After checking quite a few travel agency booths scattered all over Pub Street, we decided to rent out two mountain bikes and go check the temples we missed on our first day because of my wardrobe ( short shorts and tank tops are not allowed in the ruins/temples, so bring a scarf to hide the shoulders and keep the knees/thighs covered).
The mountain bikes costed $3 each. The price depends on which agency and how well of a negotiator you are. Going through the hotel, you can get the same bikes for three times what we paid for. But they do provide you with a helmet. We only got a chain and a key with our bicycles and had to sign an agreement that we are responsible for any damages/loss that occur to the bikes. We also needed to deposit one of our passports as a guarantee.
We loved the outcome of our decision. Cycling was a thousand time better than hiring a tuktuk driver to take you to the same places… and cheaper. You will also get to discover much smaller and isolated temples that tuktuks avoid.
Two mountain bikes for $6, a tuktuk drive costs between $15 to $18. And not only you get to see a bit of the Cambodian countryside but you get to burn tons of calories, too. So do load up on that breakfast, take at least two big bottles of water, along with your sunscreen and much needed hat, and you’ll be good to go.
The route after exiting the craziness of Siem Reap is quite easy and has good shade. We recommend mountain bikes and not the cheap city bikes because the tires will not hold on that road for long. Also, do check the weather forecast before going on your cycling tour. We didn’t and assumed it would be a fine day. Nope!
It rained quite heavily on our way back after checking the sunset in one of the temples called “Phnom Bakheng” which by the way is not worth the hype because you have to get there an hour or more before sunset to get in. There is a limit of 300 people to get up the temple. We arrived at 16:30, exactly an hour before sunset. We still had to wait in line for an hour to get up there because there were hundreds of people that were waiting and another hundreds of people who didn’t want to get down. We got to witness some funny Chinese tourists sneaking up the line and keeping their “entrance card” as a souvenir, which made it even harder for the line to flow smoothly.
However, we do not recommend cycling when it gets darker, as we heard some people got robbed by some hidden evil souls in the surrounding forest.
The whole tour was about 24km on a flat surface. So if you have the stamina, why not give it a try?
We loved the cycling so much, we decided to go on another self-guided adventure soon after. This time, we headed to Bakong Temple, a much isolated place on the east of Siem Reap.
We avoided the highway like the plague and opted for this route:
Exploring the country side was phenomenal. People on the road are much friendlier and you’ll get a lot of smiling “Hellos” from the kiddies.
There were a lot of water buffalos that seemed intrigued to see us.
And we discovered the kindness of the Cambodian people who helped us with one of our bikes.
We didn’t get to see the temple as our pass expired but checkout this tourist free path we took! Still one of the best experiences we had.
