Risk of riding in Cambodia well worth it

October 14, 2011
By TED DAVIS, Postmedia News

Phnom Penh, Cambodia — When considering world-class motorcycle touring destinations, the chances that Cambodia will be mentioned are slim to none. If perfectly paved byways and clearly marked corners are on your motorcycle touring menu, best to look elsewhere.

Instead, Cambodia is a good candidate for those who don’t mind dealing with less than perfect roads and like the idea of exploring a small developing country in Southeast Asia on an adventure style of motorcycle. For their troubles, they will be rewarded with a reality that could hardly be any more different, in a place that is home to some of the world’s most significant antiquities. And they will face more than enough on-road challenges to keep them busy.

Take the Cambodian driving habits that will inevitably ambush the traveller. In the capital city of Phnom Penh, one is immediately taken aback by the apparent mass confusion that seems to dominate the streets.

Scooters rule in Cambodia, and riders reach their most frantic intensity in Phnom Penh, where the stop and dash of scooter fleets at intersections seems random and dangerous. But there is a method to the driving madness, and after a short time of learning the flow and going with it, riding becomes a lot less nerve-shredding.

The “highways” that run out of Phnom Penh are simple two-lane arteries that connect the city to other areas of settlement, such as the beach towns on the Gulf of Thailand and the famous ancient temple ruins of Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat is near the city of Siem Reap, and getting there requires some four hours on Highway 6. This often bumpy, sometimes fractured artery is fraught with heavy traffic rushing between these two main centres. Smoky transport trucks populate the road and occasionally pass one another, filling both lanes with oncoming truck grilles. Facing that spectre, one should be prepared for a quick exit to the gravel shoulder, followed by much cursing and fist shaking. It’s also a good idea to stay sharp for the straying cattle that periodically wander across the road in a no-hurry stroll.

But the Cambodia rider should also be prepared to be blown away by the ruins at Angkor. The temple of Angkor Wat is only one part of the massive temple complex of Angkor — all that is left of a once-thriving city that dominated this part of the world from about 800 to 1400 AD. Angkor is incomparable.

Similar on-road experiences await on the southwest-bound Hwy. 4, which heads to the coastal town of Sihanoukville. Its leisurely beaches on the Gulf of Thailand were first developed by King Sihanouk in the 1960s, and were patronized by the rich and famous for a short while. Pol Pot’s reign of terror in the ’70s, followed by war with Vietnam, changed all that.

From here, paved secondary roads curve and roll through the countryside, past both subsistence farms and wealthier plantations. For instance, Hwy. 16 meanders east from Hwy. 4, through the villages of Kampot and Kep. These places move at a slow rural pace, giving visitors the chance to experience another Cambodia away from the city buzz.

But they all aspire to be part of Southeast Asia’s next coastal destination, anchored by new resorts and hotels in Sihanoukville and a giant new gaming resort on nearby Bokor Hill.

Another way to get away from the crowds is to head north from Siem Reap, where there are more ruins from the Angkor and pre-Angkor periods. Unlike the tourist-intense temple complex at Angkor itself, these lonely outposts are largely unvisited and either partially restored or virtually untouched. These include the rambling ruins at Beng Mealea, Koh Ker and Sambor Prei Kuk.

Here, the pavement largely disappears and is supplanted by gravel roads. There is also an increasing frequency of supposedly reassuring signs indicating that former areas of landmine placement in the fields beside the road have been cleared. It is in northern Cambodia that the Khmer Rouge armies of Pol Pot were most solidly entrenched, and the guidebooks caution against venturing too far from the marked paths at the ruins sites.

Given these changing road conditions, your chosen steed should be an on-/off-road enduro style of motorcycle now more commonly known as an adventure bike. My choice was a Honda XL250 Baja, a simple, rugged single-cylinder enduro whose large numbers in Asia confirm its reliability record. Sure, a BMW, KTM or Kawasaki KLR 650 would be nice, but these are far less available in this developing part of the world and more expensive to rent. Expect to pay between $15 US and $18 per day to rent an XL250 from one of the many rental outfits in Phnom Penh.