16th October, 2015. After a uneventful and unscheduled stop over at Pursat.
A noisy and chaotic small town located along the National Highway 5.
I can’t wait to set off by first light to Stung Treng, the closet town to the southern border of Laos, Veum Kham.
After that rough and dispiriting ride through the Phnum Samkoh Wildlife Sanctuary.
This wet slippery muddy, pot-holed roads are a pathway to Nirvana.
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- Wide open space, just what I came to see
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- Resting hut for the farmers.
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- Vast open space!
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- Last shower in this hot afternoon, before embarking on their last journey on their fated life
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- So much greens!
I stumbled upon a strange looking red-brick worm-like structure along the way.
The colors suggest to me it may be from Champa era, but the details indicates otherwise.
Curiosity gets the best of me and I left the road to get close to investigate.
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- Size comparision.
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- Size comparision.
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- Inside of the klin.
Broken clay pottery and bricks was scattered within, with a chimney right in the center and air-inlet on the sides of this worm.
Every evidence suggest it is a kiln (originally pronounced as ‘kill’ with the ‘n’ silent)
But there isn’t any workshop nearby and it is situated right at the edge of padi fields.
The daylight is coming to an end when I reach Stung Treng.
I ride into the first hotel I can find,had a quick meal and spent a peaceful night getting a deserved rest.
Except for a small section of night market near the hotel, there isn’t much activity in this small town.
I shall see tomorrow…
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- A quiet street in Stung Treng.
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- Bridge along Tonle Sekong River, joins the Mekong River. This bridge takes you to the Laos border.
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- Central Park and a local icon.
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- Passenger ferry along Tonle Sekong or Kong River.
Just like a typical small town you find in South-East Asia.
The morning market are bustling with life, dusty, wet and noisy.
Just the sights, sounds and smells I came to adsorb.
I exchange my unused Cambodia Riel for USD, leaving enough just for petrol, which is a mistake.
Except for the custom officers (wink!) , the only toll and the entry to sights in Laos accept only Kip (Laos currency)
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- Hot Dog anyone? I am not here to judge or impose my ‘cultural’ values, I am just a guest with my own strange foreign ‘culture’
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- Stung Treng Market, with my hotel on the far left.
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- A local proper gas station, you cannot get more basic than this.
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- Stung Treng Market
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- One stop pit-stop for the rider and his bike.
and with this.. Laos here I come.
