2012/2013 Indochina Tour - Day 7

Day 7 on our trip. Wohooo, it's been a week on the road.

We had our 2 days of break in Sihanoukville and now it's time to head out to Phnom Penh. It's a pretty short ride of less than 300km so we can afford to take our time. On your travels, what makes it even better is always the people you meet along the way. You may keep in touch, you may not, but for that brief period you're friends and enjoy each others' company. So we started the day saying our goodbyes to new acquaintances.

Johhny and tattoo surfer dude

Spanish jewelry maker family from Spain

Aaron, but of course in M'sia his name would be Harun

We also took a last look of Otres Beach, not knowing when will we step foot over here again. With the development going on over there I really doubt the place would ever look the same. You just hope that there's some common sense applied when developing with care taken to preserve the beauty of the beach. I mean that would be a reason why I would head out there right? Nice clean beach, not too heavily developed, retains its rustic charm. I shudder to think that Russian money would turn this place into another Pattaya.

New resort

Just lovely

Mushroom Point - another booming guesthouse on Otres

I stopped to take a picture at the main roundabout in Sihanoukville, not because I love roundabouts (I don't!). They have this statue of a male and female lion on it and I thought it's quite hilarious how from certain angle it looks like they're humping. (Yes....I do really need to go out more).

Hey you two at the back! Stop humping!

While this was happening, Husref went ahead so you can imagine my heart skipping a beat when I saw him by the side of the road with the Police. One look and you know this is not good, and when I stopped it just confirms my suspicions. 

He greeted me nicely. That was enough to put me on guard. Guys, you know that tone of voice that your GF or wife would use when she wants something, or right after she dinged the car? Yes....that one. The one that gets your ears up just as a Gazelle would in the prairie trying to suss out what sort of danger is out there. Well Mr. Copper was using that tone and as soon as he mouthed "International Driving Licence?" I knew we're gonna get it. But with that tone, you also know he wants something else.

I thought I'd still give it a try, so I gave the usual bullshit of "I always ride here no problem", "Your embassy said ok", "You look good in uniform" (well not the last one, esp after my confusion with Ten) but you can tell that he wasn't budging. Then he said the magic words you know would be coming but try very hard to steer away from. 

Cop: "You buy beer, I no fine"

Me: "What beer?"

Cop: "Angkor"...then he adds "One box"

Me: (Gulp)"One box?"...I'm trying to do the math here but it doesn't help that I failed here, so I asked

        "How much one box"

Cop: "Ten dollarrrrrr"

Me: "What?!!" (Actually my response was such coz I was shocked that it's quite cheap, but he was shocked as well, and must have thought I was balking coz it's expensive.)

Cop: Ok five dollarrrrrr

Hahaha....I told Husref pay the man and I asked to take a picture with the fella, which he happily obliged. I really don't care about his picture though, my thoughts were, if we're stopped again later I'm gonna show the police the picture and tell em. "This guy has your beer!"

Five dollar beer cop.

The above was actually the last time that we were asked for the International Driving Permit by the authorities. It's no big deal but I think next time I should get 1 done.

The ride up to Phnom Penh is in stark contrast to when we made our way to Sihanoukville. It made such a huge difference to not have people blind you to death. They have little respect for motorcyclist where if they want to come out and overtake and be on a collision course with you they would. It's like they know you'd come off worse and would do the necessary to avoid them, which we do, with handlebar slapping about silly as we're pushed to the road shoulder, loosing grip in the gravel, trying not to hit the dog that's minding it's business but is now directly in your path, while muttering curses under your breath. Other than that.....it's all good man. Lol

I think this is a cool pic.

See what I mean. They just come out. YOU avoid THEM

If possible, the cop wants the whole truck.

Was pleased to roll into Phnom Penh and see Maybank. I was running out of USD, mainly because I failed to change before I left as a result of last minute planning, so quickly popped in there and used the ATM to get some dollars. Withdrew USD300 and was charged RM930 for it.

Hidup Maybank!

