nice and smooth again.

A few pics. Mind you, many of these are several km apart. Huge projects indeed:

The station where I took a right:


First Dam I came across was the Stung Atay dam. They don't mind you pulling up and taking a million pictures. I drove up and stood next to the Chinese and Cambodia workers. Was told around 50 Chinese and 100 Cambodians involved with that site. It looks a lot higher in person obviously...






Backview:


Another project:


According to some worker, these tunnels apparently go 3-5km into the mountains (hauling rocks to make gravel for all the cement needed). Saw maybe 3 of them:


Yet another site. Chinese workers looking smart with safety glasses and coveralls:




Once you pass the final dam, the road gets beautiful again. I think it could even be done during the rainy season. The only bad stetch is Pramoyi-Veal Veng.


I got to Koh Kong at 6pm, so it took me a full 10 hours of driving. It could be done MUCH faster than that. Maybe 6 hours. It can also be done in a Camry or small bike. The old road to the east might still be “bad”, though to what extent I don't know.
Here are some GPS tracks to give an idea of how mountainous the place is. No straight lines here:





Day 3: Koh Kong
On day 3 I just saw the normal sites around Koh Kong so won't bore you with pictures. Tatai waterfalls, Bong Kairng (the mangrove forest), explored a few roads outside of town and ended the day at the beach.
A road which led to.... Nothing! I got a nice biew out of it I guess.



Day 4: Back to PP
Out of sheer coincidence (saw a sign), stopped by a great waterfall. Short drive down a big track, bridge crossing then maybe a 30min walk through a jungle trail. It's well-maintained but narrow, loads of logs in the way etc. Also too far out of town for most tourists I guess. The walk through the jungle with various sounds is great and the reward is being alone with this. Definitely worth a trip if you have your own wheels:



Doesn't look like it in the picture but it's over 12m high:

[coldrider]

Great report, thanks for sharing with everyone!

Nice to see the Shineray Long March held up!

How many miles you have on the bike now?

What kind of tires on it as they didn't look like the original china tires on the pictures?

Txs.

[euphonius]

Dear Bitteeinbit,

Fantastic reports, and totally appropriate to post them in MyChinaMoto. You've done a lot to create an impression of the Khmer countryside; this was kind of a blank spot for me until now.

The bike looks great with ammo can panniers. Were those US military surplus? Speaking of conflict, is there anywhere in Cambodia where you still have to worry about land mines?

I'm also amazed at how many pictures you are filing in each post, as I remember there being some limit of 10 or 12. Anyway, keep the fine reports coming!

Thanks, and cheers

[Bitteeinbit]

Sorry for the late reply. Yep, the Cambodia countryside is quite different from China or North America. I love seeing the pictures of the Chinese countryside. Completely different. Always refreshing to see a different countryside.

As for the tires, they are Duros, which I assume is this company:
http://www.durotire.com/
Taiwanese company but made in Thailand. They are used everywhere on dirtbikes here. Roughly 75$ for the pair and they do well on pavement or off-road (I got the semi-knobby ones). Also have some Michelin Sirac road tires as well. They also do well on hard dirt road, though obviously slightly more wobbly at high speed, but those do better on tarmac and are much better quality (my rear Duro tire looks worn already and I've only done a few thousand ks on it, though I guess pavement kills them more quickly). Either way I haven't found the bike gets too much vibrations with either tire.

According to my calculations, the bike has slightly under 16 000km on it (15 718) but with city driving I'm guessing somewhat over 16 000km. Haven't done any road trips in the past month (only 2-day holidays) buuuut, I'm planning a trip from the 1st-4th.

The boxes are actually custom boxes. Went to a shop and had them make galvanized steel boxes for me (I supplied the dimensions: didn't want them sticking out too much but also wanted enough space inside for clothes, etc). Took the "medium" thickness. Cost me 30$ for the pair. I then sanded them down (galvanized steel doesn't paint well) and spray-painted them myself. Made a stencil (the ramhead). Kind of regret doing the flag stencil a few weeks later as I think it's too big but oh well. The boxes are kaput anyways. One of them is cracked and they are both quite bent. I dropped the bike on it's side 3-5 times or so (never going fast, once of twice it was sitting still but stuck in mud, lol). Always fell in soft sand or mud but it still took its tole... Since they stick out they take the brunt of the impact. Given the price of the boxes I don't care but what kind of sucks is that it bent the side metal rack a bit and cracked the welding. Shouldn't be a problem to reweld but not sure if they'll be able to straighten it out nicely. I had planned on taking them off if doing some trail riding but that particular week I came across a lot of trails which I hadn't anticipated.

