Chiang Mai, Thailand to Cambodia - August 2016

KTMphil

KTMphil

Senior member
Joined
Jan 11, 2011
Location
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Bikes
2007 KTM 990 Adventure Suzuki DRZ 400
A rainy season road-trip to Cambodia with the KTM 990 Adventure. Time for it to say goodbye to Thailand with the new foreign vehicle laws. Usually the strongest part of the wet southwest monsoon, so didnt fancy riding all the way in the rain.


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Its 970km from Chiang Mai, Thailand to the Osmach Cambodia border. There's a cheap, clean, busy hotel in Prasat, near Surin, that makes a good staging for Cambodia entry at Osmach the next day, co-ords:


N14.62712° E103.41032°


Below you can see the international border crossings into Cambodia:

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You can read more on the Osmach international border crossing of Thailand and Cambodia in the link below:


http://www.rideasia.net/motorcycle-...smach-thai-cambodian-border-25-03-2016-a.html



Cambodia maps


I found two decent printed maps. One was printed by Melon Rouge Agency, the other a bootleg copy of the Cambodia Gecko map that we sell!


_DSC1313_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr




Below is the Melon Rouge map, quite detailed but no so easy to read as the Gecko map


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The Osmach border crossing from Thailand to Cambodia is quiet for vehicles but has significant foot traffic. Customs on the Thai side was efficient and friendly. Cambodia side i was charged $32 for a $30 visa, didnt want to make a fuss as I wanted to get the motorcycle through without hassle.


Os by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



The traffic on R 68 & R6 was fairly light. It was nice to see the slow pace of rural life, lots of bicycles rather than speeding Honda Waves.


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Thousands of hotel choices in Siem Reap, you can get something like this for a bargain low season


_DSC1266 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr
 
Vintage U.S Army jeeps are everywhere


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I wont go over Angkor Wat again, you can see all the photo's. Click on the photo below for Angkor Wat photo's




http://www.rideasia.net/motorcycle-forum/cambodia/2646-angkor-wat-siem-reap-cambodia.html



Other beauties around Siem Reap, a water wheel

_DSC1271_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Beautiful bridges


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Typical bustle of the town


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Still bargain prices to get around in Cambodia


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The self proclaimed center of town


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Chef fetching his firewood for cooking


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Getting it down the narrow streets


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Fruit shakes - a dollar


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Watering the motorbikes to keep them cool in the mid-day sun


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Angkor Wat is about 6km from town and still busy low season


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Infamous "Pub Street"


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Looks like this will end up being a figurehead for one of the bars


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Waiting for punters


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The bursting market



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Ready for cooking, heads still on



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Its a huge market


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Dried protein


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Vegetable market'


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Butchers shop



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Block ice still used in the markets



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Coconuts



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Charcoal on the way to the kitchen burners


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Upmarket stores and malls are appearing



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Some say there's no night life in Siem Reap, looks like there's a disco?


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More to come
 
Nice pictures thanks Phil.
 
Great photo skills as usual Phil
You captured a nice yesteryear look about the place.
 
Siem Reap is definitely going higher and higher. Beautiful vintage Citroen in the front of this ritzy restaurant


Sr by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



The Siem Reap tour agents association is fighting the Angkor Wat entry fee hike to $37 from $ 20. Talking to them the main reason seems to be that they have taken tour package bookings not knowing about the price hike, so its coming out of their pockets.



The Land Mine Relief center is somewhere probably missed by most, with Angkor Wat being such a spectacle

_DSC1324_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



3 decades of war, The Cambodian Mine Action Center, estimates 6 million land mines were placed in Cambodia, resulting in 40,000 amputee casualties.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_mines_in_Cambodia



The Cambodia Land Mine Relief Center provides assistance to those effected from private donations, NGO's & revenue from the Museum.


_DSC1359 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr
 
MN 79 M14 Anti-personnel blast mine. Operating pressure 10kg (You would have to be that old to set it off)


_DSC1330_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Russian made PNM2 Anti-personnel mine. Operating pressure 15kg


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Russian made 12.7mm machine gun


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Grenade launcher


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Mortar

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Fuses and many different anti-personnel mines, some with activation pressure as low as 8kg


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Huge bombs


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241kg


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Anti personnel gun



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Machine gun




_DSC1354_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr




More land mines


_DSC1355 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Mortar


_DSC1356 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr






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Mortar


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A monster


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The ugly side of the land mines - 40,000 amputies


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The relief victims with limbs missing are towards the back of the compound, its no entry to stop it turning into a circus

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This is as much as you can see


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A couple of horrific pictures


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Beautiful Cambodian temples on R6




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Unusual tombs, different to Thailand


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Inside, this was a find


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Nice and cool inside for the monks



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Unfortunately, there is some dual pricing according to this board. The US$4.50 fare (destination is obscured by the bushes) is 16,000 R = US$4.00 for locals. The Chov Dok boat is US$21 for foreigners and US$16 (64,000 R) for locals. The rest are all priced the same for both locals and foreigners. Transport to neighboring countries is always the same for locals and foreigners but transport by boat and train often attracts higher charges for foreigners.
 
Phnom Penh market, river and sea shells for sale

_DSC1393_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Someone there 24 hours to keep the market pitch space

_DSC1394 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Block ice crusher

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Plentiful motorcycle fix shops. Honda Baja 250 0utside


_DSC1397 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr




Looks like original and loved


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PP new money


_DSC1399 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Downtown PP


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First glance, a mobile barbers shop?


_DSC1402_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Chestnuts?

