Revel in Slow Travel When You Cycle from Vietnam to Siem Reap

“It’s known as the caramel river,” says Phuc, describing the rich opaque color made by the yellowish-brown silt that deposits along the Mekong’s riverbed. We’re barreling down the CT.01 freeway, a six-lane highway that connects Saigon (also called Ho Chi Minh City) to the Mekong Delta, a region of floodplains and swamps located at the tip of southern Vietnam.

When it comes to a country known for flat, easy cycling, we might first think of the Netherlands, but I’ve chosen a cycling tour with Art of Bicycle Trips from Saigon to Siem Reap for exactly this reason. To be completely honest, the idea of sunny weather and an exotic tropical landscape also appeals.

A big proponent of slow travel, I’ve done several walking vacations in the past, but this will be my first cycling tour. I can say right now each day was as magical as the previous, so it certainly won’t be my last. Here are some highlights.

Tan An to Tra Vinh

We pull off an exit ramp to Tan An and on the side of the road Phuc and our driver, Nuc, deftly assemble our bikes. I take my first pedal on what will be a 25-mile (40-kilometre) ride today. We’re out of town in five minutes, onto the narrow paved side streets of the countryside, fields and rice paddies for as far as the eye can see. Everywhere there are canals to hold the precipitation from the rainy season, lifeblood for agriculture.

It’s late November and it’s dragon fruit season, so many fields are covered with this strange cacti-looking bush. Phuc tells us that Vietnam is one of the biggest dragon fruit producers in the world and although typically harvested in the summer, it is now grown with artificial light at night to extend the growing season and allow year-round harvest.

The Loi Binh Nhon Temple marks my first-ever visit to a Cao Dai temple. Cao Dai, a monotheistic religion that originated in Vietnam in the 1920s, is the third-largest religion in Vietnam, after Buddhism and Catholicism. It combines elements from other religions, including Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Catholicism.

After lunch we make our first crossing of the mighty Mekong into Ben Tre province, Vietnam’s coconut capital. The afternoon ride — jungles and coconut forests — is a totally different ecosystem than the morning’s fields.

Phuc tours us through coconut processing factories with mountains of coconut husk piles. These “factories” are really just open buildings with a roof, workers sitting on small stools cracking husks, weaving ropes, and mats and removing meat for food products and oil processing.

Tra Vinh to Can Tho

Before leaving Tra Vinh, we visit Wat-Samrong-ek, a Khmer-style pagoda temple with sculpture scenes strewn about the forest depicting different stories of Buddhism. As we cycle on we pass young monks clad in orange robes walking barefoot down the roads.

Today is a 40-mile (65-kilometre) day. The morning ride is drier and there are more rice fields, bordered by calla lilies and fewer homes. Phuc tells us that we are mostly riding through Khmer villages, small settlements of Khmer ethnic minority groups (from Cambodia). The houses are more rustic here because of their Buddhist beliefs in earning just enough to live (practice of non-attachment).

Each day we take snack breaks to stay hydrated (average year-round temperatures are 86 Fahrenheit degrees, or 30 Celsius, and humidity is high), and I’m introduced to hammock cafes. Abundant in the Mekong Delta, these cafes have a few small plastic chairs and tables, but more importantly, a covered area where patrons (mostly men) lounge in hammocks, sipping tea or dozing.

Today’s snack is jackfruit, and the interesting aroma, toothy texture and mild sweetness make it a new favorite for me. We’re seeing jackfruit being transported everywhere via motorcycle, baskets on each side overflowing with these humongous, oval spiky fruit. On one ferry crossing it took three men to help one jackfruit-laden motorcycle driver disembark.

Phuc stops regularly each day to point out unique things about the local culture: how rice is grown in the fields with neighbours coordinating their planting/harvesting (this speaks to the Vietnamese cooperativeness); a stop at a doctor’s clinic to look at the traditional herbs; lion and dog sculptures perched on gate tops to keep evil spirits away; grave sites in fields, a traditional burial practice to allow deceased ancestors to remain close to their family and watch over their offspring. (Phuc also says that a by-product is that the deceased then hope that the family won’t sell the farmland.)

The scenery in Vietnam is stunning, but what makes it special is the people. Everyone we pass says hello and as we cycle past schools, the children run out and ask for our signatures (it’s apparently considered good luck for them).

Can Tho to Chau Doc

Can Tho is the largest city in the Mekong Delta and markets are abundant. It has three night markets, perfect to wander under the vivid neon lights and check out street food, clothing, and souvenirs.

Can Tho is also home to the Cai Rang Floating Market, the largest wholesale floating market in the Mekong Delta, and only one of two floating markets left in Vietnam (there used to be 11, says Phuc).

Vibrantly colored boats sport a pole hanging watermelons, sweet potatoes, or whatever produce they are selling to clearly indicate their wares. Phuc tells us to watch for boats hanging coconut palm leaves — a sign they want to sell their boat.