It's pretty much 2 years on the dot that I last rolled into Phnom Penh but the last trip was purely a hit and run as we overnight in PP en-route to Vietnam. It was also then that I filled up at Total and was given USD10 extra change. Something that bothered me all the while and so i was pleased and relieved  when I saw the Total was still there. I stopped and gave an attendant the USD10 trying very hard to explain what happened and why I was giving this money. I doubt she understood me at all but I didn't care. I'm here to put the record straight. That's all.

Posting it in FB got positive remarks all-round until of course one fella (Yes, you Kevin!) had to point out that with inflation I owe more than US10 and most probably I owe them double. Well you just had to put a damper on my feel good factor didn't ya? Coz the next day I friggin lost the hotel key card (the master copy it seems) and was charged wanna guess anyone? Yes...You Ass Dee 10. Karma is a bitch and she's out to get ya! Lol

2012/2013 Indochina Tour - Day 5 and 6

Look at what I found!

Husref...convinced we're gonna end up in jail for this stunt.

Remember I was telling you about the pretty woman that did our conveyance form at the Thai/Cambodia border of Trat/Koh Kong? Well I managed to sneak a pict paparazzi style. So to the left you can see the decoy that I used (wasn't too pleased I might add), so that I can pretend to take a picture of him when we all know the focus is elsewhere.

You know, in real life she's pretty, but in my picture she actually looks like a ghost. You know like one of those photos where there's nobody there and at the edge an image of a person appears. Oh well....anyways just in case you guys don't believe there's a pretty chick working in the immigration booth in the middle of nowhere, there's the proof.

By the way wanted to share this, when the waiter showed us to the hotel the night before and I agreed with his recommendation, I wanted to thank him and say goodbye, which I did. Then as I was unpacking the bike I saw that he was still outside....hmmm that's odd, but since he knows the people there I thought he's just chilling out with them, that is until he came back towards me. Now mind you he's a tiny fella, now I'm short, so if any guy is shorter then trust me, he's short. Fella is barely pushing 5'2", so in no way I felt threatened, but what transpired next had me a teeny weeny worried. Also his name is Ten by the way.

Ten: I go now

Me: OK *hmmm I thought we did this 5 minutes ago

Ten: I go now  *extends his hand to shake so I did the same

Me: OK, thanks again *I let go of his hand but he was still holding on to mine and looking me in the eyes.

Ten: I go now

Now this is the point when my train of thought went into hyperdrive and I'm imagining weird stuff but a guy looking me in the eye, holding my hand, not letting go. I mean come on, you can only think of one thing right? Yes...I was thinking, ohhh shit, fella is gay and he wants to hump me! In my mind Ten wants to shine his tiny flashlight up my bum bum and I kid you not I was ready to judo chop his hand if he didn't let go the next second, which thankfully he did.

Only much much later did I realise, Ten was looking to get a tip for his good deed. Aiyaaa facepalm! Good thing I didn't break his hand though. Now that'll be a tip he'll never forget.

We planned for a couple more nights in Sihanoukville and based on our poor and limited research Otres Beach seems to be the quieter part of Sihanoukville which also has a number of guesthouses. So the plan was head up there, find Wish You Were Here (a guesthouse) have breakfast there and see whether we can secure a place to stay.

Nice Beach Hotel....ok la you don't suck that bad but we want better

Otres is about 10 minutes ride from Occheautal with an inland way and through the beach. It's not really on our GPS so we kinda pawed our wy through before we found Wish You Were Here.

That's Johnny....and yes, he's wearing only a sarung.

The name is really saying "up yours" to Corporate life

I adore my pancakes

See! not lying

You know, there is something infinitely cool when you go to work wearing only a sarung. I mean tell me that's not cool and I know you're lying. I love his story of how he ended up there, more than a year ago he was at the beach with his friend Aaron getting stoned and it that very stoned state he said, wouldn't it be nice to have a place here that we can chill out. So there you go, we've been told not to do drugs coz it fucks up your thought process and granted, yes, drugs do ruin lives, but here we have a couple of stoner hippies in a very stoned state that decided to open a guesthouse/bar/restaurant and actually did it. I mean I've met so many "coherent" and "sober" people who yap about what they're gonna do, yada yada yada and a year down the road, they've done nothing to achieve what they said they would. Of course you'll hear all sorts of excuses for not doing what you said you would. So really, 2013 is a new year. Talk less and do more is what I say.

