World Tour - Europe, Asia, North and South America - Entries for: Cambodia
32° | sunny | km 368
Sous-dey Cambodia!
on 2016-10-22 in Cambodia
We have heard stories that crossing into Cambodia had now also become a possible problem, at least if you did not bring either a temporary import permit or a carnet de passage. Luckily we had the later and so for us, crossing was easy. Gail had not been as lucky the day before, his bike was still at the border waiting for him to get the permit in Phnom Penh. You can find more about the Cambodian border rules in our country info.
We decided to drive south to Stung Treng and stay there for a night. The road from the border was ok but also had some minor dirt sections. There was a big bridge right before we got to the city and it gave a nice overview of the area. First we tried to pick up Cambodian money but all we got from the ATM was US Dollars. There were exchange offices everywhere so we were not too worried. At our hotel we found out that Cambodians payed with a mixture of Dollars and Riel. Using their currency for small amounts and Dollars for larger. Since we now had both as well we were good prepared. We had a nice dinner and a comfortable hotel room to spend the night in.
The next morning we picked up some delicious fried meat pockets from the market and headed towards Siem Reap. We had heard great stories about Angkor Wat and were eager to check it out for ourselves. The first difference we noticed between Northern Cambodia and Laos was that not all areas were used for growing crops, there were also less animals on the roads. So we made good progress and decided to squeeze a sightseeing in. Our wish was to see a temple north of the infamous Angkor Wat with the name of Banteay Srei. We were quite disappointed to find out that to see this temple you had to get the same ticket as for Angkor Wat which costs 20 $ each. And further this ticket was only sold in one office in Siem Reap - about 40 kilometers south!! There was no ticket for just this one temple… Not very tourist friendly in our opinion. So we packed back up and rode on to find a place to sleep.
Fabi had looked for a place close to the temples and found a very nice resort called Angkor Park Resort. The hospitality of the owner was great and we even had a small private pool. We immediately booked two nights and enjoyed our first night in the refreshing water.
We decided to drive south to Stung Treng and stay there for a night. The road from the border was ok but also had some minor dirt sections. There was a big bridge right before we got to the city and it gave a nice overview of the area. First we tried to pick up Cambodian money but all we got from the ATM was US Dollars. There were exchange offices everywhere so we were not too worried. At our hotel we found out that Cambodians payed with a mixture of Dollars and Riel. Using their currency for small amounts and Dollars for larger. Since we now had both as well we were good prepared. We had a nice dinner and a comfortable hotel room to spend the night in.
The next morning we picked up some delicious fried meat pockets from the market and headed towards Siem Reap. We had heard great stories about Angkor Wat and were eager to check it out for ourselves. The first difference we noticed between Northern Cambodia and Laos was that not all areas were used for growing crops, there were also less animals on the roads. So we made good progress and decided to squeeze a sightseeing in. Our wish was to see a temple north of the infamous Angkor Wat with the name of Banteay Srei. We were quite disappointed to find out that to see this temple you had to get the same ticket as for Angkor Wat which costs 20 $ each. And further this ticket was only sold in one office in Siem Reap - about 40 kilometers south!! There was no ticket for just this one temple… Not very tourist friendly in our opinion. So we packed back up and rode on to find a place to sleep.
Fabi had looked for a place close to the temples and found a very nice resort called Angkor Park Resort. The hospitality of the owner was great and we even had a small private pool. We immediately booked two nights and enjoyed our first night in the refreshing water.
34° | sunny / rainy | km 527
Tracking down Lara Croft
on 2016-10-23 in Cambodia
Apparently there is a big hype about taking a picture just when the sun comes up over Angkor Wat. Since we would have had to get up at 5 am for this, we quickly decided we would leave this option for the other tourists and begin our tour around 10 am.
