Exit Saigon

bear with me, this is a long post. i had loads of time to think about what to write.




took about an hour and a half to clear the loud smog. it was fun as always ripping around saigon, where there are almost no rules. i must have broken the only one, by riding to the front of the thick pack at a stop light. some dude on a motor bike smacked my ass as he took off and left me with a menacing scowl. wierd.

apparently cu chi (famous for the tunnels) is considered a district of saigon, although it's about 25 km away. the sign pictured above didn't appear until about 2 hours in. the stretch of vietnam between saigon and go dau was heavily bombed, maimed, and murdered during the american occupation, and i caught a whole lot of evil looks. some old-ass dude even tried to grab me as i biked past. it was a sticky situation indeed.

i'm a bit farther from shape than i had estimated, but i arrived at the border after about 6 hours of pedaling to find this rediculously out of place hotel/massage joint, pictured below.

i wasn't sure what was beyond the border (and i was friggin exhausted), so i decided to stop for the night. noone spoke much english outside the big city, but i was able to procure some pho ga by pointing to a picture. the nice looking hotel had a 1'x1' window, bugs on the bed, and "laughing" geckos in the room. served it's purpose though.

the next morning i remember that i had procrastinated on the atm action and had to back-track about 10km. after that it was on to ol' cammie. i was only slightly overcharged at the border. i didn't much care, because i was previously unsure that i could even cross on a bicycle (see border establishment below). security was mad lax, and i easily could have left the nam without ever having my visa stamped.


bavet is the first town across the border. i haven't seen any casinos since, but there were easily 25 of them here. almost immediately in cambodia, i was attacked by friendly people yelling "hello"and "i love you"from their front yards as i cycled by. that was the scene the entire trip. i estimated about 25 hellos/km. very friendly folk. these two dudes even slowed to my pace on their motor bike, yacked it up, and then flagged me over at the next food establishment. they bought me lunch, water, and soy milk.

i got to svay rieng yesterday afternoon, the last chance for a hotel for probably 60 km. it was good (view below), but still with bugs. i walked the town in search of internet and food. the former didn't look like much of a possibilty. in the process, i stumbled into a book store where the shop keep was holding an english lesson for 3 university students. he immediately asked me to help out. i talked to them for a while and answered their reluctant questions, then read an article about how the developed world (MAN) is keeping cambodia down. the students informed me that i speak way to fast. i walked down one made-up street and was solicited for "boom-boom". it didn't really sink in until i saw the sign on the next house that said "100% condom use".




left there early this morning to try and avoid heat exhaustion. this was one of the circles in town:



this was the scene for pretty much the whole trip. straight, flat highway:


i had pretty much made the mind up that i would bike to neak luong and the mekong river. i was desperately in need of shade, internet access, and a large meal full of known ingredients. biking to the front of the ferry line, i inquired at one of the fancy air-con busses. "full full". luckily a van driver offered to cart my ass and the machine to the capital for five american dollars. it was a sweet trip! below are some live tied pigs on the ferry:




now i'm in phnom penh. i checked into a sweet joint with all kinds of english cable channels and a window. there's internet, multiple food options, and english. i think i'll hold here for a few days.