48 hrs Motorcycle Ride In Portugal

The Weekend Ride In Portugal

(Lisbon - 278 kms - Faro - 325 kms - Porto - 316 kms -Lisbon) 1281 kms in 48 hours
July 2014

After looking around for a while I stopped at a convenience store to ask for directions. Out of the two guys standing outside the store, the younger guy didn't know the direction but he understood English. The older guy knew the way but didn't understand English. Both of them together tried for a while to explain me the route but it wasn't making any sense to me. Finally the old man decided to ride along with me on his retro Vespa to show me the route. We were on a one way so he asked me to just push our vehicles across the road and then start riding. He rode with me for around 5 kms till we reached the point from where I just had to go on straight road out of Lisbon. 

Though the landscape kept on changing in this small country but one thing which was common across was people, they were warm, friendly and always eager to help. Just like the landscape smell in the air between Lisbon to Faro was different from that between Faro to Estremoz which was different from that between Porto and Lisbon.

Lisbon

Portugal wasn't really in my list of places to visit but when the opportunity came I thought why not make the most of it and do my first ride in Europe. When I started the research about Portugal I figured that places like Porto and Faro had been recently rated as one of the best places to visit in Europe. 

Portugal is a small country with some really interesting and diverse places to visit. Like always, once the idea of motorcycle ride came up, it changed the entire plan. Now I was planning everything around the ride, focus shifted to journey and destinations became mere stopovers. 

Outside Hertz shop in Lisbon

I started looking for options to hire motorcycle and came across Hertz, which typically doesn't rent motorcycle in most of the countries. The bikes they had were perfect for my requirement. I got in touch with few other motorcycle rentals but all of them were far more expensive than Hertz, plus I trusted Hertz more than other bike rentals. Even without seeing the motorcycle I was sure that quality won't be an issue. So I quickly blocked BMW GS700 with Hertz shop (Hertz, Aluquer De Automoveis Lisboa, Rua Castilho, Lisboa, Phone +351 808 202 038) in Lisbon near Marques de Pombal Square which is an important roundabout (known as A Rotunda). I just had the weekend with me as free time so I was going to keep the motorcycle for exactly 48 hours. Rental for the same was 73 euros a day. They had no provision for GPS mount on this motorcycle, apparently most of the riders don't prefer such small motorcycles for long ride. BMW GS700, which is actually 798cc, didn't seem small to me by any standard but I guess it's the difference in perspective. The country where I come from even 250cc is considered Big. Well, now in absence of GPS I had to rely on map, road signs and sign language with people as very few people could speak English. 

I decided to pick two major regions of Portugal - Faro and Porto. Lisbon lies in the center of country along the coastline and two regions are on two different directions from Lisbon. Faro is towards South and Porto is up North. For no specific reason but I still decided to go down south first. Distance from Lisbon to Faro is around 280 kms. I left Lisbon around 12 noon. While Google maps said 2.5 hours but it took me around 4 hours with few fuel stops and one apple pie with coke break. Though almost all fuel stations had a cafe attached and there were few standalone cafes as well but I was enjoying the ride a lot to stop and have food. The highway on this route is mostly straight long wide roads with vast open farms on either sides. Rolled up cut grass in fields gave it an interesting character. Cars and other heavy commercial vehicles would zoom past so it wasn't a good idea to slow down or stop. So I had no option but to keep the throttle open. Though there is a speed limit but I guess they were not really fussy about it.  

I reached Faro around 4pm and started looking out for the hostel I had already booked. One awkward moment was when I stopped on the roadside and asked a few cops for direction, since they were sure they suggested me to go inside one of the buildings close by and ask them someone there. I entered the complex and opened the building door. It opened into a huge hall of a hospital. I had disturbed the peace and pin drop silences in the hall, especially because the door was fairly noisy. I quietly walked to the reception and asked for direction. 

