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Bicycle Touring

Day 53: Down to the beach

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no cycling,  just 4 km together to get to the bus in Phnom Penh and from the bus to the ferry in Sihanoukville.

I tought it would be a wonderful morning. Getting up,  have some breakfast, the van would pick up my luggage, I would follow him to the bus station with my bicycle (it didn’t fit into the van,  which picks you up to get to the bus station) , get into the bus and get down to the beach of Cambodia.

It didn’t all went as planed. Till the pickup everything was all right. Then I was told to wait at the hostel,  as the van would go to another hostel to pick up more people and they would come back for me so that I could follow them. I waited and waited. Suddenly they passed by without breaking,  they just honked and waved to me. The chase through the city began. Arrived at the bus station I got my luggage back and searched for the bus. My luggage got stored in the bus and then my bicycle…​ no. I forgot to buy the ticket. Okay I will buy the ticket for the bicycle,  5$. They didn’t want to sell me a ticket for my bicycle,  they told me “no space”,  I had to take another bus one hour later. Luckily I saw the space in the luggage compartment of the bus and I knew that it would fit as it was the same type of bus I took some days ago. They kept telling me the same lie over and over, till I got really angry and shouted at them, that I know that there is space and I know what to do to get it in. Then suddenly they said okay and even let me jump over the queue at the ticket office,  as it was already 9:15 (the bus should have left at 9:00), but heyyy its cambodian time😂 My bicycle got a ticket too, took my front wheel off placed my bicycle in the bus,  my luggage (which they already took out again)  back in and went into the bus. I had to do everything by myself,  they didn’t even help me😂 I wasn’t the reason for the delay,  there were more people coming later than me! 

In the bus I realised what they tried to do to me. they tried to scam me. Because the bus at 10 o’clock is another bus,  which costs the double😯 f**** a****** (to keep it child save here😂) 

The rest of the ride was normal,  they stopped at 12 o’clock at a restaurant with reasonable food and arrived with 2 hours of delay at Sihanoukville. From there I had to take the ferry to get to the island where Soraya and Andreas are staying. I had to wait for one hour on the ferry (departure time at 17:00). So I am chilling at a bar next to the beach.

Tomorrow I will probably try to get back to mainland and start cycling again towards Vietnam 😀 Alternatively I would stay another day on the island,  I don’t know yet. I have to see when I am at the beach ⛱

Bicycle Touring

Day 52: Tuol Sleng

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no cycling,  at least it is not worth to mention as it was.

As I already cycled over 2000 km and I don’t have a chain tool on me, I decided to change my chain as it’s sometimes recommended after that many kilometers on not the nicest roads. Therefore I went to the bicycle shop of the brand Specialize. I already had a new chain on me,  I bought it in Kathmandu. They replaced it for free😀 It was 2 km away.

Next task on the list was organizing a ticket to get down to the beach. My idea was to get the train. The alternative was the bus,  but I wanted to take the train. Sadly I forgot one problem. No it was not the bicycle,  the train was already full for tomorrow…​ So I had to get a bus ticket…​

After all the non touristic tasks I got to my touristic part of today: visiting Tuol Sleng Museum. It was the prison where people were  tortured during the time of the Khmer Rouge, before they were send to the killing fields (which I visited yesterday)  to be executed. Again really great to visit this sad place. I got an audio guide and listened to everything there was to learn everything about the time of the Khmer Rouge. 

For lunch I went to the russian marked again to get noodles as it was close by the museum. 

After the museum it was 15 o’clock. I was told that my passport with the Vietnamese visa would be ready at 16 o’clock, but I went there anyway,  as I had nothing to do anymore. My passport was ready with the approved visa😀

On the way to the Vietnamese embassy I saw this kids paradise 😍 I checked it out,  the whole tower was full of activities for kids like climbing,  laser tag,  bumper cars,… Sadly the maximum age was 12 years…​ (Yeah that is my finder in the lens…)

I was lazy and took a tuk tuk back to the hostel

As I was so interested in the story of the Khmer Rouge, I watched a documentary over this topic as the audio guides only explained what happened at the places I was at but not how it really started and ended.

For the rest of the evening i was just chilling in the roof top bar and packing/preparing my stuff for tomorrow as I leave in the morning at 8:30 for the bus.

