The next morning we set off again heading up to Preah Vihear.

This time the terrain was pretty easy, mostly dirt roads with a few fallen bridges. We covered a lot of ground this day. We stopped at a crossroad where there were a few houses and a restaurant. Out front of the restaurant they had a monkey chained up to a fence. I’m not sure why it was there, we figured it was just a pet. While Paul and the others were ordering food, a few of us went for a walk behind the restaurant. There were many other animals, chicken, pigs, and even porcupines. It was nice because we were in the middle of nowhere. Just a lot of empty field, trees, and this small restaurant with a few animals. There were a few kids there who, like the rest of the children, were full of smiles. For kids they moved at a casual pace, sometimes even holding their hands behind their backs as they strolled around. They were really cool, showing us the animals and joking around with the camera.

After we had finished eating and gassed up our bikes we headed off again to Preah Vihear. About two more hours driving.

Preah Vihear sits up top of a small mountain on the Thai/ Cambodia border. This area of Cambodia is under constant dispute with Thailand. It is internationally recognized as being Cambodian, however on many maps it is shown as Thai. Thais have been known to push the border closer to the temples sparking small border disputes with Thai and Cambodian military.

We continued up a steep rough road to the top of the summit where we parked our bikes. There were smaller patches of fire around the temples and brush. The others quickly headed off to check out the temples and I followed behind with one of the guides and filmed the temples. The temples were peaceful in a way because of their location. They sky was clear and the sun was setting which was a nice temperature change being up top. The temples were lined in a row of four, and as you reached the fourth temple you arrived at the highest point with a cliff overlooking the countryside. It was here I met up with the boys and we sat down to enjoy the rest of the sunset. After the sun went down we hiked down the other side of the hill to a small village. Paul had set us up to bunk with the police chief at his home. I remember walking into his house and quickly realizing this wasn’t the police I was accustomed to. There was no uniform, just a tall limber guy who had been kind enough to take us in, with an AK-47 hanging on the wall beside his bed. He was actually really nice. We showered up out back. The showers consisted of a small wooden room in the dirt with a few big buckets full of water and a scoop to pour the water on your head. It was refreshing and felt good to be cleaned up after being covered in red dirt all day. That night they had made a huge feast at the police chief’s house. Afterwards they asked us if we wanted to pitch in five dollars apiece, and they would fire up the generators and set up a party. Of course we said sure. Everyone in the village came out and we sat around and drank Angkor beer and some sort of moonshine and danced to Cambodian music. It was fun.

The next day we got up and walked for another 10 minutes or so and crossed the border into Thailand. It was an amazing difference. We were walking towards the border and then the whole world around us changed. The paved road started without warning. We walked down the paved road and everything was different. The buildings, the shops and even a few tour buses. There were even signs promoting forest fire prevention.

We finished up our breakfast and headed off again for our last day of dirt biking. We had a lot of ground to cover this day. We had to travel 200 kilometers back to Siem Reap before dark.

Will had bought a couple soccer balls at the market in Tbeng Meanchey to give away somewhere along the way. We were keeping our eyes open the whole way back for a small village with a lot of kids. This of course was easy to find. About half way home we stopped along the side of the road. Like before the locals came out and gathered round. Will took out the soccer ball and it seemed that the kids didn’t know what it was. He put it on the ground and showed them how to kick it. Then it quickly erupted into a full on aussie rules game with no teams. The kids were chasing the ball around just trying to get a kick in. They were screaming and laughing as we tried to keep up with them. Then the highlight came when we went to leave. They tried to hand us the ball back but we wouldn’t take it. Then it sunk in that the ball was a gift to them. They took the ball and went running down the road shouting and screaming. We got on our bikes and headed off back to Siem Reap where we prepared for our entrance back into the real world, or the world we thought was real but is actually completely fake.

The average annual salary in Cambodia is around 300 dollars a year. I didn’t know this when I held my 500 dollar camera, but I definitely felt like something wasn’t quite right with this situation.