Well that wasn't enough so I had to stop again to ask a few street cafes. One lady, in her forties, was really forth coming in offering help. While her husband didn't understand English but she seemed fluent in English with heavy Portuguese accent. The couple was happy to see an Indian man riding up to this remote area and offered free beer if I returned and wanted to enjoy rest of the evening. I finally managed to find the hostel Casa d'Algoa (casa means home / housing complex.  https://www.facebook.com/hostelcasadalagoa?fref=photo). I had already booked a shared room in the hostel for 26 euros (around Rs.2300 per night). Hostel was a new form of accommodation I experienced on this trip and I must say it was completely worth it. If you plan to travel frugal and focus is more on seeing the place and less on comfort and luxuries then hostels are your best bet in Europe. Most of the rooms are shared, either with attached toiled or at times shared toiled but very cheap, mostly clean and homely. You will need to have an open mind to adjust to the hostel accommodation. There is no room service but there are roommates, there is no coffee-shop but coffee is mostly free, there is no in-house restaurant but a kitchen you can cook along with other guests in the hostel. It makes you meet interesting people from different parts of the world. There were few guys who had been staying there for a few months and would work in the hostel to pay their rent, that seemed like a good arrangement and cheap way to travel. 

The location of hostel was very good as it was close to the old town of Faro, not so far from the swamps and market was close by too. I checked with guys in hostel about where all I could visit and what's the best way to spend the rest of evening. They suggested a few places and also informed me about the barbecue party they were planning that evening, 15 euros for unlimited sangria and barbecued food. The word 'Barbecue' suddenly got me into the mood. I already started smelling some good char grilled meat with beer, was feeling lucky.  

But before the barbecue would start I had sometime so I decided to take a tour of the old town of Faro. Being the capital of this region and home to the only international airport in this region, Faro is in center of Algarve in all sense. The city is full of history and culture and surrounded by idyllic island beaches. These beaches are slightly far off from Faro and I wasn't really in mood to ride up. 

Foundation of this North African-inspired architecture with a bit Islamic touch was laid in Roman times. In around middle of 13th century Faro became part of Portuguese territory completing the christian re-conquest of Portugal. 

I moved towards Cidade Velha, the oldest part of the city which is on the eastern side of Faro marina, following the narrow, cobbled street I reached Rua do Municpio into the tree lined Largo de Se. Faro Cathedral, in the middle of the square which didn't really look very grand from outside, but inside is the intricate gilded carving, decorated tiles (azulejos) and works of art were well worth seeing. 

Sunsets around 9 pm during this time of the year in this part of Europe, this gives a false sense of time. So I didn't realize but I was out till late. After walking around for some time I decided to head back and enjoy the rest of evening with hostel folks. 12 hours flight journey followed by 4 hours motorcycle ride and then some amazing barbecue meat with beer made me completely ready for a snoring night.

Next morning I stepped out to explore the town. I entered through the neoclassical Arco da Vila , top of the street opens onto the orange-tree-lined Largo da Sé, with the câmara municipal (town hall) on the left, the Paço Episcopal (Bishop’s Palace) on the right and the ancient sé (cathedral) in front of you.

The sé was probably the site of a Roman temple, then a Visigoth cathedral and then a Moorish mosque. Only the tower gate and several chapels remain of the original Romanesque-Gothic exterior – the rest was devoured in 1755. If I could have climbed up to the rooftop miradouro I would have got amazing views across the pretty walled town to the sea. I wasn’t lucky enough as the cathedral was closed when I visited it.

Next to the cathedral is the stately 16th-century Convento de Nossa Senhora da Assunção, now housing the Museu Municipal, also known by its former name, Museu Arqueológico. Colourful walls windows, cobbled streets, ancient buildings and cold sea breeze all add up to make it a wonderful experience.

I returned to the hostel as it was my check-out time. Packed up my bike and started riding on the cobbled street to leave the old town. Around the gateway are some of the town walls oldest sections. Towards the exit I crossed the famous municipality building. 

To reach my next stop, Porto, I had two route options. Either take the shorter route of 553 kms which is almost like a straight line from Faro to Porto along the western part of the country. Option two was to take diversion towards Evora and Estremoz. This was relatively longer, 675 kms. Since my agenda was to ride and see as much as possible, I decided to take the longer route. I started riding around 11.30 am and as per Google maps i could cover this distance in around 6.5 hours. 

