Heading out of town with a gale blowing and dark clouds looming to the north where I was headed. Decided to take a detour to see the BouSra waterfall; good move. A nice twisty road to get there and a surprisingly impressive set of waterfalls. The clouds were dissipating too.
So, tourist box ticked, I headed back to route 76 to continue the journey up to Ban Lung. The road continued where it left off the previous day, the bike was happy. The BMW GS crew passed me again coming the opposite direction; one of them even returned my wave!!
An enjoyable ride, route 76 is a gem (especially for this corner of South East Asia), good surface, nice twisties (more so further south) and very little traffic. Quite remote as I would often spend tens of miles seeing no buildings, people or traffic. I was having so much fun that I'd not noticed how throttle happy I'd become; the bike sputtering to an unexpected halt. I'd run the tank dry; but the Baja was obviously thanking me for letting her loose on the 76 that she rolled to a petrol station with the last fumes left. Lucky.
Not so lucky, as Banlung hoved into view. I'm probably staying in the wrong area, because it is a bit run down and dull. The guesthouse I researched on the web which had rave reviews is actually a bit grim and not the cleanest. The final straw was the key broke as I tried to lock my door. Being very British, I hate complaining, but dirty room, broken key and no loo seat, I complained and was moved to a better room. Monorom was nice, I should have spent an extra day there. Oh well.
Made the mistake of spending the evening drinking Gansberg beer. This is advertised everywhere (and I mean EVERYWHERE!) in Cambodia, but this was the first time I'd actually seen it. This was to be Ban Lung's revenge for my unfavourable review.
It reappeared during the night, (what is the Cambodian version of Delhi belly?). So, a dilemma, do I want to spend another day in Ban Lung? (no), am I fit to ride? (debatable). A quick immodium and with clenched cheeks, I got on the bike and headed west. I was probably more dehydrated than I realised and I didn't eat or even have any appetite for the next 48 hours. But I felt fine on the bike; so I rolled through the burning landscape (I presume they are intended rather than wild fires??).
I crossed back across the Mekong again, before cutting north on a dirt road towards the Laos border. This was much more the road of my imagination when I was planning this trip.
Ended up just north of Preah Romkel, Laos visible across the Mekong. Very remote area, no wifi (eek!) and no English spoken. Got there early and pretty much slept most of the next 18 hours. Still no appetite, but otherwise OK.
Soundtrack: Faithless - "Woozy"
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