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Following the hydro-electric lines deeper into the heart of the Cardamom Mountains These electric towers and the lines reminded me of our ride up the Dalton Highway, following the Alaskan pipeline to the Arctic Ocean. It seems that the energy industry is always paving the way through the...

And then it gets worse. The mother of all deep and slimy mud patches lies ahead of us. Being the gentleman I am, I radio Neda, "Ladies first!" Up ahead, I watched Neda struggle in the mud. I make sure to take lots of pictures for both of our viewing enjoyment later. Well, okay... Mainly for...

Consulting the GPS, doing a quick check on time Our little motorcycle maintenance detour this morning took a chunk out of our ride time. I'd like to make it to the main village in the middle of the Cardamom Mountains before nightfall. Because you know, crocodiles and land mines and all... On...

Past more Khmer Daeum villages We saw some of the villages had set up local hostels for the granola hikers, if they wanted to sleep in stilt houses on their way through the Cardamom Mountains. That's pretty cool. One of my favorite pictures from our ride. Neda staring up in wonder at the...

This red soil we're riding on is highly fertile and is used to grow rice, bananas and yes, cardamom too I don't know what kind of crops these were, but they were cool-looking. Better in close-up! Like rows upon rows of green popsicle sticks! We reach a bigger dam, worthy of a picture This...

Sitting on the bridge, checking out the dam The war between the Chinese and the conservationists is not the only one waged in the Cardamom Mountains. In 1979, when Pol Pot was defeated, what was left of the Khmer Rouge retreated to these mountains. Here they continued to fight battles with the...

Our route goes from the very south of the Cardamom forest in Koh Kong to the very north, near Krong Pursat. The forest is the largest in SE Asia, with over 2.5 million acres (1 million hectares) of mostly untouched land. And 300 kms of dirt riding through the middle of the forest! Glad we've got...

There are less than 1,000 indigenous Khmer Daeum villagers living in the Cardamom Mountains Conservationists argue that the dams will flood their farmlands, causing hardships for the poorest peoples in Cambodia The road that we're on is a well-graded gravel road, and the steeper sections of...

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/386.html The next morning we make our way back to the bar to try to get my bike's topcase mount patched up. We had a quick breakfast there and the owner asked one of his workers to take us to the workshop. So we followed him on our bikes as he drove a...

Thanks! :)

Relaxing in a bar by the river with a cold Black Panther beer, our new favorite beer in Cambodia! So we found a new favorite beer, it's a dark stout which is rare to find in SE Asia. The owner of the bar, a Cambodian guy of Vietnamese descent, is also an avid motorcyclist and we have a great...

I sparked up a conversation with a fellow Barango, also taking pictures of the sunset She lives in Phnom Penh with her boyfriend, and was in Koh Kong for a vacation. They were only in their 20s, and left the UK to find jobs in Cambodia and travel around SE Asia. Very adventurous for their age...

Fishing boat on the shores of Koh Kong The sun is slowly setting over the mountains across the river Everyone is watching the sun set

"Honey, I'm home!" Neda is still fiddling with her make-shift plastic bottle seat. Just not comfortable Sittin' on the dock of the bay

Crossing the very new bridge into Koh Kang Koh Kong, or as the Khmer call it, Krong Khemarak Phoumin, is the capital of the most south-west province in Cambodia. We are literally minutes away from the Thai border. It's a frontier town, known as the Wild West of Cambodia and it used to be a hub...

Speaking of casinos, part of the Chinese investment was this huge casino at the top of Bokor It was completely empty. There were more people visiting the colonial ruins than at this casino! How many billions of yuan wasted on the building and the road? Well, not completely wasted, it was a fun...

Near the summit, we stop to admire the scenery below. Looking down into the Gulf of Thailand. It's windy and COLD up here!!! Bokor Hill Station was originally built by French colonists to escape the heat of Phnom Penh. I'm glad they did, because we are suffering from severe heat exhaustion...

Here's a short video of part of the Bokor Mountain run. Count how many **************** try to run Neda off the road.. That's just the way they drive in SE Asia. Same as in many parts of the world we've traveled to. India, Albania, Russia, etc. *shrug* On the way up, we see a huge statue sitting...

Watching the neighbour's kids play in the yard Leaving Kampot. Getting an early start to the day, trying to get most of the riding done before the sun gets too hot We head west. Just a few minutes out of town is a place where we've been told to visit, especially because we were on...

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/385.html It was a pretty long day of riding out of Phnom Penh yesterday so we fell asleep very early. Which means I'm up early enough to see a sunrise. A rare moment for me! We are staying in a beautiful colonial-style villa just outside of Kampot...