This stretch of ride was more through highway surrounded by green forests. Unlike the straight roads on Lisbon to Faro route, the roads on this route had more character. There are various smaller towns on the way. I had no reason but just to get the feel of the places I would ride into these towns, through narrow lanes. Evora was relatively bigger city. While there were interesting things around but nothing that would compel me to get off the saddle. Next up was Estremoz, the largest town of Algentejo's, the Marble town. Its Estremoz that contributes heavily in making Portugal the second largest exporter of Marble in the world. The castle on top of the hill, surrounded by vineyards, was reason good enough for me to turn my handle bars towards the inside of town. 

I started riding through the narrow cobbled lanes of Estremoz to reach the old, upper part of the town which is crowned by the castle founded in 1258. The open sky view from the castle was something that any motorcyclists would love to ride here for. Part of the castle has now been converted into one of Portgual's best pousadas. Pousadas de Portugal is a chain of luxury, traditional or historic hotels in Portugal. I could see an array of vintage cars lined up to leave the castle carrying its guests as I entered the castle. After getting the king's view from the top of castle I moved on with my journey. 

For next around 50 kms I was riding through relatively narrow roads, more like state highways in India with enough trees on both sides to cover the road. For a part of ride I was accompanied by the same entourage of vintage cars which had left the castle few minutes back. While I enjoyed the company of vintage cars for a while but these cars were really slow for me to continue riding with them. 

I later stopped at a cafe along with fuel pump to grab a bike. Just like a lot of other places, attendant didn't understand English but sign language helped me get pastry, a puff and a coke for around 15 euros. Unlike India where we have multiple attendants to put fuel in your vehicle, here you have to first pay and then fuel up your vehicle yourself, I kind-off liked it. Petrol in Portugal was 1.6 euro per liter (around Rs.130 per liter), which by Indian standard is expensive, in Delhi we pay around Rs.70 for a liter. Thankfully this 800cc motorcycle, around 75 hp still gave good mileage of around 25 kmpl. 

I had been riding for almost 7 hours and Porto was still far away. As I was getting closer to Porto traffic on the highway started increasing. Cars and trucks were faster. I could hardly spot any bike, clearly not a popular thing to do. On this route I constantly had a fear that in absence of GPS and road signs at certain places I might miss a turn, continue riding and land in Spain which was just 100 kms away. Well, I didn't land up in Spain but certainly missed the turn towards Porto. I suddenly realized that none of the roads have anything written about Porto, I pulled over a to a fuel station. While the fuel station attendant didn't understand English but he still understood my problem. He quickly drew a map for me with landmarks marked on it so that I could reach Porto. 

I entered Porto around 8.30 pm and started looking for my hostel. After asking a few people I started to get a sense of direction in the old city but lack of road signs and multiple one ways made things complicated. It was mentioned on hostel's website that it's located right in front of a building called Rivoli cinema, which didn't seem that easy to find. After asking few other people I came across a bunch of youngsters who knew exactly where I had to go. One of them decided to accompany me on his cycle. When I finally reached Rivoli Cinema hostel (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rivoli-Cinema-Hostel/77258188653?fref=photo) I realised that I had crossed the heritage building of Rivoli Cinema twice earlier. Just that name on the building was etched right on top so it was difficult to read while riding and sign on hostel was discreet to notice. On one side of the building was huge open space where a huge video screen was installed for hundreds of people to watch the football world cup final that night. Hostel had interesting interiors. Being inspired by Rivoli Cinema, they had taken the cinema theme for their decor. Staying in Godfather's den for just 19 Euros wasn't a bad deal. Especially when I had to just spend the night. The only difference here was that this was a mixed gender room, which I realized only when I got up the next morning. So if you aren't comfortable spending the night in same room with another gender then make sure to check before you check-in. 

After dumping my things in the then, room I started feeling hungry and the obvious urge to explore the city started increasing. 

While riding up and down when I was searching for the hostel I had seen various heritage buildings all around the hostel buildings. So I decided to step out and grab bite after taking a walk around the city. Porto was recognized as World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1996. Located along the Douro river estuary Porto is one of the oldest centers in the history of Portugal. Its settlement dates back many centuries, when it was an outpost of Roman Empire. It's Latin name Portus Cale has been referred to as the origin of the name Portugal. Internationally it's also famous for Port Wine. By the way, port wine we get in Goa is nothing close to the world famous Port wine you get in this region. 