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Sugar cane wholesalers


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Mekong river barges fully loaded



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Riverside restaurant in the blistering mid-day sun


_DSC1414_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



...More to come
 
blackwolf said:
Unfortunately, there is some dual pricing according to this board. The US$4.50 fare (destination is obscured by the bushes) is 16,000 R = US$4.00 for locals. The Chov Dok boat is US$21 for foreigners and US$16 (64,000 R) for locals. The rest are all priced the same for both locals and foreigners. Transport to neighboring countries is always the same for locals and foreigners but transport by boat and train often attracts higher charges for foreigners.
Click to expand...

You're misreading the prices: they are 18,000 R and 84,000 R respectively.
 
CraigBKK said:
You're misreading the prices: they are 18,000 R and 84,000 R respectively.
Click to expand...
You're right; I checked again and your prices are correct - 18000R=US$4.50 and 84000R=US$21. On this board there is no dual pricing. Dual pricing does however occur on some domestic bus routes and boat fares, usually it's only a small difference in price.
 
In 1975 after the Khmer Rouge won the Cambodian Civil War, the Chao Ponhea Yat High School in Phnom Penh, was converted in a prison and interrogation center. It was re-named S-21 (Security Prison 21).


_DSC1420 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Electrified barbed wire enclosed the torture chamber.

_DSC1418_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr


Reports state that between 1975-1979 as many as 20,000 prisoners passed through S-21 with up to 1,500 inmates being held at one time. Most were soldiers or government workers associated with the previous regime of Lon Nol. Intellectuals were seen as a threat to the new regime. Academics, doctors, teachers, students, factory workers, monks, engineers, etc, were also imprisoned. It became an offence to wear glasses as you were then deemed to be an intellectual and imprisoned and tortured.


Life in the prison[edit]

Upon arrival at the prison, prisoners were photographed and required to give detailed autobiographies, beginning with their childhood and ending with their arrest. After that, they were forced to strip to their underwear, and their possessions were confiscated. The prisoners were then taken to their cells. Those taken to the smaller cells were shackled to the walls or the concrete floor. Those who were held in the large mass cells were collectively shackled to long pieces of iron bar. The shackles were fixed to alternating bars; the prisoners slept with their heads in opposite directions. They slept on the floor without mats, mosquito nets, or blankets. They were forbidden to talk to each other.[SUP][2][/SUP]
The day in the prison began at 4:30 a.m. when prisoners were ordered to strip for inspection. The guards checked to see if the shackles were loose or if the prisoners had hidden objects they could use to commit suicide. Over the years, several prisoners managed to kill themselves, so the guards were very careful in checking the shackles and cells. The prisoners received four small spoonfuls of rice porridge and watery soup of leaves twice a day. Drinking water without asking the guards for permission resulted in serious beatings. The inmates were hosed down every four days.[SUP][2]


[/SUP][SUP]The ventilation on the ground floor rooms was boarded up, whether it was to hide the screams or to make life more unpleasant for inmates who knows

_DSC1424 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr[/SUP]


 
Inmate arrival documentation photos


_DSC1434 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Leg irons used to shackle the prisoners to the wall

_DSC1440 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Usual conditions


_DSC1429 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



It's estimated 17,000 prisoners were taken and there are only seven known surviors


_DSC1439 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



S 21

_DSC1425_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr




[h=3]Discovery of Tuol Sleng / S 21[/h]In 1979, Hồ Văn Tây, a Vietnamese combat photographer, was the first journalist to document Tuol Sleng to the world. Van Tay and his colleagues followed the stench of rotting corpses to the gates of Tuol Sleng. The photos of Hồ documenting what he saw when he entered the site are exhibited in Tuol Sleng today.[SUP][17][/SUP]
The Khmer Rouge required that the prison staff make a detailed dossier for each prisoner. Included in the documentation was a photograph. Since the original negatives and photographs were separated from the dossiers in the 1979–1980 period, most of the photographs remain anonymous today.[SUP][17]



The graves of the last bodies of inmates found at S 21 during the the removal of the Khmer Rouge in 1979


_DSC1422 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr




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The school's climbing frame converted to gallows


_DSC1444 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



_DSC1437 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



[/SUP]
 
If you're in SW Cambodia, don't miss the Preah Vihear Temple on the Cambodia-Thai border. Lots of ownership disputes with a interesting history.


More on the Preah Vihear Temple in the link below:


http://www.rideasia.net/motorcycle-forum/threads/8354-Preah-Vihear-Temple?highlight=Preah+Vihear



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After the Khmer Rouge lost power in 1979, as many as 40,000 Cambodian refugees were forced from Thailand back into Cambodia, many over the Preah Vihear mountain.

As you approach Preah Vihear, there is a huge refugee camp where many still live.

_DSC1451 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr


Entrance to a locals border crossing and Cambodian Army border camp.


_DSC1453 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr
 
Heavy rains around the Anlong Veng border area, one big tree and this bridge could be history

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Made for good fishing until you had to clear trash from your net


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_DSC1571_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr
 
As you approach Thailand at Anlong Veng, you pass Cambodia's evil dictators cremation spot - Pol Pot (real name Saloth Sar)

His Khmer Rouge party ruled Cambodia from 1975 and were ousted from power in 1979 by a Vietnamese invasion. Approx. 1/3rd of the Cambodian population were murdered or perished under Pol Pot's rule.



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He died in 1998 while under house arrest near the Thai border, his cremation site is easy to find.

More on Pol Pot's history in the link below:


http://www.rideasia.net/motorcycle-...he-evil-Cambodian-dictator?highlight=Cambodia



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