Ah yes, that's it - getting my new wheel hub. I'd ordered the replacement hub I'd desperately needed before Christmas and returned to find that not only was the hub not at the shop, but that it hadn't even been ordered yet. Customer service was definetely not this guys forte but as his was the only half decent shop in Vientiane I was pretty much stuck and he said to come back tomorrow and he'd try to weld it.
He didn't show up.
I went back the next day: 'Ah yes, leave the wheel now and come back tomorrow'.
On the 4th morning he finally reappeared only to tell me the welding hadn't been a great success, that I would have to tread lightly to Phnom Penh and that 'You won't get the hubs or the inner tubes (I needed some replacement tubes) outside of Bangkok round here'.
Happy just to be leaving Vientiane I set off on the wobbly wheel, accompanied by Jean and Francoise, a father and daughter cycling together around South East Asia whom I had met in Vang Vieng and with whom I'd hoped to cycle to Phnom Penh with.
This didn't last long as 6 kilometres out of Vientiane my back tyre blew, and as they dissapeared off into the distance I was left to trudge back to town, check back into the hostel and, with tail firmly between the legs, head back to the bike shop to get a replacement tyre.
Putting on the dodgy tyre
I thought I'd lost my French Canadian friends because of the extra day lost, but after meeting some Dutch cyclists coming the other way I was told that they'd taken a day off in the next major town along so I pushed on, caught up with them and although the hotel was fully booked Jean and Francoise were kind enough to let me sleep on the floor of their room that night. However all my effort seemed in vein the next morning as we set off together on the road to Cambodia, only to find that with these guys, carrying around 30kg less weight than me, were a hell of a lot faster! They'd dissapeared over the horizon twice before I admitted defeat and we arranged to meet in Seno, the next town, later that day.
Once again, it didn't happen.
28 km short of Seno the hub finally bit the dust entirely. The realisation that I hadn't ridden a fully functional bike since mid November set in and I was left to flag down a truck to take me to the next town.
An all too familiar sight by now
But I didn't stop there - knowing I couldn't get the parts I needed in Laos I went right on a further 28km Savannahket, the border town with Thailand. This was easy to do as visas aren't required to enter Thailand, so I figured I could enter here, order in the parts I needed from Bangkok and be on the road maybe in a weeks time and head in 'the back way' to Cambodia and Siem Reap. It turned out however that like most of the things the Frenchman who owned the bike shop in Vientiane had told me, his idea that I wouldn't be able to get the parts I need outside of Bangkok was, for want of a better word, bullsh*t. The town I crossed to had not one, but 2 quality bike shops where I was able to not only select from a range of hubs, but also pick up some much needed inner tubes and in the blink of an eye I was back on the road.
Putting on the new hub
Let me make this clear - I have never wanted to visit Thailand.
I know you should always travel with an open mind but for me this was difficult: we all know the stereotypes, particularly about the type of 'tourist' that Thailand attracts and some of the behaviour that goes on in this part of the world. As opposed to trying to form a coherent opinion on it all based on experience, in planning I'd simply preferred to stick my fingers in my ears, shout 'lalalala' and not go.
But now here I was - in Thailand. And to my surprise I really liked it! Yes, I did meet some unsavoury characters from different parts of Western Europe, and yes I saw a fair few Western men in their 40's, 50's and even their 60's with young Thai girls on their arm - particularly painful to see was some of these western men doing their utmost to avoid contact with a fellow westerner; crossing the street when they see you coming, avoiding eye contact, doing their utmost to avoid conversation - read into that the level of pride these men have in what they're doing out here.
But when you get past that I had a great time - the food was great, the people friendly and there was even paved roads, so with a full stomach and functioning wheel I was back on the road.
As I said earlier I'd hitched 56km to the border in Laos - and so with that when it was time to start cycling again I went back to the border, cycled 28km the wrong way and then the 28km back to the border (no-ones going to accuse me of cheating on this!) and then off on the flat roads of Southern Thailand.
Of course by now I'd given up on the idea of cycling with Jean and Francoise, but in the middle of my second day on the road in Thailand I got an e-mail:
"Hi Matt, How's it going? We got lost and couldn't find the border between Laos and Cambodia so we've decided to head into Thailand and cross the back way into Cambodia. Maybe see you on the road"
Apart from asking the obvious question (In a country that only has one road how the hell can you get lost and not find the border?) I was delighted - with my new wheel and good roads I was now flying and doing over 100 miles a day so reckoned I could give them a run for their money on keeping up this time. However they had e-mailed 2 days previously and hadn't planned where they were going to stay - my calculations had them at either 40 km ahead or 40 km behind me. With that in mind I pushed on and after another day of over 100 miles I stopped to check my e-mails to see if they'd been in touch to tell me where they were. They hadn't but I lost track of time and when I finally left the internet cafe it was pitch black - in need of a place to sleep I cycled out of town (I was 30km from the Cambodia border) and sat down in a countryside bus stop.