First we went to the most famous temple, Angkor Wat. It was built in 12th to mid 13th century. The size of the complex and the intricately restored temple itself was an incredible sight. When we walked across the massive garden in front of the temple we ran into some wild monkeys. But obviously they were very used to tourists. They were busy trying to snatch anything they could get their hands on. Their target was any tourist not careful enough to watch their bags. Water, magazines, cans, basically anything not closely guarded was free to take.
Our next stop on the route was the Ta Prohm temple. Parts of the movie "Tomb Raider" were filmed here. Some parts of the temple were still left untouched and therefore it was easy to imagine how much effort restoring the other temples took. On the other hand it was incredible how the nature became part of the temple and slowly overgrew these incredible structures. Parts of the temple were overgrown by huge roots and trees. Some parts were therefore in danger of collapsing. In the end only Denis was a bit disappointed since he spent a lot of time looking in every corner of this temple but did not manage to get a glimpse of Angelina Jolie ;)
Next on the list was the largest complex of them all, Angkor Tom. We were surprised that it was allowed to drive all the way up to the temples. The only problem was that the security guards were not too happy with us pulling over to take some pictures. After we had explored the smaller but nonetheless spectacular Bayon temple we were almost done with our tour and back on our way to the guesthouse. On our way back we had planned to go up to another temple with the name Phnom Bakheng from which you were supposed to witness a beautiful sunset over Angkor Wat. We were sadly a bit late which is why we spent a long time in a large queue just to give up in the end and decide to rush back to Angkor Wat to get some sunset shots there.
It was another exhausting sightseeing day but we all agreed that it was more than worth it! To relax from the busy day we took another short bath in the small pool of our guesthouse and went to bed early to regain our strength.
The day after we road towards Phnom Penh, mainly to find a chain for the two Hondas, since they were slowly wearing out after 35.000 kilometers. After we tried a couple of Honda dealers it slowly became clear that it would be quite difficult to find chains for their bikes. There were a lot of Honda dealers but they all only sold scooters and therefor got their bikes from China and not Japan. They could not even order things from Japan.
Fabi decided after a couple of tries to go on without Denis and Basti. This way he had a chance to go all the way to Sihanoukville before sunset. Basti and Denis spent a lot of time searching for their chains so in the end they did not manage to get to Sihanoukville. But they still managed to find a nice romantic spot along the way which they would have enjoyed a lot more with female company.
Fabi enjoyed the evening alone with Steffi and the next day the others joined us at the Backpackers Heaven Hostel in Sihanoukville.
First we went to the most famous temple, Angkor Wat. It was built in 12th to mid 13th century. The size of the complex and the intricately restored temple itself was an incredible sight. When we walked across the massive garden in front of the temple we ran into some wild monkeys. But obviously they were very used to tourists. They were busy trying to snatch anything they could get their hands on. Their target was any tourist not careful enough to watch their bags. Water, magazines, cans, basically anything not closely guarded was free to take.
Our next stop on the route was the Ta Prohm temple. Parts of the movie "Tomb Raider" were filmed here. Some parts of the temple were still left untouched and therefore it was easy to imagine how much effort restoring the other temples took. On the other hand it was incredible how the nature became part of the temple and slowly overgrew these incredible structures. Parts of the temple were overgrown by huge roots and trees. Some parts were therefore in danger of collapsing. In the end only Denis was a bit disappointed since he spent a lot of time looking in every corner of this temple but did not manage to get a glimpse of Angelina Jolie ;)
Next on the list was the largest complex of them all, Angkor Tom. We were surprised that it was allowed to drive all the way up to the temples. The only problem was that the security guards were not too happy with us pulling over to take some pictures. After we had explored the smaller but nonetheless spectacular Bayon temple we were almost done with our tour and back on our way to the guesthouse. On our way back we had planned to go up to another temple with the name Phnom Bakheng from which you were supposed to witness a beautiful sunset over Angkor Wat. We were sadly a bit late which is why we spent a long time in a large queue just to give up in the end and decide to rush back to Angkor Wat to get some sunset shots there.
