Wish List

Heyya...

i guess everyone has a wish list of items for Christmas... well, here's mine:

1) sexy Olympus PEN E-P1.. looks very 60's retro and has 6 Art Filters!!! Oh yeah.. and for those who are trying to be smart-ass here, i know E-P1 came out almost 1 year ago.. 

2) Nike Lunar Glide Running shoes.. i'm getting fat now... need to start running again.. ;-(

i hope to get these in June instead of Christmas.. LoL

Ride: Phnom Penh - Pattaya, Thailand

Phnom Penh - Pattaya, Thailand (16/2/2010)

Heyya...

I woke up as early as 6.00 in the morning in Phnom Penh... woke up with joyfulness as i knew i have successfully been in Phnom Penh, Cambodia... it was time to go home... All my things have been packed in the Givi topbox a night before... I came down to the hotel lobby to meet the others...

As usual before i ride to any destination, I would put the topbox on its rack.. Lube the bike chain and warmed the engine for at least 10 minutes.. Then i would ride for 1-2 km to make sure everything is good and the bike is ready to be ridden..

*photo courtesy of Shamsrad

*photo courtesy of Ariff Hashim



As planned, we departed to Pattaya, Thailand at 7.00 am... we refilled our gas tanks at Total gas station... We had our light breakie at the gas station, everyone seemed to have a cup of coffee before the ride...

We left the gas station 30 minutes later.. we headed to the South West of Phnom Penh, entering National Highway 4...

*photos courtesy of Shamsrad

By the time we left the gas station, traffic started to build up as the locals were starting to go to work...

As we were riding miles away from the city, the traffic got better.. less cars along the Route 4...

Before we reached at a junction which separates the route to Sihanoukville and Koh Kong, we had a tremendous ride... we enjoyed the ride as the road was winding through the hills of Damrei Mountains, also known as Elephant Mountains...

* Picture courtesy of Zaini Zaid

*Picture courtesy of Ariff Hashim

At the junction of Sihanoukville and Koh Kong, we stopped for coconut drinks and had the local Cambodian Durians.. they were marvelous and taste similar with our local durians...

We continued our hilly ride until we reached Koh Kong Bridge.. the bridge connects the 2 neighbouring countries of Thailand and Cambodia on Kah Bpow river and it is located 10km from Khlong Yai town (Thai Border) and 133km from Phnom Penh.. The Koh Kong bridge is estimated 1900 meters long and it is the longest bridge in Cambodia..

Upon reaching the Khlong Yai, we passed several casinos along the coastline...

At the immigration office, i've met a new "friend"... hehehe... some said, i have unfinished business at Khlong Yai, Trat... true, indeed... i need to visit here again although it's 2,000km away from Kuala Lumpur... :wink:

Entering Thailand, we continued our ride to Pattaya... it would be another 280 km ride... the initial ride along the coastline was exhilarating as we knew we were already in Thailand and it is much safer to ride... I could see the beaches along the Route 3 were beautiful.. i must come back to Khlong Yai someday...

We then stopped for a quick snack and refueled at Khlung... Then headed straight to Pattaya..

Upon reaching Pattaya city at 4.00pm, we started to feel the heat of the traffic... we were new in Pattaya so we did our little tour around the city and along the beach, which is the hot-spot of tourists... the day was hot and full of tuk-tuks...



We managed to find our hotel, The Green View Service Apartments, along Soi 15...






Soi 15 (Street 15) is located 50 meters away from the infamous Walking Street... there were AGo Go bars, pubs and clubs beneath and beside our hotel...

*picture courtesy of Zaini Zaid

We stayed in Pattaya for 3 days (2 nights)... we had plenty of time to explore the city and swim in the Pattaya beach...

To summarize the ride, we did almost 410 km of riding from Phnom Penh to Pattaya... the road was winding, hilly and breathtaking... we finally made our journey through Cambodia..


HooRahh!!

Next: Pattaya, Thailand (Day-2)

Ride: Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Day 2)

Phnom Penh, Cambodia (15/2/2010), Day 2

Heyya..

On the next day (2nd day in Phnom Penh), we had an arrangement to meet a Deputy Minister of Social Affairs of Cambodia.. the deputy minister is a friend of Dato' Rahman.. He was so kind to bring us to his Ministry office and lent us his driver and SUV to chauffeur us around Phnom Penh..

After paying a visit at his Ministry office, we visited Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.. Formerly, it was known as Chao Ponhea Yat High-School and was used as the notorious Security Prison 21 (S-21) by the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975-1979..

The Khmer Rouge renamed the high-school as S-21 and construction began to adapt the prison to the inmates.. the buildings were enclosed in electrified barbed wire...

Also, the classrooms were converted into tiny prison cells and torture chambers... All windows were covered with iron bars and barbed wire to prevent escapes.. 20,000 victims were imprisoned at Tuol Sleng..

Then, we visited Russian Market, aka Tuol Tom Pong... Apparently, the market was closed due to Chinese New Year festival... but only couple of shops opened.. Russian Market is a place where most tourists can buy souvenirs at bargain prices..