I thought I hadn't been seen but soon someone came over - I lied and said I'd be carrying on soon but I knew she didn't believe me, and when she said she was a police officer I knew that any say in where I would stay that night had just dissapeared. I feared being taken back to town and forced to pay for a hotel but to my surprise I was taken to the Police Station.
Hastily, a make shift bed and a mosquito net were erected on the balcony, I was shown where the shower was, offered a cup of tea and as such my last night in Thailand was spent asleep on the balcony of Pursat police station! Fair enough, the service wasn't quite as good as the Police Station I'd stayed in in China (kidding!) but when I woke up I was greeted by a breakfast of Thai Green Curry, Rice, Dried Fish, Marinaded Boiled Eggs - even Nescafe!
Breakfast Thai Style
I made my way to the border, surprised at myself that for a country I'd never wanted to visit, I was a bit dissapointed to be leaving.
The border at O Smach
The Cambodian border at O Smach is famed for corruption, so I was amazed at how I'd managed to get through without any problems in just 20 minutes - until a further 20 minutes down the road when I realised I had infact got my exchange rates wrong and had just conned myself out of $13. Hmmmm.
The Cambodian side was a different world: the road dissapeared, replaced by a dirt track, it was obvious for all to see how poor and how little the people on these back roads had and most harrowing of all was the constant reminder that you shouldn't stray from the footpaths due to there being anywhere between 4 - 6 million land mines still in the countryside.
I got the impression they didn't see many foreigners on the back roads in Cambodia
Another day, another struggle through bad roads before arriving at the highway. The National Highway was the last 50km to Siem Reap and the famous temples of Angkor - I thought it would be plain sailing - I was wrong. I later found out that one of the worst kept secrets in Cambodia is that a certain airline pays certain Cambodian Authority figures to keep the road in bad condition so people would fly instead - welcome to the way Cambodia functions.
Around 30km from Siem Reap I heard a voice from behind me - after 4 days of wondering where they were Jean and Francoise had caught me up. They were still faster than me but we all rode to Siem Reap together, found a hotel and had a well earned rest.
New friends - Jean and Francoise
After the day off we were off to SE Asia's main tourist attraction - the famous Temples of Angkor (where Tombraider was filmed, for the younger readers out there). Although impressive enough, you get the feeling a day here was more than enough and that the whole experience would have been more rewarding were it not for the thousands of other tourists stood around saying 'oooh look how beautiful it is' and the following day it was off on the road to Phnom Penh.
My Dad had arranged a friend for me to stay with in Phnom Penh and we'd set a time of 11 am to meet - this gave me 2 and a half days to cover the 300km. This would have been a push anyway but just at the end of the first days riding, just as the light was about to go and I was looking for a place to camp, the dodgy, worn out wheel I'd put on in Vientianne blew. I tried to sneak out of the town it happened in to find a place to camp and fix the problem in the morning but I'd got barely 50 metres before a local came over and pointed me to follow him.
He took me to his house, where I met his wife and 3 children and between us we fixed the puncture and put part of an old tyre inside the broken tyre to cover up the hole in there. I wasn't sure if it would work, and when I went to test it he told me to wait for the morning as it was to dark.
Attention now turned to where I could sleep - I was laughed at when I asked if I could camp in his garden and with that a 3rd mosquito net was erected up stairs and that night I slept in the same room as the entire family, enjoying a raw fish dinner and even acting the English Teacher for the cheeky little scamp in the picture below!
The next morning it was up and out, and it wasn't long before the tire blew again! This time the locals I was with decided instead of one, to put two old tyres inside and hope for the best. It held for the rest of the day, but after pushing it to hard I was once again left to look for a place to sleep in the dark.
How the tyre looked when I finally made it to Phnom PenhI was sure I hadn't been seen and duly fell asleep.
I was wrong - half an hour later someone (I don't know who) came over and woke me up and shone a torch in my eyes, at which point I learned another valuable lesson - the importance of looking weird. After the torch had shone I bolted up right, he took one look at the foreigner, who hadn't shaved in months, wearing only cycling shorts and socks, asleep in a hammock by the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.
He stopped, rubbed his eyes, muttered what I can only assume was the Khmer for 'I need a lie down' and left me to my new home.
So there we have it - the next morning I was up and out - the tyre held and I rolled into Phnom Penh with 10 minutes to spare and to be fair to John there are fewer better sights than arriving to see a QPR shirt in a far away place (pictures up when I get my card reader working!).
Note to anyone who anyone who is considering hosting in the future - this is how to dress!
I'm here for a couple of weeks so the next up date may be a while, but enjoy the snow I hear you've been having back home and I'll enjoy the 30 degree weather out here.
More pictures to follow
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