After enjoying the walk through some of the most beautiful heritage buildings I parked myself in a street cafe and ordered for a beer with Francesinha. For which I paid just 11 Euros (Rs.900). That's not expensive in Europe, actually not even in India. Francesinha, literal translation means French Lady, is the traditional dish in this area. Essentially it is toast with layers of meat inside, layers of meat being that of beef, pork, ham and more. It is covered with cheese and spicy sauce. Most importantly, this dish must be accompanied with beer and not wine. No, I'm not making this up because the motorcyclist in me likes beer but its actually true. Francesinha has been rated one of the top 10 sandwiches in the world. While I was enjoying my Francesinha and gazing at buildings around me the waiter at the restaurant came up and told me that the full moon view on top of a particular heritage building was rare scene. 

Next morning I got up early to walk towards the Douro river. After losing direction a few times and being chased by dogs from inside of a mansion I finally reached the riverbank. It was a bit chilly. Porto has Mediterranean climate, July is probably the warmest month of the year but still the temperature was around 12 degree Celsius. The river has a great historical significance in the city. 

Lisbon is around 316 kms from Porto and I knew that it would take me around 4 hours to reach. To ensure I reached Lisbon within 48 hours from the start of ride I had no option but to unwillingly push the motorcycle. Though it was fun but I was scared of speeding as I didn't want to get caught in some other country for over speeding and pay heavy penalty. At 200 kgs this motorcycle didn't really seem too heavy as I pushed it to ensure that I make it to Lisbon within 3.5 hours. My 48 ours ride ended at the Hertz showroom but I wasn't as upset as I normally am when the trip ends. Reason being that I had World Ducati Week to look forward to on the upcoming weekend.

Spends:

Hostel accommodation 
26 + 19 euros = 45

Motorcycle rental 
73 X 2 = 146 + 33 tax = 179

Food 
12 + 15 + 16 + 11 = 44

Fuel - 87 Euros 

Total = 324 euro

Riding Through The Jungles & Temple Remains In Cambodia

Every morning when the metro rail that I take to work crosses a lush green patch I feel like tearing the doors open and jumping right into the thicket with the roaring engine under my butt. Twist hard the throttle of an off-road motorcycle without bothering about the path and just let it run wild forever. Now imagine going through this every morning, then reaching office, and sitting in front of the laptop with a straight face. This urge to tear the door apart and jumping out had been growing for a while. Of course, not all fantasies can be brought to life but some aren't that difficult to fulfill.

REACHING CAMBODIA

I had planned Cambodia trip in the last week of December 2013 with another friend who had to drop out because of certain personal commitments. But motorcycling hardly requires company. So I started looking at options for some motorcycling action in Cambodia, wrote a few emails, and surprisingly got multiple eager replies. After chatting with few of the bike trip organizers, I zeroed in on Aki (http://cambodiatrails.com/).

My one line brief to Aki was – “The Trip should cover trail, slush, jungle, water crossing…so what if it’s for just a few days, it should be exciting. I want to push myself really hard”. As it turns out, Aki was pretty good at understanding briefs.  

Bus ride from Mo Chit Bangkok to Poi Pet border

I landed in Bangkok around 11 am and headed straight for the Mo Chit bus terminal (near Chatachuk market). One can take the airport express to the city and then take the sky rail to the station closest to their destination. It was only after I reached Mo Chit did I find out that the only direct bus to Siem Reap leaves around 9 am. So I took the next best option of boarding a bus to Aranyaprathet for 223 Baht.