As for mines, well yes Cambodia still has a lot of them. But most places with people around have been cleared. But you still come across many places with “Danger, Mines” signs, so most minefileds are clearly marked. It's still never advised to go off paths for obvious reasons. Given what's at stake it's the wise thing to do.

[Bitteeinbit]

Road Trip: Daytrip to Bayang Mountain
Two weeks ago or so I decided to go explore Bayang Mountain. I'd seen it o the map for quite some time. Around 4-6 months ago I wanted to check it out on my way back from Sihanoukville via Kampot but ran out of time because of heavy rain. Ken Svay made a thread about it a few months back I believe and many moons ago there was a front page article.

For those who don't know, Bayang is near Vietnam off National Highway#2. When I do daytrips, I usually go on Sundays but this time I figured being rewarded with some beers back in Phnom Penh would be great, and I'd still feel like I had some of my weekend left. Unfortunately, despite my best intentions of leaving bright and early, I only left at 10:30...

The drive there is actually pretty long so it makes for a tight daytrip (especially if you're an idiot that leave at 10:30...). Highway#2 still feels like a rollercoaster. It must be the worst highway out of Phnom Penh. No progress has been made in sealing the uprooted patches past Takeo though the road improves near Vietnam (seems the roads are generally good near the borders, probably to show off).

I made the right turn to Bayang but continued straight with the intention of circling the mountains. Went up a Wat which was being built and chatted/flirted with the two female workers as the two guys kept going. Wandered around some more on small rice-paddy trails but realizing I wouldn't have the time to circle the mountains, around 3pm or so, I decided I should go up the mountain. Interestingly, most houses in the area are made of sandstone (pre-95 houses I was told):




Skinny Buddha:



The path is actually much smaller than I anticipated. I was expecting a semi-paved road or at least a wide trail. Nope. It's the perfect mountain-biking experience. Great fun to go up with a dritbike but I suspect going down would be 5X more fun on a mountain bike as it would allow for more speed and the track is well-groomed for bicycles. Best bet would be to get a bunch of friends, rack the bikes and drive up there. Make the climb, eat, then give'er coming down. Either way loads of fun and I'm sure mountain-bikers already know about this place.

Trail:









First small temple. The sandscript inscriptions intrigued me. I'd like to know what they say:





The main temple is further down the road (though I cut through a hiking path). Sorry if it seems all the pictures are crooked. I swear I wasn't drunk. My phone camera also does really bad in backlit situations.






I have an obsession for masonry:




Phnom Bayang in the late afternoon:


I took a 10 minute nap on one of the sellers' mats, drank some water and made the drive back to PP somewhat tired but ready for some drinks.

[Bitteeinbit]

Yep another report which I posted on another forum. The info is obviously not pertinent to anyone here but the pictures might be of interest. I set upon travelling on a 1000 year old highway which connected important sites at the height of the Khmer Empire:




Road Trip: Kompong Thom-Prei Kuk Temples, Preah Khan, Route 66, Siem Riep




After reading this recent post about current road conditions on the old Angkorian highway, I decided doing Route 66 (the old Angkorian highway) was now on the top of my list of priorities.
http://www.rideasia.net/motorcycle-f...oute-66-a.html
I had planned this trip alone but a friend insisted on coming over (as a passenger). I was initially reluctant but then accepted on the condition that if the road/trail conditions got too bad, my friend would have to backtrack and bus it o Siem Riep.


Day 1: Phnom Penh-Kompong Thom
I headed out to Kompong Thom on pavement Friday morning. I hadn't done the Siem Riep highway in several years and boy oh boy, they're fixing that bitch up. Some places looks like it would be wide enough for a 6-lane highway along with a small motorbike shoulder each way (so almost an 8-lane highway!). Only in spots though so not sure what they're doing.


Once in Kompong Thom, I knew I didn't have time to make it to Preah Khan in one go (thank god I didn't try) so I decided to go visit Preah Kuk instead. I figured my best bet would be to head to Stoung afterwards, sleep there and make it an early day to Preah Khan and onwards to Siem Riep. The Preah Kuk temples themselves are nice. The site is almost as nicely groomed as the ones in Siem Riep I guess, but it gets few visitors (only saw one chick there with her motodop). The grounds are well groomed though it's remoteness from other complexes means it doesn't get the attention it deserves (e.g: signs saying “temporary” doorways being installed...in 2003). These are some of the oldest temples in the Kingdom, dating mostly from the Chenla period I believe (though was still important in Angkorian times). The Japanese are funding renovations but progress seems to be crawling forward. The paths are nice and clearly laid out which is good as the various temples are pretty far from each other. Sorry again, phone camera doesn't like backlit situations...





