Onwards to Phnom Phen!

6-11.1.2012

Getting off the boat, quite shaken by the week on an island, took moto-taxis because the tuk-tuk driver was not there. It was weird, since we still had an outstanding debt of 350$ to pay him. We could have just took off! Rare to find this kind of trust anywhere anymore. Needless to say we called him up to meet us at the Monkey Republic.

As you can see, safety always comes first in Cambodia. I felt secure enough to shoot photos with one hand while holding on (to my beer) with the other.

After detoxing for two days in Sihanoukville (yes, the bikes were still idling in the hotel garage for 6$ per day), we felt like it was time to move on.

Ghost rider!

On the way we decided to stop in Kampot, where the pepper grows (or in Finnish, “missä pippuri kasvaa”). Naturally we had the Kampot pepper steak. It was awesome! The pepper that is imported to many countries is green here, instead of black. The taste quite sweet with a bit of a kick. Later in Siem Reap we found a bar that serves Kampot pepper shots that are made by infusing fresh peppers in vodka! Anyone who has been in my parties will know this is something I have to make for the next one 🙂 delicious!

Finally we reached Kep by the sundown to return our bikes. The owner was a little surprised we kept the bikes so long. We thought it wasn’t necessary to tell him why.

Kep was now full of local tourists and almost all hotels were full. “Kindly” enough our moto-guy pointed us to one that had vacancy, in exchange of a 1$ tuk-tuk ride across the street. Nothing quite like getting ripped off in the end of a looong day. Seriously, we could have walked faster 🙂

Early in the morning we took a bus towards Phnom Phen and arrived in good time to walk around the city, which was surprisingly comfy for an Asian capital! Well, it is not excactly a big city with only some 2 million people. Still, have to say I really liked the place, right from the get-go.

Nap time for the rikshaw guy.

If you ever go to Phnom Phen, you should definitely pay a visit to Timo, a Finnish guy who owns a bar called “Suomi baari” (Finland bar) downtown. The crowd in his bar looks like the typical “true-finn” people but are way more cool 🙂 (just like my friend Antti here). Also, you can enjoy traditional Finnish cuisine there, such as “makaronilaatikko” (mac&cheese with ground meat), “lohikeitto” (salmon soup) with rye bread, “jauhelihakeitto” (ground meat soup) and, of course “nakit ja muusi” (hot dogs with mashed potatoes). Oh! They got Fisu and Salmari too!

These minuature gas-stations were everywhere. And they should! I ran out of juice twice while riding in Cambodia! Better be careful with that bottle of Johnny Walker there though, the colour is deceiving…

As stated before.

Simple elegance.

Organic chicken.

Got bikes for one day to see more. Got my international licence too! No, wait. I left it in the hotel…

Riding my cool pink bike around the first corner, three police officers pulled me over and “fined” me 20$. It went straight to the guy’s pocket, I saw!

Handshake, smile and off I went. Without licence, of course. After that I always had it with me. Not that anyone cared anymore 🙂 Anyhow…

Antti wanted to show me the biggest natural lake in Phnom Phen, Boeung Kak. He was there couple years back. After riding in circles for quite a while, not finding it, I began to question his sense of directions.

After short googling, we found out that a local corrupt senator has paid 79M$ to lease the lake for 99 years! He pumped it full of sand, flooding over 10000 people out of their houses, to build residential areas and shopping complexes. Nice!

More information

Moving on…

Wat Phnom and yet another storyboard on Buddha becoming Buddha. Liked this temple very much! Well worth the 1$ admission.

Practical clock.

Here is the end of the trip (when I remembered to snap on the GPS)

Phnom Penh race at EveryTrail

Oh! Almost forgot. I also, unknowingly, smashed my sidelight (or someone moving my bike did) and had to pay 15$ to fix it. Turns out, Cambodia, not a cheap place to ride…

After hard days (expensive)ride, it was only appropriate to cool our heels in a hard rock bar with 50cent Bastis!

20 or so white tourists racing each other with prepaid rikshaws in matching shirts. I have seen enough.

Next up, Angor Wat!!