We left at 2 pm from Mo Chit terminus. The border is still 6 km away from Aranyaprathet so I paid another 70 Baht for the tuk-tuk to take me to the border. By the time I crossed the border and reached the Cambodia immigration office it was 8.15 pm. I had already taken paper visa online for Cambodia so there was no visa processing required. Its important to mention here that this route to Cambodia via Thailand is not as smooth as it may seem. Besides the taxi and direct bus scam, Visa on arrival can cause a lot of unnecessary trouble. While returning I did face some issues. My Thailand Visa on return journey was also Visa on arrival but Cambodia immigration refused to stamp my passport out of Cambodia unless I had valid Visa to enter Thailand. So I had to first go get paper Visa  from authorities in Thailand, return to immigration office of Cambodia to get my passport stamped. then ofcourse get again in queue at Thailand immigration to enter their country, all this with with my travel bags (including riding gear) and running across in heat. If i had taken pre-arrival Visa for Thailand then this would have been simpler. After asking a few random questions the immigration in Cambodia officer decided to stamp my passport but he wasn't ready to hand it over just yet. The extra fifteen minutes he had had to stay after his duty hours was going to cost me 200 baht! Next up was arranging a cab ride to Siem Reap, which I successfully negotiated down to USD 43 from the initial asking price of USD 150.  I later realized that even this was an exorbitant price for a ride to Siem Reap. I reached Siem Reap around 11.30 pm. I had anticipated that i might reach late so had pre-booked a hotel room (Wooden Angkor) for next two nights. The hotel turned out to be very good, considering I had to just pay 20 USD for a night. Cambodia isn’t a very expensive place to travel so basics like food, accommodation, etc is very cheap. For example, meal in a normal restaurant will cost 3-5 USD, beer for around 2 USD.

Next morning I went to check out the motorbike. There were mostly Honda XR 250. These are single cylinder air-cooled four stroke off-road motorcycles from the nineties, produces around 19 hp and good torque.  This model was later replaced with CRF 250 (or CRF X).

Honda XR 250, ready to ride

Aki and I had agreed earlier that the ride will last 4 -5 days depending on the terrain. If you go in a bigger group then you can choose to take one of the pre-decided routes through the forests for as short as half-a-day to as long as 16 days which would cover most of Cambodia. A 16 day long trip can cost you 2700 USD upwards but will get you to cover entire Cambodia on the bike, I paid 150 USD per day.

After inspecting the bike and discussing the route with Aki it was time to do the temple tour in Siem Reap. I decided to use the non-motor cycle for the day ride.  I ended the day at pub-street wrapping up early as I had an early start the next morning.

Bayon Temple

RIDE STARTS
We start riding around 8.30 am that morning. Aki had already briefed me that I should carry just one small bag. He provided me with really tough off-road Sidi boots. Besides that I was also wearing knee guards to protect my legs, and instead of elbow guard I chose to wear my mesh jacket. Initial part of the ride was mostly on backroads and some on tar.

2 hours into the ride and I had my first fall. Dried slush turns into weird pattern of troughs and crests. If the tire hits a wrong point you can lose balance, which is exactly what happened with me. I sprained my ankle but it wasn’t bad enough to hold me back for long. Half an later I fell again. This time it was my shin, I screamed for a moment, and started wondering how I was going to survive the next few days. But I also knew that self-confidence was the only thing that could keep me going. So without thinking too much I got back on the saddle with even more energy this time.

Route options I had considered for this ride were:

Option 1 - Cardamom Mountains

Option 2 – Northern Cambodia

Option 3 – Eastern Cambodia

Route Map courtesy Cambodia Trails

We had finalised route option as for our ride. While a large part of Cambodia is filled with fascinating forest terrain, it is the North region which is closest interesting region to Siem Reap. Considering that I was riding alone, and the limited time I had, this seemed like the best possible option.

Eastern Cambodia is adjoining Vietnam, and includes Rattanakiri and Mondulkari regions. Covered with thick forests, this is the less developed region with very few developed motorable roads. I had kept Mondulakri region as route option 3 but the only problem was that it was far from Siem Reap so I would have wasted 1 day going up and 1 day coming down to Siem Reap. Therefore this option (Eastern Cambodia) was striked off.

Route option no. 1 was Cardamom Mountains or western Cambodia. This is considered to be much tougher ride with a mix of forest, rocky terrain, and multiple river crossings. In order to complete this route, one needs a bigger group to work as a team. There are places where two people are needed to lift the bike and take it across the river. We are talking about places which offer extreme off-roading situations. These areas are almost inaccessible, and without much habitation. This is recommended for professional riders, which I’m not. But the fun lies in pushing one’s limits. The risks of riding through Cardamom Mountains is something every off-road loving motorcyclist would like to experience. Since I was riding alone I had no option but to drop this route option as well.

