Oudong to Kampong Thom

Day 6: Oudong to Kampong Thom 140km/87 miles

The hardest day so far. I awoke to the call for prayers playing on loudspeakers at the minaret across the road starting at 4:30.

Garment factory workers streamed by, packed like sardines in the back of in the back of trucks on their way to Phnom Penh.

We crossed the Tonlé Sap River on the Prek Kdam Bridge out of Kandal Province then fought a tough headwind for the first two hours.

After crossing the river, we entered Kampong Cham Province and joined National Highway 6. The road was well-paved at this point.

Every stop is interesting. We met two young Cambodian English teachers at a tiny noodle restaurant. The TV was blasting a kungfu movie dubbed in Khmer (a popular genre here). We had a nice chat about their lives, from what I could hear (the TV was LOUD). It seems that more people speak English the closer to Phnom Penh you get.

ស្គន់ Skun

Skun or Skoun is a busy market town at the intersection of National Highways 6 and 7. “A-ping” tarantulas, are a local delicacy here, tossed in MSG, sugar, and salt and fried with garlic. I tried a couple but Masuda-sensei declined. The legs were crispy, but the head and body had soft white meat inside. Some other bugs were on sale as well.

Dirt Roads

From here, the road got worse. The pavement was patched, pitted, and inconsistent. I felt like I was riding on a jackhammer. Then the pavement disappeared. It was a packed dirt road from now on. Yes, this is National Highway 6, the main highway connecting Cambodia’s two largest cities. Semi trucks and buses flew by, kicking up so much dust that cars had their headlights on in the middle of the day. This continued for a long, long time. I saw a truck spraying water from a questionable source to mitigate the dust, but it was hot and the dirt dried out quickly.

We had lunch in a village along the highway. There was garbage all over the entire town. Flies everywhere. I saw man buy a bottle of water from a vendor, drink it, then throw the empty bottle on the ground in front of him. Apparently, many people did the same. The restaurant we ate at had discarded napkins under every table and refuse out front.

Finally we reached pavement again. We took a break at a gas station. The woman said she could speak French, but not English. She brought us some chairs, a couple bottles of water, mangoes, and starfruit.

People from tropical countries have amazing knife skills when it comes to fruit.

This break and the Khmer hospitality was a blessing that sustained me to the Steung Sen River and the provincial capital of Kampong Thom, reaching there before dusk.