Unforgettable Cambodia
A dream come true
On February 9, 2015 I went with 4 friends from Israel for a mountain bike tour in Cambodia for 12 days
The story of this tour started about 15 years ago, when one of the cyclists returned from a family tour to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. He told us that he saw cyclists traveling in Vietnam with all their gear on their bikes.
All the participants are friends and well trained cyclists, so we thought it was a great idea to go cycling in Vietnam. Every time we met on cycling trips we asked him: When are we going to Vietnam?
The years passed by and nothing happened, until mid 2014 when I started to surf the internet for companies in South East Asia that operate bicycle tours. I found some of them operating in one or two of the countries. While surfing I came to a description of the history of the temples in Cambodia, mainly those in the Angkor area. This made me take the decision to go to Cambodia for a bicycle tour.
I started looking for a company in Cambodia that operates a round tour from Phnom Penh around Tonle Sap lake. I found Merry Travel Asia which was very friendly and helpful in providing information about the tour.
The tour consultant was Theng Smaban (Sam), who cooperated willingly with me. I suggested increasing the tour to 12 days instead of nine, in order to include also the area around Sihanuk ville on the south west coast.
I found Sam to be a very friendly person and willing to help me with the changes made in the original plan.
Upon arrival in Phnom Penh airport Sam was waiting for us with the driver of the tour Mr. Long (because he is tall). We rented the bikes from Sam according to the measurements I had given him in advance upon his request.
The tour was excellent, and quite an experience for us. Everything went smoothly. We cycled every day for 25Km to 45Km. This was according to my request to Sam to organize the tour as a leisure tour, allowing us time to get involved with the people, especially in the villages.
The language was a barrier but Sam managed to overcome it by translating for us and the people and children we met during the tour.
We stopped several time during the day. On each stop there was a table set with cold water, snacks and fruits for energy and refreshment.
We tried the local "street food" several times following Sam's recommendations.
It was a great surprise to meet Sam and Mr. Long and find out how friendly and efficient they were, taking into consideration the fact that all the arrangements were made through the internet without knowing Merry Travel Asia and Sam in advance.
I highly recommend using Merry Travel Asia They provide excellent service and they are flexible and ready to adapt to any special requests.
They were able to provide us with information on every aspect of Cambodia – history, culture, nature, agriculture and much more.