Showing posts with label dirt bike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dirt bike. Show all posts
i'm on my way out of here. it's time for a break and time to see my family and friends. especially my little sister. i better get back before she starts to wonder if i'm imaginary.
so i'm selling my bike and other stuff i have accumulated over the past year, looking for plane tickets, and trying to see everyone for some quality time before i leave. the bike sold right away, the tickets are a frustration i require help with, and the friends are pretty easy to track down. it's tough to say goodbye to someone and have them understand how much you appreciate them and the times you had together. it's much better to just leave on a high note. iv never been much for goodbyes anyway.
a friend of mine mei, made some time for me this weekend just passed. she suggested we rent a proper bike and head out on an adventure for a couple of days. what a treat for me as i really cannot get enough of this girl. she has about four hundred times the energy that i have, a strong healthy brain, and a truly one of a kind way about her. aaah. lucky me.
so i rent the bike and she books a place, and were off. the first stop for fuel i burn my leg on the exhaust pipe. the heat guard is missing and the scorching hot pipe is right by my thigh, waiting for me to relax and get cooked. this was my first clue that maybe the bike wasn't all that well maintained. the horn stopped working before we even made it out of the city and fell right off the bike when i got back home.
we left for kampot at three in the afternoon, expecting to get there around seven. ha ha ha. ha. nearly the whole route down was under some kind of repair or neglect. everything from six inch gravel to three inch powder dust. gravel is my worst enemy on a bike. it gives me a feeling of helplessness behind the bars, holding on for dear life but not being in control. the dust is blinding. and you choke on it. it gets in your nose and mouth and eyes and ears. makes for a slow and sketchy passage.
when the sun finally dropped, we were out of the gravel and into the dust. each passing truck, van, or car kicked up so much dust we were left blind and choking, and many times we had to stop altogether.
in the spots where there was not so much dust, there were bugs to make up for it. when you ride into a bug with your eye that is heading in your direction, it hurts a lot.
when we arrived at our destination in kampot, we looked aged, filthy, and hilarious. the cabin we had booked was plush, and the bed was everything you could ask for. we showered up and headed to the riverside for some dinner. next came bed and a long restful sleep in the quiet relaxing surroundings.
we woke at ten the next day having slept for twelve hours, and headed into town for breakfast. next we went off on some road to wherever. what a lush area of the country. the most beautiful and best smelling part of cambodia i have been to. we reached a police blockade of sorts where the officer required one dollar each to continue on. i have practice now in being ripped off, and have learned to swallow a bit and not get enraged. it's only a dollar right? those fucking lazy pigs. you know a cambodian is not paying a dollar. you know they just love to see my white, sunburned figure approach on a "big bike". they fucking love it. a dollar outta these richies eh. ha. the whites are not the richest ones here, just the easiest to fuck. maybe this is some kind of revenge for poaching so many of the countries young females. pisses me off none the less. i asked the man for a ticket, a receipt, or any god damn thing that would have the price justified on it. no problem he said and waved me through. no problem for you shit head i thought. and you know what was waiting for us on the other end of our dollar each?? a dead end. oh, there was a dusty little picnic area without a view, and full of sellers who would be slow with the service and quick with the price bump. how could they not charge us more? we're white right? white means money so i must be rich. sometimes i get the creepy feeling that i just look like money. like a twenty dollar bill walking around, occasionally leaking a little money here and there. sometimes i have to tell people, "my names not 'one dollar', it's adam". i usually mumble something along the lines of "get fucked", under my breath if i'm in that sort of mood.
instead of stopping for a picnic we toured around the area we had paid to explore. had a great time riding up and down the hills. there aren't too many things i enjoy more than a terrified female on the back of my bike. mei had it in her mind that there were khmere rouge guerrillas all around. in her mind we were surrounded by land mines and mass graves, being pursued by militants with a taste for white meat. well im whiter than her, so surely i would taste better and have more money in my pocket. i said something over my shoulder to her like "this is a good adventure eh". she took it as "this is where they tortured them". funny time in the sun and the mud.
we spent the rest of the day swimming in the river by our cabina and listening to music on our patio. this trip wasn't special for any particular thing we did. what made the trip was getting the chance to spend some quiet moments with someone who means a lot to me. nothing sticks out apart from the grueling ride both ways, but i look back and feel really nice that my friend made the time for us.
on the ride home we took every left turn we could in an attempt to find some cave we had been told about. in the process of looking we saw a monastery on a hilltop, an area full of burial piles, and a lot of curious villagers. when we did find the cave it was a nice break from the road. just as every other cave i have seen in south east asia, this one was filled with buddha statues. i really don't understand why a person would come across this great natural house, and build a bunch of buddha crap it it. enjoy it. a natural fort. grow some veggies. start a family and have the coolest home around. do not give it away to someone who is long dead and likely didn't want you to sit around worshiping a stone manikin of himself.
the last leg of our journey we missed the turnoff to takeo and the place where we had planned to eat lunch. no problem, just keep riding through the gravel. this is fun. my hunger grew until i didn't even recognize it as hunger anymore. an intense hate for everything around me bubbled in my guts. all the vendors on the side of the road were selling disgusting cambodian delights, and i felt like slowing down alongside them just to kick their carts over.
near the city we stopped at a vendor selling nothing but boiled eggs, mangos, and soft drinks. and beer. they all have beer. four boiled eggs, two mangos, and three soft drinks later we were back on the road. i was ecstatic, singing in my head while we weaved through the traffic on the way back into the city i love.
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