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Another long one i'm afraid - you might want to make yourself a cup of tea, or read in two sittings, hehe.

Everyone's heard of the book 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance', but I propose a new book 'Zen and the Art of How to Maintain a Stable Heartbeat on a Motorcycle'. I'm referring here to a few trips I've taken this past week, involving me, a motorcycle and the flashing of my life. When faced with sitting on the back of one that's travelling at 70kph, with no protection, on a track that's pretty much nothing more than slippery sand and holes the size of the Grand Canyon, I'm sure I wouldn't be alone in admitting to seeing my life's commentary in fast-motion.

The Motorcycle Diaries

Simon Wadsworth
2006-09-04 16:16:44

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open, flat countryside, with rice fields, cattle, kids playing and dodging the odd chicken or speeding bus. We got ourselves to the small coastal town of Kep, where local kids go swimming against a backdrop of bombed colonial houses, and back again via a groovy little cave. Taking it in turns, we paid a local to guide us up and up through the mountain cave system full of shrines and rock formations that would make any geography nerd's [cough] mouth water, with a trail of a dozen kids following us as if we were the Pied Piper.

Sadly, that was my last little Cambodian adventure (but good news as it means this long blog is finally coming to an end for you), as tomorrow I'm off on a 3-day tour of Vietnam's Mekong Delta, with Saigon/Ho Chi Minh the eventual destination. In truth, I've got mixed feelings about leaving. I feel I've seen a fair bit in 2 1/2 weeks, without rushing and can leave without feeling like I've missed anything major. However, travelling should be more than just ticking off places to visit, and I would love to spend longer here (tallest in the province)to get to know the people better and start noticing more from the corners of my eyes. It'll be a few generations yet before Cambodia completely gets over being taken to hell, but it's getting there and I'd love to return in a decade or two to see how it's changed. There's two separate worlds to Cambodia: the Urban world full of moto drivers, fried bugs, white-skinned tourists, loud music, open sewers, bustling markets and a sense of renourishing life and wealth, and the Rural world where the pace of life drops to the speed of an 80's Skoda, men sit and do nothing but stare and talk during the midday sun, the odd clank of a cattle bell can be heard and a sense that life has stayed pretty much the same for the past 25 years. All the time though, I'm confronted by poverty or a vision of how every place would've looked 30 years ago during the Regime, and it's hard to escape that vision, and the shivers I get down my spine. Therefore, leaving, although sad, will be a relief, and I really don't like admitting that.

But it would be wrong to end on
Myself and the Grandfather of the family in the Muslim
a sad note. Come to Cambodia! Save the beach holiday for another time. You'll learn a lot, experience a different world, and the essence of life will rub off from the locals to you, so you'll go back home buzzing. Afterall, the 'buzz' is what SE Asia in the 21st Century is all about. :)

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