Reconstruction/puzzle:





One bad rainy season and this one is going down:








After asking around I was told you could get to Preah Khan from the East, but surprisingly, no one seemed to have done it before (and very few people had actually even heard of Preah Khan before). I decided to stick with my original plan and got to Stoung after sundown. Took a nice shower, ate some Tchah Kdau and a teukaleuk (no bong aim here...). Enquired about the road to Preah Khan. I was told there are two roads. An old one which is shorter but the road is crappier and another one farther down HWY#6 which is nice but longer, so apparently work out to roughly the same. I decided to take the old road. Tomorrow would be a big day.


Day 2: Stoung-Preah Khan-Siem Riep
Woke up the next morning for a 6am start but we left maybe 15 mins late. The road there is pretty straightforward. It does get rather sandy near villages though (which are pretty much everywhere) but overall it's alright. Surprisingly (or not), the added weight of having a passenger and gear made the bike handle nicely. I found it surprising how few of the locals knew of Preah Khan. But generally I always managed to find one who would point me in the right direction (though as usual, their conception of both time and km is always off...).

Sunrise:








At one point I hit a really nice dirt road and started racing down it. I then had a bad feeling as I was heading towards the sun when I should have been going north (I assumed to road would bend at some point but it never did). I stopped to ask locals but no one even knew of Preah Khan. Finally one dude told me to go all the way back. Fuck! Turns out there is a left-hand turn at some point. I later read that the same thing happened to the guy in the link at the beginning of the story. The road heading north is bad for several km before opening up into a brand new hard-packed road (probably for loggers).
New road just a few km from the temple:



I then hit a main village right next to the temple (forgot to ask the name). Funny how I've seen these types of towns all over the world and they're always the same: a little boom town on the outskirts of civilization where loggers/road workers work. Seemed like it was a new village. Took a trail to the temple (though I later found out on my way back that the main road went straight there, LOL).

These temples have been properly looted:



Farther down to the actual Preah Khan temple, a woman was selling “tickets” (5$ a pop!, LOL). They seemed legit enough but I also haven't just fallen off the turnip truck. I told her we'd think about it when we got back, lol. Stayed maybe 3 hours there when we came back the lady was still there. She said if we didn't want to buy tickets we could pay 10 000R. I had my friend hand her 2$ and off we went. I knew Preah Khan itself was big but I wasn't expecting it to be this huge. Most of the area is overrun by sparse jungle, some areas are pretty dense. Walking around is kind of hard as you keep jumping from stone to stone.





In a few areas they've tried to burn the vegetation down a bit:









By 1pm, I was exhausted and feeling a fever creeping up on me (I had slept only 3-4 hours the two previous nights before heading out). I was getting really hungry and we were both tired so we decided it would be best to drive back to the town, eat, then drive route 66. We checked out Prasat Domrei (a pyramid-shaped temple) on the way back, had some lunch and then both napped. I opened my eyes around 1pm and knowing time was of the essence, figured we should have the wheels rolling by 2pm. Now my friend (who made us late in the morning) had the brilliant idea to get a manicure/pedicure at the local shack because “her feet hurt”.
“Five minutes,” she said.
“Hmmmmmm,” I thought to myself.
Well next thing you know it's 2:30 and we're racing back to the temple so we can head on to Khvav. :axe:

Luckily 40 runners had apparently come the day before. A girl in the village told us 40 foreigners had come in minivans and then disappeared the next morning while the woman at the temple told us that they had run on to Khvav followed by a few motobikes for safety. This meant that the first few km of the trail were clearly marked with red tape attached to tree branches. You can't access the trail through the temple but rather there's a left-hand turn beforehand.

We'd barely done a few hundred meters that we hit this (but facing the other way).


That sight brought me down. What if half the trail was still wet? Surprising for early Feb?!? Luckily 3 dudes were hanging out and told me that it was the only waterhole and that the soil underneath was hard. But remember: with a dirtbike, two people and a lot of luggage I wasn't too sure. No way for my passenger to walk around either. Felt hard enough so I turned around, got a head start and ploughed through, no hiccups though in the middle it did go “deep” enough (well over the axle) and the splash got me soaked all the way up to the shoulders. A nice way to start riding in the middle of the hot afternoon. The trail started off easy but got sandy fairly quickly. Remember that I was riding with a passenger and quite a bit of luggage. The added weight and having a passenger definitely made it a more stressful ride, but with all the sand it seemed to help traction somewhat as times.












Lot's of these small bridges but they're obviously not needed during the dry season. There's only two bridges or so in the “hard” part of the trail. The rest are on a nice dirt road. The trail would definitely be hard during the rainy season but it was alright.




