Oct/Nov 2006.
Countries :: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia
Singapore, our first port of call is not the ideal place for cycling – it’s more of a motor city – though there is reported to be a bike hash. We spent our two days there doing mostly touristy things such as the Night Safari, though we did manage to squeeze in a hash run on our last night. Melacca, in Malaysia on the other hand is one of the oldest European trading places in Asia, and full of bikes and trishaws. Many of the trikes have elaborate sound systems blaring out traditional or rock music, and all are decorated with flowers and good-luck offerings. They ply a standard route around the old city area, but variations are possible. We paid 40ringitt for an hour’s tour, and our man seemed well rehearsed in the history of the place and its old buildings.
Our next country along the way was Thailand, and here we met up with about 5,000 hashers and a few bashers, at Interhash 2006. Motor bike is the principal form of transport in Chiang Mai, the loading arrangements being most original! But as good as it had been so far, the trip really began to get interesting with our entry into Laos. Decades of war have impoverished the land and the people, but peace has finally descended and with considerable UN help the country is beginning some modern development. In other words everyone now rides bicycles! The ancient art of giving a friend a crossbar has been consigned to the dustbin of history since bikes are provided with dedicated passenger seats! Unsurprisingly schoolkids use this facility a lot.
We spent an idyllic week in Laos, mostly just sightseeing and relaxing by the river, but our next destination required us to get active. The temples of Angkor in Cambodia are the largest archaeological ruins in the world, dating from the 9th to the 13th century. The main temples are best visited with a local guide in an air-conditioned car, but on our third day (you could easily spend five days there and not see everything) we hired bikes and went off-road to visit the Western Baray, a gigantic man-made lake with an embankment all around its 40 km perimeter, constructed in the 12th century by a bunch of guys with shovels! It would have been hot work as you can see from the pictures of us toiling around just a small part of it on bicycles.
We’re in Australia now, and Crabbo has started training for the Étape du Tour 2007. More of that later, but in the meantime Happy New Year to all bashers
Leave a Reply