Unlike when we arrived, the children were gleaming with smiles and chasing us down the road as we set off again. Again the terrain changed quickly and we found ourselves in the middle of the jungle (during dry season) driving on small sand paths. As qualified for the trip as we had made ourselves out to be, not one of us was prepared for the sand. In the sand you lose all control of steering and power. We were constantly wiping out, getting up and wiping out again. Eventually we learned that by putting pressure on the back tires you can keep your bike afloat at the right speed with out crashing. This madness continued for a few hours until we finally hit some hard dirt. We regrouped, drank some water and then set off once again. This time we were all excited to ride on normal turf and we felt as if we were back into expert status or even beyond. We buzzed around the paths like busy bees on a honeycomb frenzy not paying attention to where we were going. The small paths split up into smaller paths and eventually three of us including myself ended up lost in some open field only forced to stop because one of us, Will, crashed his bike. After checking to see if he was okay we looked around and slowly began to realize there wasn’t anything in sight.
We didn’t turn back right away, instead we took the moment to enjoy the vast openness of the field, the sound and atmosphere, really soaking it in. Where we were. This was something I hadn’t experienced before. A life without electricity, television, or traffic. It was truly peaceful.
Shortly after we chatted for a bit, one of the others came up behind to guide us back to the rest of the group. No problems. Joe, my brother who was one of the 4 of us was having a similar experience. He road ahead too far, and his bike broke down. The rest of the group stayed back to wait for the three of us who went in the wrong direction, so poor Joe, was stuck way ahead thinking everyone went a different way. It’s actually a little scary when you think that you have no way to communicate. We didn’t have cell phones, phone numbers or spoke the language. We were just going.

Eventually after about half an hour we caught up with Joe. We continued on to the first village where we sat down and had lunch. We chatted about the “what if’s” of the day.

We continued on that day until reaching our first camp, amidst the lost temples of Preah Khan. The temple complex was out in the middle of the jungle, free of tourists, and only a few locals de-mining in the area. The temples are difficult to get to, which made them so unique. I’ve read that they are planning on building a new road out to the temple complex, which I suppose is good for the tourism industry, but really bad for the raw and special “Cambodian feeling” you get when it is seen as a lost jungle temple. In my opinion the temple will lose it’s personality if it is made a tourist attraction (even though we are tourists ourselves). It’s really a sad thing, but at the same time it will provide a source of income for many Cambodians. This is why I have said before that Cambodians really have to be careful about how they handle the tourist industry.

The temple was built in the 12 century by the same Cambodian king who had built Ankor Wat. During this time Cambodia was called the “Khmer Empire” and was a dominent power in the region. The temples are amazing. Something you would see out of Tomb Raider (which was shot at the Ankor temples). The setting is what makes it. The jungle sounds, vegetation, and feeling of being fortunate enough to camp in a lost, ancient temple tucked far away in the jungle.

That night we set up our bunks (mats and mosquito nets) and had a barbecue. The sounds coming from around us were amazing. The nightlife of the jungle is full of energy. I was hearing sounds that I could in no way tell what kind of creature they were coming from, which was a great way to fall asleep.

The next morning we woke up early and packed up. We all lined up outside of the entrance to pose for a shot and then headed off again.

We traveled through paths, sand and dry brush for hours. We stopped when one of the guides that was with us crashed his bike. It was a minor crash, however we had to wait for a bit while they repaired the bike. While they were repairing, we noticed a brush fire off in the distance. The longer we hung around waiting for the bike, the more this brush fire grew. Our fears began to grow as the fire spread closer to us and the paths we had to drive on. The small brush fire, within about 20 minutes had grown into, as far as we could tell, a forest fire. We frantically ran down the hill to where the Cambodian guides were and explained how we could be in some trouble if we don’t get moving. The guides seemed to nonchalantly calm us down, and shrugged it off as nothing to worry about. We insisted the fire was big, and they should have a look. After showing them, they still didn’t seem to mind the flames and smoke rolling around us. This is when we realized brush fires in Cambodia during dry season are common. But for me, I had never seen a fire that big run out of control without anyone thinking twice about it.

