Day 7: Kep to Phnom Penh

It was finally Day 7 – the end of our tour. Today we would ride back to Phnom Penh. I think that something happens within my mind when you are approaching the end of a ride. I no longer have the urge to explore, stop, dawdle, dream etc. Instead, everything within me is focused on getting home and finishing. That’s the spirit in which I started the day. I didn’t particular care to go off-road, see any sights, try anything new and difficult. I just wanted to take a straight line path back to Phnom Penh. I think the rest of the group had the same sentiment. We were only about 150km away though and we didn’t mind getting to the city later in the day, so a few backroads weren’t entirely out of the question. I also wanted to get a few pictures of me riding on unpaved roads as all of the GoPro/Contour photos so far had been on paved roads.

We left the island at around 7:30AM on another boat. It was a quiet, peaceful ride. When we got to shore, we picked up our gear, filled up petrol, and took off.

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We did a few unpaved roads, mostly flat but very dusty. We stopped at one of them to get some pictures. So here’s proof – I rode offroad!

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We had a couple more stops along the way for food and cold drinks – a welcome respite on yet another hot day.

We reached Phnom Penh early afternoon. Navigating the traffic was not that much trickier than the day we had left, but I think I was more mentally fatigued and relieved when we finally arrived at the offices of Dancing Roads, where we rode them into the storage room, dismounted, took all our gear, and finally ended the tour. A tuktuk dropped us off to the Ohana Hotel.

It was done! Seven wonderful days riding through an amazing city, seeing and experiencing so many new things. All my pre-travel fears had turned out to be nothing, much like I had suspected. :)

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Later that night, we had dinner with the Dancing Roads crew – the owners Sonia and Paeng, Chea and Pich, and tour other riders from Australia who had done a similar tour on different dates. The food was fantastic and it was a good time. One more day to rest and see Phnom Penh and I would say goodbye to Cambodia. It had been a hell of a ride, one that I would not hesitate to recommend to anyone who wants to experience this wonderful country.

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