The next day is spent on the ferry from Chau Doc to Phnom Penh, at least two hours longer than it should have been, because a large cycling group from the United Kingdom on a fund-raising mission clogged up the customs-clearing process.

Phnom Penh to Kampong Thom

In Cambodia’s capital, we meet Art (not who the touring company is named after, he quips), who will be our cycling guide for the Cambodian leg. There are more cars here, and less motorcycles. And so many tuk-tuks.

Cambodia is different in other ways. It’s cooler and less humid than Vietnam. There are even more temples here (that’s saying something —there were scads in Vietnam), and the temples are more extravagant. More monks are walking everywhere, their bright orange robes flowing. The houses are also different — more closed to the outside world — and the countryside is open plains with reddish earth.

Roads are mostly gravel, and there’s a lot of construction, occasionally with rough detours through what appears to be people’s backyards. Although the terrain is mostly flat here as well, the pace is faster, and there’s a continuous strong headwind. I regret not having rented an e-bike for this leg of the trip.

We cycle past lotus farms, long stems rising from the ponds, beautiful pink blossoms nodding in the wind. In Cambodia, the whole lotus plant is harvested: roots for salads, flowers for essential oils, and the stems for fibers that are woven into expensive fabrics.

At Phnom Oudong, we dismount our bicycles after a 30-mile (48 kilometre) ride, and flex different muscles to hike up 620 steps to the mountain-top temple complex, once the royal residence and Cambodia’s capital for 250 years until 1866.

From the top there’s a view for miles over the plains, towards the Mekong. The stupas, monasteries and shrines are outstanding, and the most-photographed — a white, intricately carved stupa at the top (completed in 2002) — is believed to contain a relic of Buddha (an eyebrow hair or bones — it was unclear). The internal spaces are covered in paintings that depict the history of Buddhism in Cambodia.

Kampong Thom to Siem Reap

The next morning’s cycle is through more peaceful countryside. Cinnamon trees with bright yellow blossoms provide some shade on the road. Art points out Siberian stone chats fluttering over the rice fields catching insects. There are more cows and water buffalo here than in Vietnam. Although 95% of Cambodia’s population is Buddhist, the sect is most commonly Theravada Buddhism, whose practitioners do eat meat and dairy products.

Our temple stop for the day is at Sambor Prei Kuk, an archaeological site that was once the capital of the Chenla Empire, which flourished in the 6th and 7th centuries. It’s thought that the architecture here became models for the Khmer style of the Angkor period in Cambodia, including Angkor Wat.

The property has more than 100 temples — mostly crumbled ruins being slowly restored by the government. Bonus, a group of macaque monkeys live here and can be seen frolicking through the forest.

Sunrise at the 12-century Angkor Wat temple is a must, even though you will be joining a crowd of at least 1,000 spectators all waiting to capture that iconic view of the sun rising over the five towers and the resulting reflection on the pool in the foreground. I was surprised at the number of people up at 4 a.m. to catch the spectacle, but then I read that Angkor Wat is trending, with over 2 million visitors a year.

I got what I felt was a perfect shot of Angkor Wat, the largest and best preserved temple in the compound, but what I really enjoyed was the cycling later in the day through Angkor Archaeological Park, which extends over 155 square miles (400 square kilometres) and has several other magnificent remains dating from the 9th to 15th centuries. Angkor was the centre of the Khmer Kingdom, and there is an impressive array of temples, reservoirs, canals, and monuments.

My favourite was the Ta Prohm temple, where soaring silk-cotton trees grow out of the ruins, giant roots winding and weaving over the structures like massive octopus appendages holding a beloved.  Part of the Angkor Thom complex, Ta Prohm was built by King Jayavarman VII in the 12th century. Ta Prohm has more recently become famous as scenes from Lara Croft: Tomb Raider were filmed here and at other scenic spots around Angkor in the year 2000.

MORE ABOUT VISITING CAMBODIA

Travel Tip: Choose a company like Art of Bicycle Trips that works with local tour guides and businesses to keep the money in the country. Their guides actually curate the whole itinerary, so you’re getting the best cultural immersion experience possible. Another bonus about Art of Bicycle is they will run a trip with just two people (one guide), so it is easy to make the experience happen when you want it to happen. With a group of eight or more there will be two guides. Art of Bicycle Trips have standard or e-bikes available.

Climate: Southern Vietnam and Cambodia have two seasons, rainy and dry. Rainy season is from May through October. The average temperature is between 77-95 Fahrenheit degrees (25-35 Celsius) year round. The average humidity in the Mekong Delta is higher than in Siem Reap, so it can feel hotter.

Hotels: Even though this trip was a “casual inns” trip, the accommodations booked by Art of Bicycle had a lot of boutique-style personality, ranging from Coco Riverside Lodge (an eco-resort, and my favourite), to the city hotels like Silverland Yen Hotel in Saigon.

Foreign Exchange: $1 USD is equal to $25,390 Vietnamese dong or 4,107 Cambodian riel. $1 CAD is equal to 17731.87 Vietnamese dong or 2805.76 Cambodian riel.