It was another exhausting sightseeing day but we all agreed that it was more than worth it! To relax from the busy day we took another short bath in the small pool of our guesthouse and went to bed early to regain our strength.
The day after we road towards Phnom Penh, mainly to find a chain for the two Hondas, since they were slowly wearing out after 35.000 kilometers. After we tried a couple of Honda dealers it slowly became clear that it would be quite difficult to find chains for their bikes. There were a lot of Honda dealers but they all only sold scooters and therefor got their bikes from China and not Japan. They could not even order things from Japan.
Fabi decided after a couple of tries to go on without Denis and Basti. This way he had a chance to go all the way to Sihanoukville before sunset. Basti and Denis spent a lot of time searching for their chains so in the end they did not manage to get to Sihanoukville. But they still managed to find a nice romantic spot along the way which they would have enjoyed a lot more with female company.
Fabi enjoyed the evening alone with Steffi and the next day the others joined us at the Backpackers Heaven Hostel in Sihanoukville.
34° | sunny | km 265
Lazy Beach Workout!
on 2016-10-26 in Cambodia
After Denis and Bastis arrival we spent the rest of the day on the beach in Sihanoukville where we decided to have a look to one of the nearby islands. We booked the ferry for the next day and decided to go out with some very interesting and nice overlanders that we have met in the hostel.
They were traveling together on two Ural motorcycles with side cars. They had lots of stories to share and we were glad to listen to them as well as share our own. We wish them the best of luck with their further journey and may the Ural hold up until they reach home!
We had to get up early the next day to catch the ferry. Since we were not certain yet if we would stay over night or not we decided to pack just some essentials and let the island surprise us. We arrived at the north side of Koh Rong Sanloem around 11 am and after we walked just a couple of meters across the beach we decided to stop for some refreshments at a nearby bar. The beach was nice and the water warm but it was not as beautiful as we had been told. So after one ore two cold beers we decided to explore the island a bit further. We crossed south towards an area called "Lazy Beach". We were amazed at how different this beach was to the one in the north. Beautiful sand, incredible crystal blue water, large palm trees stretching along the coast and a cozy nice bar/restaurant. We were sold on the spot. It did not take us long to decide that we would be spending one night here no matter the price.
There was a beach volleyball field, a place to play table tennis, a badminton field and snorkel gear for rent. But what made this place remarkable in the end was the company and that we have been the only guests that night. In the evening we started talking to the owner Chris and his girlfriend Jemma. Two incredibly nice people from England who spent their entire time on the island. We ended up playing a dice drinking game called Perudo and learning about the experiences of these nice people. Chris told us that if we wanted, we could take the snorkeling gear and watch the fluorescent algae at night. He would even turn off the lights for us, so it would be more spectacular. Obviously we took him up on his offer and so we headed out on the pitch black beach and into the water. We had never seen anything like it before and it was an incredible feeling swimming through the water with thousands of little glowing points around us. We first could not believe what we saw so unreal seemed this phenomenon.
In the end we spent two glorious nights there and we are certain it will not be the last time that we visit this remarkable location. Fabi and Steffi now had to go back to Phnom Penh so Steffi could catch here flight. We agreed that Fabi would then meet up two days later with Denis and Basti on the border to Vietnam to try our luck in crossing into our next country.
They were traveling together on two Ural motorcycles with side cars. They had lots of stories to share and we were glad to listen to them as well as share our own. We wish them the best of luck with their further journey and may the Ural hold up until they reach home!
We had to get up early the next day to catch the ferry. Since we were not certain yet if we would stay over night or not we decided to pack just some essentials and let the island surprise us. We arrived at the north side of Koh Rong Sanloem around 11 am and after we walked just a couple of meters across the beach we decided to stop for some refreshments at a nearby bar. The beach was nice and the water warm but it was not as beautiful as we had been told. So after one ore two cold beers we decided to explore the island a bit further. We crossed south towards an area called "Lazy Beach". We were amazed at how different this beach was to the one in the north. Beautiful sand, incredible crystal blue water, large palm trees stretching along the coast and a cozy nice bar/restaurant. We were sold on the spot. It did not take us long to decide that we would be spending one night here no matter the price.
