Bangkok to Phnom Phen

It was a great feeling to pick the bike up from the mechanic and start packing to get back on the road. Once again I was pleasantly surprised by the Bangkok traffic, it was definitely a pain making my way through the city but it was nowhere near as bad as I had been lead to believe. I had messaged my friend Wim, who had recently toured through Cambodia and he had advised me to follow the coastal road through Thailand and cross into Cambodia via the South border crossing, this was a great piece of advice as the crossing couldn’t have gone smoother. He also made me aware that there was a law against riding with headlights on during the day (and that it was optional at night) I didn’t want to mess around with my electrics so I duct taped over my headlight and used the fog lights at night time. Cambodia was the first country on my journey where they ride on the right side of the road, I didn’t realise this until I was riding on Cambodian roads, luckily I avoided any incidents and was soon on the highway heading to the riverside town of Kampot.

Kampot had a very relaxed feel to it, the streets were lined with French colonial buildings which housed cafes, restaurants and cool little bars. It almost seemed that every second restaurant was a pizza joint with the word “happy” in the name, I had heard about these “happy Pizzas” and thought I’d give one a try with some fellow travellers, I was pretty happy but I was also asleep at 7:30 pm so maybe they accidently gave me the sleepy pizza.  The highlight was visiting Bokor Hill station, Once a resort town established by French colonial settlers in the early 1920’s but abandoned in 1972 when the Khmer Rouge took over the area. There are many empty buildings on Bokor Hill but the most impressive is by far is the very spooky looking casino, no doubt it once opened its doors to some very wealthy guests but now it sits as a ghostly reminder of this towns glory days. The 42 km ride to the top of the hill along newly paved, winding roads was also a welcome chance to do some twists and turns after recently riding too many straight roads.

It had rained very heavily on my ride from Bangkok to Cambodia and the sun was starting to finally shine through, I decided to make the most of the good weather and headed to Sihanoukville for a few days. Sihanoukville and its surrounding area is blessed with beautiful beaches and I spent 3 days relaxing by the ocean. Tourism in this area is flourishing and along with the bungalows, restaurants and bars I was surprised to see an incredible number of casinos in the small town. Obviously everyone is trying to cash in on the lucrative tourist dollar but I wonder if a rapid influx of casinos (and possibly the vice that comes with the industry) is the best strategy for long term growth. It will be interesting to see the difference in this place in 5 or 10 years time, and also to see the difference in the tourists that come here, perhaps this paradise for leisure seeking beach lovers will more resemble the red light district of Pataya in Thailand, guess we’ll have to wait and see.

I was soon back on the road again and was heading to Phnom Phen via the little beachside town of Kep. I was cruising along the highway and to my surprise I passed another BMW, I gave the rider on the 650 GS a wave and we rode together for a few km until we found a place for lunch. The riders name was Mike and he was an American living in Phem Phen, it was a nice feeling to meet a rider randomly on a Cambodian highway and talk about bikes and touring over lunch and coffee. I said goodbye to Mike and was soon riding into Kep, this beautiful town was a real Gem, it was almost  the complete opposite to Sihanoukville, it was quiet but it had real character and I was told the local council don’t allow clubs, casinos or karaoke bars in the centre of town. Kep is a fishing village and it is well known for a row of waterfront restaurants called the crab market, the pepper crab is a local speciality and I can say I wasn’t disappointed. I could have quite easily spent a few more days in Kep but I was quite keen to see the sights of Phnom Phen and it wasn’t long before I was once again dealing with city traffic in the countries capital. 

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