On the Saturday I went down to the weekend market again to look for some elastic luggage straps. In the market, of all places in the world I bumped into a classmate and her friend from Nottingham University.
The day was spent with them with some walking around town and later on during the evening, looking for the big Thai boxing stadium...
However no games today and a bit disappointed although I have not big fan of this kind of sports before..But hey your here and might as well go n have a look.
Goodbyes were said as I am setting out in the morning to Cambodia!
The rest of the evening was spent with the crazy hostel staff watching the Man U - Chelsea game, and what a relief to see a good game in contrast to the one I saw the previous day....
Lil Wayne have had a very deep sleep indeed wouldnt start at first and the carburetor seemed dry..
But in the end, my little friend roared from his mighty chest and away we went!
The road was surprisingly pleasant and I was now used to the Thai drivers doing stupid maneuvers, it is all about staying alert.
However after a while the sun got a bit too hot and although I was doing a good 80 km/h I was sweating my butt off...
So I decided to honor one of the ''challenges'' I got for this trip. I was told to wear a sarong somewhere along the road, and as you might expect I just had one handy in the basket!
I tell you, I know that wearing leathers is vital when riding a motorcycle, but I must honor the heritage of the bike as well and ride Malaysian style!
This is somewhat a cultural exchange kinda thing as the Malaysian registration plates must've brought some sort of attention to the country, and not wearing a sarong is wrong in this context.
I arrived to Aranyaprahet, the bordertown, at about 5 o'clock and with no time I was out of Thailand.
However the procedures on the Cambodian side was a bit messy and reminded me a lot of the Iraqi embassy I visited in Stockholm a few years ago...The visa and the passport control didnt cause any problems, but the bike did.
They told me to visit a couple of buildings and in a 3rd world fashion, they all sent me to the wrong person. In the same fashion they had to call this guy and that guy had to call another.
It is pretty sad to see that the government is trying to create jobs by assigning these peoples to very insignificant tasks and creates endless chain of command.
Soon the man in charge of the stamp that I was supposed to get, arrived from the gym(!) And boy was he pissed off for some reason...
He looked at me first with an angry face then started screamed at me in Cambodian so naturally I screamed back..
That made him a bit cautious so he lowered his tone. In his office he threw the pen and the form at me and yelled that I should fill it out, my god what is this guys problem?!
After few tours back and forth between departments, he reluctantly passed through the stamp on my declaration and away I went..
The drivers were just nuts and along the "highway" there were no light or reflex posts to give some sort of reference where the road ended.
The traffic got a bit lighter as I approached some of the smaller towns, but the insect "traffic" increased significantly.
To honor my Arabic heritage I took the sarong and wrapped it around so it covered my face.
At the stops I had to clear out my clothes and the wrapping from dead insects, and with my insect paranoia it wasn't easy...
The complete darkness that lied ahead made me a bit scared, who knows what was in front of me. I have seen people running over the roads and bikes with no lights and in this complete nothingness I did not want to break down.
But the reassuring sound of the two stroke engine completing its cycles, gave me a sense of security.
And with some Bruce Springsteen in the mp3 Siem Reap was no distance....
Dear lord what an adventure!
SvaraRadera