12. Slouching Towards Cambodia 🇰🇭

I’ve procrastinated about writing this post because, frankly, I don’t think it’s going to be the best one I’ve written! The last week has been a bit of a struggle. Nevertheless, please read on, I’ll try my best to provide something of interest! 

Still in Southern Laos, cycling on from Thakhek, next up was Savannakhet, a town I’d visited as a backpacker in 2001. Very hazy memories. Walking through the town, few sights sparked recollections of that visit but the laidback, lazy, time warped atmosphere I’d noted in 2001 remains in 2025. 🗓️ 

Decorations, predominantly red lanterns, could be seen everywhere - religious buildings, shops, homes - in the run up to Lunar New Year. 🧧 

Another town, another Mekong sunset. 🌇 

Crumbling colonial facade. This was once Savannakhet’s cinema, now a bohemian cafe. ☕️ 

Laos has done a great job of tapping into Western cafe culture - Nescafé instant coffee has been pushed firmly to the sidelines. 

Vietnamese temples…

…festooned with New Year’s decorations. 🏮 

From Savannakhet I had my sights lined up on a clear target - a 100+ mile day. Just for the hell of it. 

It was a windy old day, often not in my favour so, as I started out, I wasn’t sure I’d make the distance. 😕 

The picture shows a snack break at a petrol station, handy for toilets and table spaces. 🧺 

But I got there in the end, grinding out roughly 10 miles an hour across the day. Ending up with a count of 169 km which equals 105 miles. Boom! 💥 

It was definitely type 2 fun, i.e. not massive fun in the moment but satisfying and rewarding when done. 

As posted on Facebook, this was my accommodation at the end of the day, a camp under a tree. 

Not a great night’s sleep! During the day, I’d sniggered when I saw signs in a few settlements proudly declaring: “No Open Defecation Village”! But the joke was on me as, through the night, I had to make a couple of emergency dashes out of my tent to… well, you know. 🚽 

Making it to Pakse, the next day, I vowed to get on top of my stomach problems that had, by this point, been persisting for over a week. I did a quick online consultation with Dr Google and saw that my particular symptoms (I’ll spare you the details) matched pretty closely with dysentery! 🤒

I thought this only existed in geography lessons about flooding in Bangladesh! 🇧🇩 I never thought I’d be a dysentery sufferer! If only I were still teaching, my experience would certainly pep up the lessons! 

Ever the optimist, I thought I might be able to shift it by flushing my system, drinking litre on litre of water each day. This reduced my symptoms but didn’t cure the underlying problem. In the end, I self-prescribed some ciprofloxacin, antibiotics, procured from the local pharmacy, no questions asked, for 60p! 🪙

So glad to have gotten it sorted. My enjoyment levels of the trip had fallen markedly. I could feel myself becoming a little withdrawn and downhearted, always wondering ‘where are the nearest toilets?’ and looking at each meal nervously, wondering what havoc it might wreak on my fragile body. 😔 

But, from now, onwards and upwards!

Lunar New Year in Pakse. 

Temples decorated.

Lion dances. 

From Pakse, I took a 56 mile round trip to Wat Phu, an 11th century World Heritage temple site. Sounds like a long day trip but I was buoyed by improving health and riding a light Bertha, unencumbered with the usual luggage. 🚲 

Wat Phu is a Khmer-style temple complex which whets the appetite for the more extensive treasures to be seen at Angkor Wat in Cambodia. 🇰🇭 

I wasn’t a fan of this. Captured Tree Sparrows. 🐦 

People pay for two sparrows, put in a box which they can then release, I suppose, as some kind of religious offering. Tree Sparrows are wild, skittish birds, they didn’t look happy…

I’m not sure what trees these were but they had wonderful white blossoms. 🌳 

The whole Wat Phu site sprawls up a mountainside. So you get an atmospheric cultural fix and a decent physical workout if you complete the whole climb. 🧗

Pakse was my last town in Laos before two days ride to the Cambodian border. 🗺️

A great day’s ride. With health feeling much improved, I knocked out 84 miles at a canter. Last night in Laos, a tranquil camp spot, set back a bit from the road. Enjoyed a final BeerLao as the sun set. 🍺 

The next morning, just 16 km, 10 miles to the border. 

Traffic jam. Do cattle need visas for Cambodia? 🐄 

$32 for a Cambodian visa, very quickly processed - thank you border staff! Then a 40 mile ride to the first sizeable Cambodian town, Stung Treng. 

I soon removed my waterproof jacket that I typically wear when I start early morning rides. It is getting mighty hot as I travel south! I suspect my appetite for camping will be suppressed by Cambodia’s climate. When it gets hot, you want to get your cycling done in the morning before retreating to a guesthouse to sit out the hear of the day. 🏨 

As I arrived at my guesthouse in Stung Treng, a South Korean cyclist thrust a cold beer into my hands! Maybe not the best midday-pounding-heat-of-the-sun rehydration but welcome all the same!

Ethical protein source? Superfood of the future? Bugs!🐛 

I have tried a few. They’re so deeply fried that there really is no texture/sensation of them being bugs. And the chilli/herbal seasoning is actually pretty tasty. Nevertheless, I won’t exactly be rushing to fill my panniers with them! 

Exercise class at sunset overlooking, you guessed it, the Mekong. 

And this completes the latest post. So, recent days, a bit up and down but things are definitely now on an improving curve. And I’m really excited to face the challenge of a new country, 23 years on from when I first visited. As I write this. I’ve not even been in Cambodia for 12 hours but it’s already made a great impression on me. Much like the Lao’s, the Cambodian people are super, super nice. Flash anyone a quick smile and they’ll return it with interest! Easy way to make your day! 😃

On that note, have a good day!