I met a pretty Cambodian sales girl who was very friendly to me.. Tin Tin is her name.. had a chat with her for almost 1 hour... she was willing to have dinner with me on the night, willing to be my "personal tour guide" and gave me her full contact details in case if i decided to visit Phnom Penh again... i wanted to snap a photo of her, but she refused.. hehehe

Then we had lunch with the minster at a local Muslim restaurant... there are quite a number of muslims in Phnom Penh... and i've noticed, Cambodians can eat a lot of rice... the 2 gentlemen sitting beside me had 2 bowls of rice each and they were slim and skinny... 

Few photos taken by Zaini Zaid..

In the evening, i skipped dinner the rest as i lost my appetite for eating local food... i needed a fast-food, cheese burger or KFC... i googled and found there is one and only fast-food burger restaurant... it is called Lucky Burger, which is quite similar with Burger King...

I took a motorcycle tuk-tuk and directly asked him to bring me to Lucky Burger... i had 2 whopper burgers and had another chicken burger for take away... It was so Gooooooood!!

Then the tuk-tuk brought me around Phnom Penh but unfortunately, i did not bring my camera with me... Phnom Penh is absolutely beautiful at night... 

There are lots of statues, historical buildings and mansions in Phnom Penh.. I would reckon to walk around the city after 9.00 pm as there would be less cars... there were lots of people chilling out and having picnics at Independence Monument, along Sihanouk Boulevard and Preah Suraman Boulevard.. I will definitely be visiting Phnom Penh again someday...

HooRahh!!

Next Ride: Phnom Penh - Pattaya, Thailand

Ride: Siem Reap - Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Siem Reap - Phnom Penh, Cambodia (14/2/2010)


Heyya..

After spending only 2 days (1 night) in Siem Reap, we started our journey to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.. the ride took only 320 km of distance.. Phnom Penh is the Capital and largest city of Cambodia.. Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville are main cities mostly visited by tourists in Cambodia..

We left Siem Reap at 10.00 am after we had a proper heavy breakfast, provided by Ta Prohm Hotel... I needed a heavy breakfast meal as i was sick on previous day and needed to recover my endurance stamina..

We re-grouped with other bikers (whom stayed at different hotel) and filled up petrol few kilometers away from the hotel..

From Siem Reap, we rode on Route 6... the single-carriage highway was not busy at all.. we had a slow ride and stopped couple of times for photography sessions along the highway... i had 30 minutes of rest at Stoung and met few locals at a lake... i was told by them that the lake is a favourite spot where families would have picnics...


We rode for 158 km until we reached Kompong Thom.. i met the rest at a petrol station where some decided to fill up petrol.. big tank bike like KLR650 does need to fill only once for every 400 km.. OooWiee!!



Then we continued our ride to Phnom Penh.. it had to be another 160 km for us to ride before reaching Phnom Penh... Still on Route 6, the ride turned out to be the WORST ever ride in my life and others' too!! The roads got busier and big vehicles, i.e. SUV, Busses, Lorries and etc didn't even care about motorcycle riders...

Most riders had to avoid these big vehicles... Imagine this, for 160 km, you need to be brave and focus on the road if you ride along the Route 6, entering Phnom Penh.. We were mentally tortured and traumatized with the cars and SUVs.. Every time we overtook a vehicle, we had to honk many times to alert the drivers that we were overtaking them.. if you lose your concentration, you might be ended up under a truck!!!

Scary thoughts, huh...

At 2.00 pm, we managed to reach Phnom Penh in one piece at Khmer Souvenir Monument Statue...

In the city, the motorists drove like mad, crazy... they didn't give signals, coming out of junctions and simply made U-turns right in front of us, as if we do not exist... i guess it is compulsory for motorcycles to stop and give way to cars at All Times!! Pheewww...

We reached our hotel at Street 136.. this is main spot where most of night life happens.. Unfortunately, i could not get a room at the hotel where others were staying.. hence i found Paragon Hotel, which is close by...

The Paragon Hotel which i stayed was a bit turned off.. the room floor was dirty, very small with no window at the price of hotel, USD$23.00 per night...

On second day at Phnom Penh, i checked-out from Paragon Hotel and moved to Mekong Palace Hotel, which was x100 times better, cleaner and costs USD$18.00 per night..

Fortunately, i was lucky to stay on the highest floor which has an open balcony at the other end of the hotel hallway for hotel guests.. From the balcony, i could get a superb view of Mekong River and Tonle Sap River..

Fookin' Priceless!!!

On my first night, I did as what most tourists would do.. snapping photos and try to blend with the environment as Cambodians.. The traffic in Phnom Penh was heavy even at 10.00 pm as it was Chinese New Year...

We followed the locals to P'Sah Cha, where it was used to be the old market, for Chinese New Year celebration... the scene at P'Sah Cha was exactly the same as Uptown and Downtown in Kuala Lumpur...

I found Cambodian culture is unique... everywhere in the city, they love to have picnics... even at the P'Sah Cha market, they placed a huge rug for others to sit and have picnic.. how lovely life they have here.. i'm lovin' it!!

*Photos courtesy of Zaini Zaid


In total, we travelled 320 km of distance with the first 158 km was very relaxing... and absolutely a nightmare and torturous in the final 160 km..

Still, we managed to arrived safely in Phnom Penh, Cambodia...


HooRahh!!

Next: Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Day 2)