We stayed in a town called Stoung for the night, getting up the next morning at 4:30AM to beat the forecasted heat. People get up early here, maybe especially when it’s hot, so the staff of the hotel was up and ready to get us some coffee at 5:15 and then we took off.
We had planned to go to Kampong Thmar that day, a distance of about 55 miles, using the main paved road. We made good time, arriving there at about 11:15AM, but found that our planned hotel was no longer a hotel. And so we headed into town to find another lodging but then instead decided to just find a taxi to take us to the next place, Kampong Cham, if possible.
Chris spotted a transport bus at a garage and asked some questions using Google Translate, finding that the main taxi stand in town was near the Tele Gas station. And so we headed there and quickly found someone to take us to Kampong Cham in his tuk tuk for about $25, a distance of about 50 miles. We were at first a bit incredulous that a tuk tuk would do it, but a group of men smilingly hoisted our bikes onto the roof of the tuk tuk and strapped them down. Looking back, I now realized what a small load that is compared to what they routinely carry!
It took about 1 1/2 hours to get to Kampong Cham in the tuk tuk. At some point, the driver pulled over and made a u-turn to retrieve something that had fallen off the bikes – Chris’ headlamp that was secured to her front fork. No worries, we got it!
The hotel we are staying in (now for 2 nights) is deluxe with a lovely view of the Mekong river.
We left our bikes leaning against the front wall of the hotel, which met with the smiling approval of the attendants there. No locks, just OK to leave our grotty, muddy, nasty looking bikes in front of your luxury hotel. It’s amazing.
Tomorrow, we’ll explore Kampong Cham, which is supposed to be a lovely place. Until then, we’ll enjoy the hotel, rooftop bar, restaurant and air conditioning!
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