Kampong Thom to Siem Reap

Kampong Thom is approximately halfway between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. An early morning departure from the town had me admiring the architecture downtown and the potted plants on the balconies.

Mission accomplished. After yesterday’s gobbledygook, I am happy to report that Cambodian National Highway 6 was of a gentler sort, and much of it was as smooth as glass.

We met some fellow cycle tourists going the opposite direction, all the way from Johor, Malaysia (next to Singapore). They were on their way to Vietnam or even Laos. They had their ASEAN passports, so no worries about visas in this neck of the woods. We shared information about what to expect with road conditions. It sounded fine to Siem Reap.

Cambodians are really gentle and shy people, watching you without staring. They are invariably drawn to my bicycle, in a country where utility bikes predominate and road bikes are scarce. As soon as I start tinkering on my bike, a crowd emerges. Plenty of help.

Khmer Language

The Khmer language is unique in Southeast Asia as it is not a tonal language. It makes up for it with a plethora of consonant clusters and a cornucopia of vowels. How can a language of such short words have so many sounds?

People are really appreciative of efforts to learn Khmer. Grammatically, it’s quite simple, so there’s no excuse for not speaking a few simple sentences when you come to Cambodia.

Lunch was quite good today, perhaps the best food I’ve had here, and only $1.25. I don’t know the market town’s name, but I asked for something vegetarian, and they brought me a vegetable stir-fry that included pineapple. Another thing that has surprised me about Cambodia is that the food is not spicy–the chili sauce bottle at the table is always mild. Khmer people prefer black pepper to the chili pepper.

We rode past a wedding and two funerals today. For both, they set up loudspeakers and broadcast sutras and/or music to let the neighborhood know. We were invited into a wedding for a beer, but we had 100 miles to go today, and we had to make it to Siem Reap.

By the way, we made it all the way around the Tonlé Sap. Mission accomplished. 成功です。疲れました。おやすみなさい。

After a week in the hinterland, Siem Reap seemed like a circus. I almost got hit by an off-duty ambulance. The city is adjacent to Angkor, so the entire economy is based on tourism, for better or for worse. The next morning, I took it easy and rode around the villages surrounding Siem Reap, and it was back to normal.