CAMBODIA
Having had a quick look around Phnom Phen we headed for the Vietnamise border, our plan was to try and get in with the bikes, The evening before we had talked to a couple of lads from Canada who had come from Vietnam on a coach, they reckoned the road was very rough and the last ten miles to the border had been pretty muddy, well, it was a bit rough in placesand yes there was a couple of large puddles, but compared to the road from Siem Reap to Phnom Phen it was quite good !!! We reckon they will not have enjoyed the journey to Siem Reap, (longer,slower and rougher). Anyway we made it to the Vietnamise border and surprise, surprise, they refuse entry for the bikes, we could go into Vietnam but without the bikes this was a no-go for us, so after about an hour of trying we gave up and returned to Cambodia.
Here we are at the Vietnam border, but this was as far as we got.
We rode about forty kms to a town called Svay Rieng where we found a hotel for the night before having a quick look around the town. The next day we carried on our return journey back to Phnom Phen, we pasted through at about midday and went on to a town called Pursat, having found a guesthouse we had a look around, Pursat is not a tourist destination but was very friendly and had a really good feeling about it, its one of those places that you like as soon as you arrive.
LEFT :- The three headed Elephant Statue in Pursat.
From Pursat we headed for Battembang, an easy day, well as easy as you can have on Cambodian roads, It is true to say that we were now getting a bit fed up with riding on dusty dirt roads and have to cope with some very rough sections, though threr is a lot of work being done on the roads at the moment, which means that there are some stretches of brand new tarmac that at least give you a break from the dirt and dust, in a couple of years Cambodia will be pretty easy, so if youare thinking of going there leave it for a year or so.
Battembang is a fairly interesting place with plenty of hotels, (it is on the usual tourist route) We had a look in the Khmer History Museum, which was actually very interesting, (we are generally a bit bored with museums) and had a look around town, then the next day it was back on the bikes and off to the Thai/Cambodia border again.
Cambodian roads are mostly like this, but they do get a lot worse in places
We arrived at the border in time for the Cambodian Customs Officials to go for lunch, so we did the same, only some what quicker than them, but eventually the man that stamped our Carnet returned to do his job and we were out of Cambadia, Gettig into Thailand is very easy and takes less than half an hour, even with the paperwork for two bikes. Then we rode the 6 kms to Aranya Pretet, where we cleaned everything as we were so dirty due to the dust on the roads in Cambodia
This was at the Thai/Cambodian border, the ''trolley'' that these guy's are using tocarry this unbeliveable load, is just an axle with two motorcycle wheels and a timber frame, as it rocked back and forth it lifted the guy's at the front off of the road, There is also a man on top of the load, (you can just see his light blue hat) he must be crazy, its a long way down when the load falls of the trolley
How many people can you get on a motorcycle.

One, but you can get at least forty on the trailer !!!
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