So that’s also what I will be doing tomorrow,  taking the bus to get down to the beach,  where I will get a ferry to get to an island where I met up again with Soraya and Andreas😀

Somewhere in the city I saw this commercial,  where I thought: “Photoshop makes every commercial better”

Bicycle Touring

Day 51: Killing Fields

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no cycling

Today I met up with Mila from Germany and we took  a tuk tuk together to get to Choeung Ek Memorial also know as the killing fields. It’s one of the many killing fields of the Khmer Rouge, where they executed people who didn’t follow or didn’t seem to follow the regime of Pol Pot,  the leader of the Khmer Rouge. We got an audio guide and listened to all the stories they provided. It took us like 2 hours. They build a memorial stupa where they placed skulls there. It’s an interesting and sad story. I can only recommend it.


After the tour we went to the Russian market to grab some noodles. Then we separated. I went to the Vietnamese embassy to get my visa. As always I was coming unprepared and forgot to take my passport pictures with me…​ So back to the hostel and try again to get a visa. Just filled out the form, added the photo, went to the counter,  handed in the form, the picture, my passport and the money. As I am not in a hurry I didn’t took the 1 hour express service (10$) but the 24 hours standard service. So currently they have my passport.

After that I went to the train station to get information about how to get down to the beach by train. Sadly the station was already closed but I got a sheet of paper with the information. I went to the central marked.



From there I went chilling on a bank next to the river.




Now Joshua and I will go to the cinema watching “Passengers”.

Tomorrow I will try to find a shop to replace my chain,  get a train ticket,  go to S-21 (the prison, where people were kept and tortured during the time of Khmer Rouge) and get my passport back with the visa inside hopefully😊

Bicycle Touring

Day 50: visiting and other stuff

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no cycling

This post is one day too late as I didn’t have time yesterday evening to write it.

I had plans of going to some places but I met up with a Joshua from Korea and we changed our plans. We visited a temple and the royal palace. Along the way we met many people,  during breakfast or at the royal palace. Joshua really likes to talk to everybody,  it’s really fun😂

yeah at this temple you could buy some birds for whatever reason. 2 birds for 1 $

Arrived at the area of the palace

In the evening we met Soraya and Andreas again which we met at breakfast and we spend the whole evening together with eating in the streets and having some drinks in a bar.

They started to do some dancing/gym at the place we were sitting. The later it got the more people joined and they did it for more than 3 hours.

Eventually Joshua went away to do a call and when he came back he had a little surprise for me as it was kind of my special day😀 Some german cake (he was in Germany before he came to Phnom Penh), some and some candles. 

Awesome I didn’t expect it and it was amazing. Thanks to all of them for that great day and evening😀

Bicycle Touring

Day 44: Prasat Preah Vihear

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no cycling

This morning I met up with Philip to have breakfast and go to Prasat Preah Vihear together.

Prasat Preah Vihear is another UNESCO world heritage site of Cambodia,  like Angkor Wat. It is located next to the border of Thailand and we needed about 29 km to get there. As we were told it would be very steep there,  that eventually we would need special motorbikes to get up there,  we decided not to take our bicycles but to get a lift from a motorbike.
As soon as we went out after breakfast to get into the village center to find someone to take us there with a motorbike,  2 guys on motorbikes were already coming our way. They immediately phoned a guy who spoke kind of english and Phillip negotiated a price to give us a lift to Prasat Preah Vihear and back, 11,5 $ each. The ride to the ticket booth of the area took us 40 minutes on the back of these uncomfortable motorbikes. My ass hunted more than after 6 hours of cycling😂

Arrived at the ticket booth, we had to buy a ticket for 10$.Then we wanted to get back to our riders but the women in the booth told us,  that they wouldn’t take us there as their motorbikes weren’t strong enough. We had to get another rider with another motorbike for an extra 5$ each. The motorbikes weren’t that strong but they should have a different chain and “special” cooling system (a container with water fixed between the legs of the driver which will drop water on the engine).

With our second rider the climbing began and then I saw,  why we needed special bikes, I wouldn’t have been able to cycle up that way,  too steep.

Arrived at the top,  our tickets got checked by military. As there were some conflicts in the past with military of Thailand, there is still a little presence of Cambodian military there. After examining my passport really carefully because he didn’t know Luxembourg. Eventually I was allowed to pass the checkpoint. After that just the temple,  some asian tourists, 2 french tourists and us,  see for yourself.




