Hmmm I'm rambling here, anyways Johnny was full but he suggested for us to go to just ride along Otres further in there're new places. 

That's how we found Honey Moon Bungalows. Mike (who was topless as well that I'm beginning to think it IS a uniform after all) says he's got a couple of rooms for us.At USD18/night for a fan room it's not exactly cheap but it's pretty cheap around here.

The wifi password is ExtremlyLarge...i kid you not.

Now, the cool thing about this place is of course the fact that we get to park our bikes rigt in front of our rooms.

It's been a while since I last used a mosquito net

So now that the accommodation is sorted, there's nothing left to do other than to chill out, veg out and do absolutely......nothing. I mean, that's the idea of a holiday right? You already work hard all year, so when you're on a holiday, don't you want some time off, as in really off? No riding, no phones, just wake up late, veg out, go for a massage, swim a little, watch the sunset, eat and that's pretty much it.

I leave you with more pics of Otres. If you have any plans to come here, do it soon. The landscape is changing everyday, with more and more resorts. bungalows and guesthouses coming up. In a few years it may no longer be peaceful and idylic.

Nice clean beach

A nice bungalow type guesthouse, WildBeach

Fortunate to watch a couple of beautiful ones when we were here

A Spanish family. It's awesome that they expose their kids to these sort of experiences

Aaron, Johnny's partner. See what I mean about the uniform?

I really do envy these Mat Salleh's who just picks up and sets themselves up in a foreign country, braving through all sorts of challenges. They're taking a huge risk as they're leasing the land from the owner, in a country that is corrupt that recently 35 businesses closed down because a large corporation bought over the land and had the government do the dirty work of kicking those people out. They were given 2 weeks notice before heavy machinery came through and tore it all down. So it is not without worry that they are there, yet they are and of course the most important thing of all, they're happy. Something we all strive to be.

2012 Indochina Tour - Day 4

Monday 17/12/12 - Pattaya toSihanoukville - 550km

"Dude...that was fucking tough!"as I lay slumped on the table barely 10 seconds after ordering dinner  When we started the day, we didn't know that statement is how we were going to end with. It was all fine and dandy as we made out of Pattaya, stopping for a quick breakfast. Get this,we even had an opportunity to help a guy with 1 of the thousand and one tools that we carry,which is of course, had to be the humble Philips head screwdriver. His chain came off and he needed to take out the chain guard.

Pay up sir!

Not many get excited with our bikes, so we're excited when someone does

Husref with his arsenal of tools when all the guy needs is a screwdriver

So there's like 550km ahead of us and boy did we underestimate the time it's gonna take. You would think hiway 123 would mean a hiway , but nooooo it was just full of traffic lights, one after frigging another, and of course we had to stop at each and every one of them. Without fail!

Before we left, one of the things that we needed to sort out was our International Driving Licence, but call it negligence, carelessness or insufficient time neither of us had one when we were stopped at a police road block, and of course, the 1st thing the copper asked us was "International Driving Licence?". We're screwed! With my spaterring Thai, I said we didn't have one and how we were told we don't need one ( which is a complete and utter lie!, one that will come back to haunt us again later btw). So I think he either took pity or was just too disgusted with my Thai that he let us go. Phew!

Road block 0, lawless fellas 1

So now, with all the stories going on about riders with foreign vehicles being turned away at Cambodia and Thai borders you can understand our anxiety upon reaching the border. The rules seem to be changing daily so we have no idea what's gonna happen until we get there. Will we be turned away? or will we be lucky and they haven't gotten the memo yet? 