There was a beach volleyball field, a place to play table tennis, a badminton field and snorkel gear for rent. But what made this place remarkable in the end was the company and that we have been the only guests that night. In the evening we started talking to the owner Chris and his girlfriend Jemma. Two incredibly nice people from England who spent their entire time on the island. We ended up playing a dice drinking game called Perudo and learning about the experiences of these nice people. Chris told us that if we wanted, we could take the snorkeling gear and watch the fluorescent algae at night. He would even turn off the lights for us, so it would be more spectacular. Obviously we took him up on his offer and so we headed out on the pitch black beach and into the water. We had never seen anything like it before and it was an incredible feeling swimming through the water with thousands of little glowing points around us. We first could not believe what we saw so unreal seemed this phenomenon.
In the end we spent two glorious nights there and we are certain it will not be the last time that we visit this remarkable location. Fabi and Steffi now had to go back to Phnom Penh so Steffi could catch here flight. We agreed that Fabi would then meet up two days later with Denis and Basti on the border to Vietnam to try our luck in crossing into our next country.
I wish I could serve you more and I should give you all the points about Iran and its people at the beginning of your trip, but unfortunately I forgot.
be successful and victorious .
Enjoy the last leg of the ride home!
nein gstritten wäre übertrieben. Wir haben nur feststellen müssen dass wir sehr unterschiedliche Auffassungen vom Ende der Tour hatten.
Daher konnten wir auch keinen Kompromiss mehr finden und die Trennung war letztlich die einzige Möglichkeit alle zufrieden zu stellen.
Wir freuen uns aber schon auf das baldige Wiedersehen!
Aber sagt mal, nur noch Basti on the Road? In Österreich würde man sagen: " habt's g'stritten Mander?" ... ???
Ich bin gespannt auf Euren Bericht.
Basti weiterhin eine gute Reise.
ja da hast du recht ;)
Wir sind ja leider nicht mehr zu dritt unterwegs. Fabi und Denis sind schon seit einiger Zeit zuhause und Basti wird es wohl nicht rechtzeitig heim schaffen... Derzeitiger Plan ist Mitte Mai.
WOW das freut uns riesig! Vielen Dank für die netten Worte. Es ist wirklich viel zu lesen und wir haben uns immer gefragt ob das wirklich jemand liest... Also Danke für die Aufklärung! ;)
Schick uns doch bitte ne FB Nachricht oder ne Mail, in den deutschen Norden werden sicher bald mal aufbrechen. Denn von Deutschland haben wir wirklich noch nicht viel gesehen...
Liebe Grüße nach "oben" und ein paar Stories kommen noch...
Nachdem ich vor einiger Zeit alle Eure Video geschaut habe, hab ich jede freie Minute in den letzten Tagen genutzt um Euren Blog von vorne bis hinten zu lesen (inkl. der beiden Alt-Touren).
Was soll ich sagen, außer, dass mein Leben jetzt keinen Sinn mehr hat, weil ich nichts mehr zu lesen habe:
MEGA GEILE STORY!
Es hat mir so unfassbar viel Spaß gemacht Eure Geschichten zu lesen, danke dafür!
Solltet Ihr jemand in den Deutschen Norden kommen, bitte bescheid geben! Lade Euch gerne auf ein oder zwei Bier ein :D
I enjoyed the night in Big Sur a lot and will always remember you and your nice family! Hope all is well!
Also thank you MHMT and Fred. We still have half a year left with hopefully plenty of adventures to come :)
Thanks for the beatiful recordings!
And safe travels!
Good luck to you all
Warm greet fred,the netherlands
vielen danke für deine Kritik! Haben wir bisher noch nicht gehabt. Dass wir ziemlich hinten dran sind ist absolut richtig, wir nehmen uns gerade eine kleine Auszeit um aufzuholen.
