Biking to Angkor Wat: Day 3, Cambodian Highway.

On the third day we were to bike from Pailin to Battambang. I was looking forward to the ride because it was supposed to have some good hills. We were also warned that the road conditions were a little bumpy.

It ended up being the most painful ride of my life, but not because of the hills (there were only a few, and none very steep), but because of road conditions. I didn't know this going in, but according to Lonely Planet, Cambodia is home to some of the worst road systems in the world, many having not been taken care of since the 1960's due to war and weather. Apparently Cambodia's' main competition for worst roads comes from the Congo and Mozambique.

Behold a Cambodian National Highway.

And that's one of the nicer sections. With huge rocks, uneven ground and plentiful ruts, the day felt like a 90 km (56 mile) ride over cobblestone. By the end my fingers were killing me from having to grip the handlebars so tight, but what really took it out of me was my bike saddle.


Seriously. Buy me dinner next time. This seat wasn't going to be comfortable regardless, and the fact that it was damaged and uneven didn't help one bit.

Trying to relieve the pain I put on a gell seat cover. WRONG MOVE. I didn't realize it at the time, but the gell seat just bunched up in between my legs and was the reason why by the end every bump caused intense pain in my interior man-tubing area. When the pain became unbearable, I would bike standing up and could feel my glands and vessels trying to decompress.

Enough complaining.

Because of Cambodia's history with the Khmer Rouge, land mines are still a huge problem, and they have signs reminding you of the danger.


We actually passed some groups working to clear out areas, but I was told you aren't allowed to take photographs of them. Cambodian deminers are quite good, one group we came across had just come back from working in Sudan. They complained about the heat in Sudan, which is saying something since Cambodia doesn't slouch in the heat department.

The highway we biked was pretty spars, it would cross another road maybe every 25 or 30 kilometers, and at each of these intersection would be a small market.

At this market I tried my first boiled fertilized chicken egg.

You're supposed to squeeze the lime into the little dish of pepper, then crack open the top of the egg, pour in some lime/pepper juice and go to town.

Aww, what a cute little chicken embryo.



The verdict? It tastes (surprise) just like egg, . There's no chicken flavor at all. However the texture is akin to chicken gizzard or liver. The other surprise was that the egg white actually hardens into a little oval that you really have to bite down on to chew. You're not expected to eat that part, but you can (I tried a bite).

Also at this intersection I discovered how ice is transported in Cambodia.

They make big ice blocks, cover them with seeds to slow down the melting, and throw them in the back of a truck. The man in the above picture uses big metal hooks to grab the blocks and deliver them to businesses.

I'll stick with bottled water.

There's also an election coming up, so I'd often pass buildings with huge banners put up, and loud campaign speeches coming out of PA systems. Here's a poster put up on the road that shows you how to vote.


One unexpected thing I came across on the ride was a carnival.



It was too early in the day to be open, which is too bad because I could have gone for a good ferris wheel ride.

We had lunch at a Buddhist temple, and outside by the road was a very old structure.

They think it might be an ancient toll booth. It's too bad modern day toll booths don't have such nice carvings.



After arriving at Battambang, I played pool with Sna, our bike guide.

He kept beating me even though he (claimed he had) never played eight ball before.

Sna is good people. If you're doing a bike tour in Cambodia and need a good Cambodian bike guide who speaks English well, I recommend Sna. I liked him so much that I'll even give him a plug. His e-mail is yan_veasna@yahoo.com