So now you know! It's about 20km before the border

There was already a slight glitch when we were asked for the conveyance form at the Thai immigration, when we said Sadao never gave one they went on about how Sadao very bad bla bla bla. I'm already thinking he wants to shake us down for some cough cough *sustenance, but it seems do they do require this form. So he directed us to this other window where this nice *read pretty lady typed one out for us and we just had to pay 20baht for it. This form is then handed to the immigration which is somewhat redundant coz it states the same details as our temporary import papers. Sigh, but I guess rules are rules and we just have to follow, no matter how silly it seems.

Mus was here in 2010...and now in 2012

Cambodia!

Once in, a fixer and a self appointed one at that "helped" us with our documentations while we sit down and enjoy a coke. I say that coz honestly, you can do it yourself. But bearing in mind the possibility that we can be turned back we just don't want to make a fuss and want to make the crossing as smooth as possible. So for that. we were charged 200baht each by the fixer, and that was just for us coz no one said anything about declaring te bikes to customs. So we just rode in. Cambodia, here we come!!!

Hehehe....we're just smiling but inside it's butterflies man.

This drink hut did not exist 2 yrs ago. I guess they have a symbiotic relationship with the fixers.

It was 4pm by the time we crossed into Cambodia and we still had another 200km to go to Sihanouville, a place where neither of us have been to. So we punched it into the GPS and it proceeded to take us on these seriously bad back roads. In fact on the screen also popped out "Bad Roads". It was at this point that I called it names and cursed it's stupidity. I mean, if you know it's bad, why the hell you took us there la! After wasting about an hour we turned back and referred on the map to get on N48, and from there it was relatively smooth. In between, the GPS was still pointing us towards these "Camel Trophy" type of roads but we've learnt to ignore Jill. Yes, Jill is the "American Voice" on my GPS that tells me where to go. I've learnt to shut her out as I do with most women in my life, but that's another story altogether I suppose.

Cambodia drive on the "right" side

Roads...not too bad

Takdeeee pun.

We were still another 150km away from Sihanoukville when it got dark. Now, if you don't know this about Cambodia then let me clue you in on a little fact. They FUCKING LOVE THEIR LIGHTS HERE! Everyone drives with the high beam on, and I mean everyone. It's like if they can fit stadium lights on the trucks, bus and kapchais, they'll do so. So it is a severe understatement when I say our retinas were royally fried. You can hardly see the road coz it's just so dark and your lights are not that great, then you have this "prison search lights" bearing down on you. Plus,this is the best part, if they want to overtake, they'll just do so, because they know you're a motorbike, you WILL give way. Throw in the occasional farm animals and dogs on the side of the road that we only see in the very last minute and super slow converted people carrying tractors with no lights in front of you. Imagine all the above, and you're about halfway to experiencing riding Cambodia at night. 

This is an exercise that will not be repeated!....I'm not gonna say never as I've been forced to swallow my spit on a couple of occasions, so I'll just say if possible, I'll not do this again.

By the time we rolled into Sihanoukville, we were completely fried, kaput, finished, spent, dried, knackered....and we still had no place to sleep. Hahaha....travelling with us is just a barrel of fun ho ho ho.

Dead tired, but not dead! yes! we survived!

The dog whisperer...actually we're glad to be alive we were even talking to ants

We asked the waiter about accommodation and he said there's a couple of places that he can take us to nearby. He took us to this place called Nice Beach Hotel. It was new but already looked a little run down. Just a reflection of build quality really. The room had no windows, but I'm just too tired to look at another place. It had a shower, 2 beds and ac...no window though, all for the princely sum of USD25, so I had screw it. Take first, we'll look for something else tomorrow. 

They painted a window hehe. Fooled no one though.

Oh ya, btw this is on Occheutal Beach, a busier part of Sihanoukville. We plan to head out to Otres Beach the next day, the quieter part of Sihanoukville.

Also, Nice Beach Hotel....you suck, coz 1) No windows 2) You don't even have a friggin beach!