There are a few remnants here and there of the ancient road:



Made it to Khvau a bit past 5 if I recall (so ~2h30-2h45). It's around 40km from Preah Khan to Khvau is around 30km. Definitely could have shaved off lots of time riding solo and without all that luggage but just goes to show that the trail itself is alright (at least in the dry season). We both took a nap on a sellers mat (I had a heavy fever by now and she was just tired). Around 5h15-5h30 we drove the few hundred meters onwards to Khvau (we were a few hundred out) where I saw all those runners had apparently decided to rest. We rode on past Khvau to see Ta Ong bridge before sundown. Keep in mind in most snapshots I only have about half the bridge in shot (it's probably over 80m):





More bridges past Khvau:



Instead of backtracking back to Khvau to take the dirt road to HWY#6, we rode on to Beng Melea (some people told us it would take 2-3 hours while in fact it probably took 30 mins). We got there right before sundown, sat down and rested some more before taking the road down to HWY#6 then onwards to Siem Riep. I was glad I managed to hit pavement before dark thought I was exhausted by the time we got back. I had also forgotten how strict Siem Riep is regarding passports and hotels... Loads of places were full and some turned me away because I didn't have my passport (though my friend had an ID card...). Ate at Viva, popped some aspirin and slept like a rock.

Day 3: Siem Riep
Well deserved rest, food and massages.

Day 4: Ride back to Phnom Penh
Made it back to my door within 6h30 hours including stops.

So basically Route 66 still exists but the "trail" aspect of it doesn't extend all the way to Beng Melea anymore (it's a dirt road onwards from Khvau, though not too wide in parts, still making it interesting to ride).

[Bitteeinbit]

Trip report: Daytrip to Prey Veng


Two Sundays ago I decided to take the ferry from Naga world and get to Prey Veng. No real reason really, I've just never been to PV and wanted to check it out. Like many cyclists or dirtbikers, I've explored the area across the river before (mostly short trips exploring around smaller tracks or going to Kompong Cham once) but this time my main goal was to get to PV. I figured I would take the riverside road as far as I could and if possible, take a track heading north to PV. Once more I left late (was across the river by 11am)...

As I say I've ridden this track both north and south both ways before and it's nice, but I'd never ventured all the way down before. Glad to say the road is fairly nice the whole way. A few sandy bits but mostly nice obviously making it a favourite for cyclists. I zigzaged between the main road and the smaller roads closer to the river (sometimes on purpose, sometimes taking a wrong turn when hitting a pagoda or school). Some of the smaller ones alongside the river are cool but they usually turn into dead-ends in someone's garden... Views are quite typical but I always find them to be a refreshing contrast from the city.










A somewhat out of place building: regional hospital built 30-40 years ago according to the neighbors. A smaller one-story building nearby has since replaced it.











I searched around for a road that would cut across to PV but couldn't find one. I'm sure it's possible to take one of the rice paddy tracks all the way, but I didn't feel like trying that day. I'd consider going back to explore those stretches a bit more for a “direct” route across, though it looks like the area is flooded during the rainy season so I doubt there are any “decent” trails. For sure around around here it's possible to find a route though:


Around 5km from Neak Luong, you need to ferry across. I noted the name of the village but by now I've forgotten what it was called. A few older looking buildings there. One or two buildings (not pictured) looked quite old. From there I just took the highway to PV. Quite nice.






The highway onwards is great. Pretty wide (and getting upgraded in sections) and fairly traffic-free (no big trucks from Vietnam or whatever). Prey Veng itself is a very nice provincial town. I know several people from there but unfortunately going there was a spontaneous decision so I didn't get to meet anyone. Drove around, had some refreshments. Chatted with a few ladies for an hour or two. Checked out the market, took a nap, got my chain adjusted and headed back for Phnom Penh via Neak Luong and Highway#1. All in all not much to see or do though it's a comfy place.

Bridge construction:


“Riverside” (thought it's called something else, I forgot). I haven't included any pics of the town as nothing really stands out though the streets are nice and overall it's a nice town. Check in the box I guess.


New bridge being built (2nd bridge in Cambodia after Kisona to cross the Mekong. Completion date: another year and a half according to my excellent source: a random worker)



The familiar Neak Luong monument which you see while busing it to Vietnam

[euphonius]

Dear Bitte,

I've been traveling, without the time to dig into your reports. Today I'm thinking: Damn, I'm glad you are doing these rides on a Shineray. If you were on something other than a Chinabike we'd not have such a amazingly wonderful glimpse at rural Cambodia. Thanks for these excellent picture blogs!

What is it that you do there anyway, besides riding (which it seems you are doing almost all the time!)?

cheers!