Escape the roads in search of Indy
Pretend you’re Indiana Jones amidst the temples of Cambodia
• ‘One wrong move could send a giant boulder crashing down’
Thick roots wrap their way around ancient stone like tentacles, slowly constricting and dragging the 1000-year-old temple back into the earth. We switch off our motorcycle and gaze at what must be a nanosecond in an age-long phenomenon.
If it wasn’t for the hot pinging metal and whirring fan of our overheating Yamaha, we would hear the bricks gasp for air as the thick vines slowly suffocate them. But it’s not cooling down anytime soon in this 36°C heat and we can’t wait around. There are still 3999 more temples to find… Cambodia is temple mad and cradles some of the world’s most impressive monuments. Nine of the country’s finest wonders are in the
Angkor region and swarmed by over 2.6m tourists every year. While we loved it there, we love being here, alone in the forest with the forgotten, crumbling temples so much more. The country is a gold mine of scattered ancient temples that are mostly untouched because there’s no transport, the routes are off-road and they’re hard to find. Perfect! They’re left alone because there’s no way of getting to them, but having a motorcycle means that we can have a go. And that’s what makes exploring Cambodia in search of its hidden gems such an incredible adventure.
Three thousand and something left, finding them is half the fun. We cross another of our list, circle the next one on the map, pencil a new route and leave in a cloud of dust. The rear tyre slips on loose gravel and the front judders over jagged rocks. We’re ten times lighter than we were when we left the United Kingdom two years ago as we ditched the cold weather gear and most of our stuff for the hot southeast Asian climate.
The bike isn’t groaning anymore as it flies over ruts. To us, this is hardcore enduro riding; to the locals whizzing past on their mopeds, we’re just two foreigners slowly riding the main road through their village.
We pull over at a local supermarket (think wooden stall with the friendliest staff in the world), buy something cold and admire the layer of dirt coating our Yamaha XT. We haven’t seen thick red dust on it like that since Mongolia’s Gobi Desert.
• ‘Stone faces smile down as we step inside’
There’s an asphalt road nearby, but we’d rather stick to this one. The main roads in Cambodia are sketchy at best. Fast moving cars and suicidal buffalos aren’t as fun as quiet tracks through villages full of smiling locals.
With sweat trickling down our backs, we leave the trail and work our way through deep forest until we find an ancient tomb-like structure propped up by logs and trees. There’s no one here apart from a young Cambodian boy who appears from the woods. He watches us delicately climb into the temple as if we’re the first to discover it (while he and his mates probably use it as a fort on weekends).
If Indiana Jones travelled on a motorcycle, this would be his perfect adventure. The intricately carved stone faces smile as we gently step inside their overgrown home. They’re probably grinning because it’s booby trapped with blow darts and pits full of snakes (maybe that’s why tourists don’t come this way and not because it took four hours of sweaty riding to find it?). One wrong move could send a giant boulder crashing down to chase us out. The XT patiently waits outside in case we need to make a quick escape…
Our torches shine on a family of bats and a few stones fall from the ceiling. That obviously means the temple is about to collapse, right? We make a run for it, narrowly sliding under the stone walls as they hurtle down to try and seal us in forever.
‘Only 3962 left to go’ we whisper to the Yamaha as it slides sideways in sand on our next chase. We find seven-tiered Mayan style pyramids, jaw dropping mountaintop sanctuaries and magnificent floating temples as we follow trails through Cambodia. And we love every minute of it, from riding through the Gate of the Dead to getting lost in the countryside while looking for lonely tombs.
Cambodia and its lovely, friendly, smiley people have a lot to offer the biking traveller. Stacks of history, architecture from another world, gorgeous rural villages and nonstop off-roading. If you decide to visit, grab a motorcycle and go in search of the undiscovered. You’ll fall in love with what you find… or get trapped inside a temple. One of the two. Or both.