Southern part of the country has some interesting beaches with a mix of forests but this was again too far off so I never considered this regions as a route option.

After stopping for lunch at Sre Noi around 12.30 we kept on riding up on tar road towards Along Veng (long cliff) in the direction of Cambodia- Thailand border. Once we were close to the border we entered the jungles and started climbing up in search of Pot Pol’s (one of the leaders of Khymer Rouge) house. Apparently the Cambodian government forces couldn't capture him as all the surrounding mountains were laid with mines. 

Land Mines have been a big issue in Cambodia for long. Most of the areas have now been cleared by government and other NGO bodies from across the globe but there is a possibility that there are areas which still have mines hidden underneath.

Stories of brutality are still discussed by those who survived, and the horrible impact can be seen in the eyes of the mine victims who are handicapped for rest of their life.  

We descended from Pot Pol’s den and after riding along the Dangrek Mountains, which is the  natural border between Cambodia and Thailand, we climbed up another cliff to spend the night at a guest house. The view from this cliff left me awestruck. Dark clouds enveloped one side, while the other basked in orange sunlight. Weather was pleasant at 22 degree Celsius, windy, and partially cloudy. We had covered 210 kms, with an average speed of around 25 km/h which is good considering the kind of terrain we had been riding on. We spent the next few hours relaxing in the hammock, watching the sun set, and discussing the next day’s route. Soon it was time for dinner, the option for which were deer and wild boar. I opted for deer meat which is the softest meat I have ever had.

Deer meat for dinner

EXPLORING THE FOREST & HIDDEN TEMPLES 

I was woken the next morning by the thumping noise of the engine. Aki was inspecting the bikes before we could take off again. First stop was for fuel and breakfast. There aren't many fuel filling stations in Cambodia but it’s sold in bottles at regular shops.

No, he isn't pouring JW Black Label, its the way the petrol is sold in Cambodia

We entered the trail again from Preapeang Prasat and after riding for a while we entered the forests region called Kulen Prum Tep Wildlife Sanctuary. Forest was mostly deciduous and bamboo in some parts. It was a mixed terrain. We encountered slush, water, sand, and rocky terrain. Nov to Jan is the best time to ride in Cambodia. After that it becomes too hot before heavy rain starts pouring. While we did cross some slush, it would have been thicker and more prevalent in Sept – Oct.  It’s fun to ride in slush but when there is too much of it then it gets tricky. You have to get off the bike and push it. It did happened just once with us but we managed to push the bikes out without much trouble. Thankfully I didn't have any fall that day and we also managed to get some good footage for the video that we intended to develop at the end of the trip.

Slush is fun

Riding inside the jungle is a lot of fun but you must know your way out of it before the sun goes down. It’s not easy to find your way out as there are no marked routes here. GPS can be a good friend but at times even the good friend might not be able to help. So when we got lost, we used the mighty sun to help us with the direction. We realized that we had done a full circle inside the forest. The only way out was to keep the sun on your left and keep riding in one direction. You can ask the locals for help, provided you come across any in the jungle, and you know the language. Thankfully Aki was a local so it helped. The ice candy man crossing the forest to reach another village helped us with the directions. After fighting with the terrain for some time we decided to relax for a bit next to a river stream. We were covered in dust and slush but that didn't stop us from enjoying ice-candies in middle of nowhere inside the forest.

Ice candies in middle of nowhere

After getting lost for a while we reached Koah Ker (part of Preah Vihar province), another group of broken temples. One can pay 10 USD to get access to all the temples in this region. Main temple here was like a Mayan style pyramid temple with steps going all the way till the top. These temples were very different from what I had seen in Siem Reap. We reached Sroyrong Koh Ker after covering 170 kms for the day but this included only 5% on Tar roads, around 60% in forest, 15% on red gravel roads, and 20%  through rice fields.