We managed to get going just as the fire was about to engulf our only path and we continued on only to notice more fires as the day went on. At one point I remember having the feeling that the whole country seemed to be burning. We even noticed some small homes (unoccupied at the time) burning.

What we later learned was that fires are started for a number of reasons. One, locals will set fire to create room for cultivation. Two, fires are used to trap wildlife for poaching, and three, fires are started accidentally. The problem I saw was there was no control. I don’t know anywhere where you can let a fire burn uncontrollably across a forest. Cambodia also has a large problem with deforestation. They have lost over 30 percent of their forest since the 90’s due to illegal logging, and of course forest fires.

That evening we arrived in Tbeng Meanchy (te-bung mean-chee), a small town with cattle wandering aimlessly in the streets. We found a small motel, unpacked our things and then went for a walk on the town. Paul and the other guides took us out to this rickety old bridge that stretched out across a wide shallow river. There was a group of kids jumping off into the muddy water. After a long day of dirt and sweat, surprisingly only one of us (Will) had the guts to jump in with them.

Keep reading Cambodia Chronicles part three.

Angkor Wat is an ancient vast city composed of over 1000 temples. The only word that comes to mind when you see the temples is magnificent. The main complex is still considered one of the largest religious monuments in the world.

Unfortunately doing a quick visit to Siem Reap and a couple of day trips to Angkor Wat will leave you with a skewed perception of the country. Although the temples are the largest tourist attraction, if you really want to see Cambodia you have to get out of the city, as with most countries.

We met up with a local running a dirt bike tour that takes you days into the Cambodian countryside. The company is run by Paul (Cambodian) and his girlfriend Sheila (Irish). We signed up for a 4 day trip traveling across the country, and at the time we had no idea what we were getting into.

The feeling as soon as you get out of the city is too difficult to put into words. To sum it up, you feel as if you have hopped on a time machine and traveled back into prehistoric times. Once the pavement ends and the dirt begins you enter into a more realistic view of Cambodia. Only a small percentage of the actual population lives in the city, so for most Cambodians life is spread out throughout the country. The dirt begins and so does a whole other world.

There were four of us altogether, ranging from novice to experienced on dirt bikes, or so we had stated on the release forms.

Early the first morning Sheila picked us up. We saddled up out back of their house in Siem Reap. We all sat on our 250 cc Baja dirt bikes, and right away we were itching to hit the road. After we had all of our gear strapped on we set off.

We were driving on a long stretch of pavement before we hit the dirt roads, which was just long enough to get everyone comfortable with the driving. Then, peering out from behind a few small houses was the first dirt road. It was like driving through a small warp. Things changed within seconds. The first thing we noticed was the housing. Most locals live in wood huts with thatch roofs. The dirt was gleaming red, with palm trees scattered throughout the fields and heat adding to the atmosphere. At this point we had been driving for a few hours, and we were all pretty thirsty from the dry hot air.

We arrived in the first village only to be over come with children. The kids all came out and gathered round. I’m not quite sure how many encounters they have had with foreigners in the past, however they were definitely intrigued by our entrance. They were all standing outside of their small dwellings just watching. They didn’t greet us, they just watched from a safe distance. The children were the first to make their moves slowly towards us. We did our best to display our openness by making faces and using three stooge like humor to help them warm up to us. Then eventually the kids were all around us playing and laughing. We took pictures of them with our digital cameras and showed them as they watched with amazement.

Now for me in particular this was the beginning of an awakening that grew more on me as we moved on in the days to come. The feeling started off as guilt. Thoughts kept going through my head like, “Instead of buying this flashy camera, I could have done something productive” or “we are so damn spoiled.”

Keep reading Cambodia Chronicles - Part Two - Part Three