Allerdings kann ich deinen Punkt zu den Sponsoren und Spenden überhaupt nicht nachvollziehen. Wir sind überrascht und froh wie wenig wir die Sponsoren erwähnen müssen. Außer in der eher kleinen Rubrik Support kommt eigentlich nichts in der Richtung vor.
In den nächsten Wochen werden wir auf jeden Fall zügig aufschließen und du darfst viele neue Berichte und Videos erwarten :)
Ich finde Eure Tour sehr interessant.
ich hab Euch in Osoyoos am Campingplatz getroffen und finde Eure Tour. Leider find ich Euren Internetauftritt nicht besonders aktuell.
Mit am meisten Raum nimmt der Verweis auf gesponsorte Produkte und der Aufruf zu Spenden ein
Schade.
Webseiten anderer Weltreisender sind da wesentlich interessanter und aktueller mit mehr persönlichen Eindrücken.
Da drückt man dann vielleicht auch mal eher auf den Spenden Button.
just my2cents
Trotzdem weiterhin viel Spaß und gutes Durchkommen bei Eurer Tour
das ist ja super von dir! Fabi hat bereits 2 mal seine Gabeln deswegen austauschen müssen. Zumindest das zweite mal geht jetzt schon mal sicher auf Garantie!
Das erste mal war auch eher ein Crash und somit wohl kein Garantie Fall.
Er fährt jetzt übrigens mit zusätzlichen Klemmen als Verstärkung!
Rückruf von BMW für die GS, wegen Problemen mit den Standrohren
der Telelever. Im harten Einsatz können sich die oberen Stopfen lösen. Werkstätten pressen Hülsen zur Verstärkung auf. Am besten
bei einer BMW Werkstatt vorbei-
fahren und prüfen lassen.
I just discovered a small error which caused comments in the blog sections not to show! We already wondered ;) Thank you so much for all the nice words!!!
Natürlich Quatsch! Ich verfolge seit geraumer Zeit euren Blog voller Ungeduld und sauge jeden eurer Beiträge auf. Ich finde eure Aktion super und drücke euch beide Daumen für eure weitere Reise.
I am interested to know how you prepared custom clearance and visa for all the countries. Did you do it in advance or will you do it on the run.
Cheers from Queensland
Chris
Btw. just a shame to miss out of Downunder :)
Viele grüße auch von meinen Kolegen der gesamten AV ( Maurer).
Ps: ich hoffe das bei euch das Wetter besser ist bei uns hat es nur 2 Grad und es fällt Schnee !!!!!
Salih from Turkey
Have you checked if you can take the drone to all countries you plan to visit? I could imagine some borders might give you a really hard time if you have drone...
Bleibt bitte Unfallfrei.
Gruß Huber Ernst ( Jussy )
Ich hoff euch geht´s gut - In Deutschland ist es kalt und es regnet - Ich hoff ihr habt an Heiligabend ein schöneres Wetter :-)
Gruß Micha (NC700X im Winterschlaf)
Natürlich Quatsch! Ich verfolge seit geraumer Zeit euren Blog voller Ungeduld und sauge jeden eurer Beiträge auf. Ich finde eure Aktion super und drücke euch beide Daumen für eure weitere Reise.
ich bin gerade zufällig auf Eure Seite gestoßen. Sehr schön und informativ gemacht. Den Tipp mit dem magnetischen 12V-Verbinder kannte ich noch nicht. Das realisiere ich vielleicht, wenn ich von meiner Reise zurück bin. Denn wir könnten uns demnächst begegnen, wenn ich ab Sonntag in Halifax bin und von dort aus Richtung Süden starte. Einen Blog habe ich mal aufgesetzt und da ist auch meine Position per Tracker sichtbar. Würd` mich freuen, wenn wir uns mal auf einem Campingplatz treffen.
Der Blog: joergreiter.blogspot.de
LG
Jörg
Via con Dios,
Lisa
cheers,
maxim