Koh Ker Temple

One of the most interesting experiences of traveling are the interesting people you meet on the way. In the small guest house we were staying at that night, we met a few French men. They had taken a short break from their routine life of wife and kids and were in Cambodia to teach English. There was also a Spanish couple who had been traveling for the past 6 months across South-East Asia.  They had been travelling across Cambodia on a small 125cc Honda scooter. Common topic of discussion that night on the dinner table at a near-by food joint was corruption. Clearly corruption was the universal problem which all of us had experienced in our respective countries. It became a little over bearing after a while so I decided to take a walk to  check-out what was happening in the backyard of that small food joint. I saw big containers on wood fire with women cooking around. Older men were eating, and younger men were drinking rice wine in groups. For a moment they all looked at me, and gave a strange look. But that quickly changed into a smile and then laughter. They offered me shots of rice wine, which I happily accepted, and also offered an interesting sweet dish called Khasawa. This was made of steamed banana leaf with a filling of beans, sugar, and coconut. By the time I came out, another French couple had joined us. They initially had their guard up, but we managed to convince them to have rice shots as part of Christmas eve celebrations.

Guest house at Sroyrong 

My wake-up alarm next morning was a screaming pig next door being slaughtered for lunch. Our first stop that day was the Shiva Linga Temple. Before Buddhism became the main religion, Hinduism is what was followed in Cambodia. Even the famous Angkor Temple is a Vishnu Temple, and so are many others.  Their mythological stories have various characters from Hindu mythology. For example they believe that there is a huge snake that lives in Mekong River which protects them from all evil. The snake being talked about here is what we see in almost all temples in form of carvings on rock. As per Hindu Mythology this huge multi-headed snake, called Shesh Naag, is the carrier of Lord Vishnu.

FIGHTING WITH THE TERRAIN

It was time to get lost in the forest again. Aki had warned me that there would be lot of fighting with the terrain that day and that’s how it was. I had never imagined sand to be so tricky to ride. You can’t be too slow, you can’t be too fast, you can’t put too much downward pressure as tires might get stuck. It was only after riding for a while that I started getting better at it. We decided to skip lunch in favour of getting lost in the jungle. We were riding through millions of dollar worth of teak around us. Apparently this is one of the reasons for corruption in the country as the government has allowed some Vietnamese and Chinese firms to take over these teak farms. Earlier the locals had full access to them, chopping them off whenever they needed money.

Off-roading is one the most physically demanding motorcycle riding. On normal roads I can easily ride 700-1000 kms in a day but out here 150-200 kms in a day seemed a lot. There were no roads and that was the best part of this trip. We stopped riding at Taseng village around 3.30pm, though we had covered only 145 kms, we were dead tired. The village chairman was not only happy to let us stay in his house, but also we got some yummy char grilled chicken for dinner.

Just like the motorcycle engine, the human body also requires some time every morning to warm-up. Reactions are slow and you want to avoid too much jumping around. But 15-20 minutes of trail riding, some water splashes, and a few instances of almost losing control wakes you up. Today we were crossing a lot of sandy trails which meant more hard work. Whenever I would get too sweaty I would stand on the foot peg and let the breeze cool me down. The good thing about these off road motorcycles is that they can take a lot of beating so even when you are standing on foot pegs, the bike’s suspension is working hard.

We were joined by two more riders post lunch break at Beng Mealea. The sun was bright and again there was lot of riding in thin layer of sandy terrain that day before we reached red gravel roads which led us back to Siem Reap.

This kind of ride can never have a conclusive end. It all depends on how much you want to break your back, how much you want to ride through the forests, slush, dusty roads, farms, and grass fields. This was by-far the most hard working and fun bike ride I have ever taken. Now the doors of the metro are safe. I don’t feel like tearing them apart. The green patch reminds me of the amazing ride, and brings a smile on my face while going to work.

For video click here - Cambodia Ride

Time of Travel Last Wk of Dec 2013
Money Spent:

Return Airfare  - Delhi - Bangkok - Rs.21,000

Bus to Araynaprathet – 223 baht = Rs. 424

Tuk-tuk – 70 baht = Rs.133

Bribe 200 baht = Rs. 390

Taxi to SR – 45 USD = Rs. 2,800

Wooden Angkor (20 USD per nit for 2 nits) 40 USD = Rs. 2,500

Ride – (155 USD per day for 4 days) = 620 = Rs. 39,000

Food & beverage everyday – 10*5 = 50 = Rs. 3,100

Temple entry – 20 + 10 USD = Rs.1,890

Total Rs. 71,235