Kampong Thom – April 6th, 2017
Apr 13th, 2017 by rallyadmin
We leave the Mekong Hotel and while we’re getting the bikes loaded, Adrian shows up. He’d left Phnon Penh that morning having had his bike repaired the night before and ridden the distance this morning.
He tells us that though the plan for the second group was to start at 6AM, the bikes didn’t cooperate. It was now 9 AM and they still hadn’t left Phnom Penh. Hopefully, we’ll all meet up in Kampong Thom tonight though we have some doubts about that.
We had decided in Phnom penh that we would stop in Kampong Cham because the run to Kampong Thom was too far considering the conditions of the bikes and their incessant need for repair. Leaving late wasn’t helping the second group make it to Kampong Thom before sunset. They’ll have to push it to make it to Kampong Thom tonight.
We head down along the Mekong River sand then turn left off the main boulevard and down the dirt bank to the entrance to thre Bamboo Bridge. Take a left and start out on the flimsy bridge to an island in the middle of the Mekong.
The Bamboo bridge is a bridge literally made of bamboo. When the Mekong recedes from the monsoon flood, bamboo pilings are driven into the river bottom to support a bamboo roadway acroos the river. It’s hard to imagine a bridge capable of handing motos, small trucks and cars made of bamboo slats. It’s rickety, slippery and difficult to ride on the bikes.
But it works. And will continue to work until the next monsoon flood washes it away. In the meantime, it’s a $1 toll to cross the bridge. Cross the two lane bridge with traffic going both ways in both lanes (a very common form of traffic design in SE Asia). Pay the toll. Take some pictures. Back across the bridge.
We group up and strat back down Hwy 7 of last night’s nightmare ride. Get to Hwy 6 again and head north to Kampong Thom.
It’s a dry but very hot ride to Kampong Thom. It’s not far but the hotel is a welcome relief from the heat. It’s been a interesting ride so far but the scenery is monotonously the same. Mostly wheat fields and rice paddies with cows and water buffalo grazing, occasional tall palm trees on the horizon.
Tomorrow, we should be back on schedule and arrive in Siem Reap, home of Angkor Wat.
Obi-wan