Here you can see Thailand, with its military post and the tourists there:


On the search for our riders to get us back down,  we got a coconut to drink😀

We found our drivers which got us to our other driver which got us back to Sra Aem:

Arrived back in Sra Aem,  we had lunch and went back to the guesthouse as there is nothing more to see here. I spend the rest of the day lying in my bed,  watching some movies on YouTube. I had some headaches.

Tomorrow I will cycle again. 80 km through the jungle, there is no closer place.

For people wondering what Phillip looks like:

Bicycle Touring

Day 40: Siem Reap

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no cycling,  expect 10 km to test my bike after the reassemble of yesterday.

So today I slept longer and laid in my bed until 10:30. After getting up I organised me a guided group tour to Ankor Wat for tomorrow. Then I saw a flyer of a locally based circus so I bought a ticket for there to tomorrow evening. My next item on my todo list of today was getting a SIM-card to have mobile internet again. Simply,  just walk into the mobile provider store,  they make a copy of your passport you give 10$ and you are done. A SIM-card with 5$ on it,  which is enough to buy 4 GB of mobile internet.

For lunch I just had some quick noodles. Followed by a walk through Siem Reap. Just looking at the markets and pub street. There is really not that much here,  but it is beautiful☺️ And I haven’t been to the temples yet,  ad they have a 20$ entrance fee and I will be there tomorrow.








After returning to the hostel I decided to take my bicycle and look for a shop with tools to borrow the needed tools to mount my front light and mudguard again,  as I am missing the right size of tool to fix it… There was one on the other side of the street. They rent bicycles,  so I went in and asked for the tolls,  they gave me a basket with some random tools. But the right sized tool was in there,  so I could fix everything. After it,  I went for a little ride to check if everything is looking good☺️ some adjustments to the handle bar and settle and it was done.

As it was still too early to get dinner,  I decided to get a massage. After a quick search on the internet, I found a place where blind people do the massages,  it was close by,  not too expensive (7$). It really hurt a lot such a massage, but now it feels goods.

So for tomorrow there is a guided tour at the Ankor Wat temple and another one,  from the morning to the late afternoon. In the evening I then go to this circus.

The day after tomorrow I will start cycling again😍

I am again having a little headache, but I think it is because I didn’t drunk enough. It’s really hot here: 30°C…

Oh I nearly forgot: for people located in Luxembourg: Tomorrow (Monday) there will be an article in the newspaper called “Journal”. For people not located in Luxembourg or who don’t want to buy the paper: I think it will be published on the website too. I will provide a link tomorrow☺️

EDIT: Hier ist der Link zum Artikel

Bicycle Touring

Day 38: departure day

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no cycling

Todays goal: get everything to the airport by time.

But first I had to kill some time until my master plan began. I packed all my stuff so that I would have stuff to do in the 10 hours transit time in Singapore and all the restricted stuff in my luggage. I checked out of the hotel and got a free transit from the hostel to the airport offered. After some negotiation they even agreed to pass by Anil’s home first to get my packed bike which was sill stored there. The rest of the morning I spend again on the roof top of the hostel,  reading and doing stuff in the internet. I have never showed the roof top:



After lunch Tomaz came back to Kathmandu and we meet up. 😀

Finally at 16:30 my master plan began: Plain leaves at 9 o’clock. I calculated 2 hours earlier + 1 hour buffer + 1 hour going there + half an hour getting my packed bike,  so in total 4,5 hours from the hostel to the plain. so getting to the airport (5 km away) really took me like 1,5 h with passing by Anil’s home and all the traffic jams😂

Arrived at the airport the entrance was guarded,  so that only people with a ticket could enter it,  so no annoying people anymore who want money from you😀 After a first security check for all luggage everything was normal procedure:

  1. check-in: no extra charge for my bike😀
  2. immigration office: A sign told me to fill out a form,  which was then thrown away by immigration officer😂
  3. security check: quick one
  4. waiting in the departure hall
  5. boarding (as soon as it is open)

The international airport of Kathmandu is an old one. The departure hall has no restaurants or shops expect one. There I got some food. Fried rice heated up in a microwave oven,  plastic fork and no table:


So now my flight goes to Singapore (not Kuala Lumpur as mentioned in yesterday’s post). There I will have at least 10 hours (I am a little confused with time zones) at the airport before my flight goes to Siem Reap in Cambodia😀 Therefore I have my book and juggling balls on me😀

For security reasons I have my bicycle helmet in my hand luggage,  in case it will be a bumpy flight. Actually there was no more space with my luggage or in the bicycle box😂

Bicycle Touring

Day 37: visiting the last place

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no cycling

Today I just wanted to visit the last place marked on my map: Boudha Stupa.  I was told it was one of the biggest there is. In the afternoon I was back at the hotel. I had a little headache,  but I don’t know from what. In the evening I met Anil and a friend of him. We went to a china restaurant. My headache got worse,  that’s why I took a taxi back to the hotel and I will try to sleep now.

Due to the headache, I will not upload pictures today. Sorry. There are not that many pictures of today.

Tomorrow I will just get to the airport. My flight to Kuala Lumpur leaves at 9 o’clock in the evening. From where I will get a flight to Siem Reap in Cambodia 😀

Bicycle Touring

Day 36: packing my bike

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no cycling

So finally I packed my bike today, with a lot of help from Anil,  without him it wouldn’t have been possible or I had to do it in the bicycle shop.

But first we needed to get a carton box for it. Around Anil’s home there is a halfway decent bicycle shop, but we arrived too early and the shop was closed,  so we walked around grabbed a tea,  we went to Anil’s shoe store and met some of his friends around. After some time we went to get a carton box for 300 NRP (2,57€) and brought it back to Anil’s place. Back there we disassembled my bike (I came with it this morning from the hotel). I had to take of the handle bar,  so that was the first thing to come off. Then we took of everything until it fitted in the box. We started with the front wheel and the corresponding mudguard and checked if it would fit inside the box –> NO

Then we took of the rear wheel with mudguard and rack (the construction where I hang my panniers on.Checked if it fitted –> NO

My saddle was still looking out the box. That was easy,  just simply remove the saddle with the pole. Did it fit? –> the frame yeah,  the rest not everything.

The part still in the way was my front light,  as it made it impossible to place the wheels next to the frame. Did it now fit? –> kind of,  see for yourself:

After we got everything inside,  the taping began. All around the box. I had already bought a roll some days ago. It wasn’t good tape and it was inly a small one. We went out to get a new better role. A transparent tape which is not good visible on the picture,  but belive me,  it’s all around the box. It will be fun to pack everything out again without a knife, as knifes are kind of not allowed inside an airport.

After 4 hours of searching a box,  disassembling and taping we were finally finished. A big thanks to Anil,  without his help and patience I wouldn’t have been able to pack it😂

The rest of the afternoon I tried to print out my flight ticket and spend some time on the roof top of my hostel again.

I don’t know what I will do tomorrow, probably some walking around,  there is still one place on my map, which is marked and I haven’t visited yet.

Bicycle Touring

Day 35: doing nothing

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no cycling,  no motorbiking

So today I originally wanted to pack my bike in a carton box as my leg, arm and neck hurt too much to motorbike and I think there is no beautiful day route left here. So I went out for breakfast as every morning and realised how dirty my cloth were from the crash. During the breakfast a cat was constantly walking around my table jumping up and down chairs to get some food from me,  eventually she started sunbathing😂


As my cloth were dirty, I washed them and hung them up for drying at the roof top. I hadn’t explored it yet,  it is a very beautiful place with some flowers and chairs and less noise than down on the street☺️ I spend the rest of the morning and the afternoon there,  waiting for my long cloth to dry, while reading my book and talking to people.

Then finally Anil’s phone (nepalease friend from the Annapurna Trek) was switched on and we arranged a meet up in Kathmandu. I had to take a taxi to get there. Because if the traffic it took me like half an hour longer than the calculated time by maps.me (the offline navigation app I have).

Arrived there I found Anil quickly, we had some tea and moved to another place to have dinner at a nice quite restaurant with music I know from back home. The nepaleas cook worked in Australia but came back to open a restaurant here. Together with a group of artists, he painted the walls,  really beautiful. The wood was no normal nepaleas food,  I had a really good piece of steak with spaghetti and a brilliant sauce,  for normal price☺️


Anil has a car so for the way back I didn’t need a taxi😀 And we figured something out on how to pack the bike in a carton box tomorrow😀