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a story about a guy trying to get a bicycle and a trailer
while having some fun. I got a friend who normally lives in Phnom Penh but is
now working in Belgium. Her family still wanted to meet me and help me on my
quest. The first 2 days I went looking for a good bicycle, the choices are tuff
since there are a lot of bicycles in Phnom Penh. Most of them are crap; some
seem to have potential but lack credibility; others have credibility but seem
too old. I was going to try a Chinese mountain bike when Thyas brother brought
me to a Giant shop. The new mountain bikes were a bit too pricy for me, but he
had a second hand Trek which looked great! Thyas older brother and I were
getting closer and he took me out to see Sorya mall with on top a skating rink.
We didnt go skating though, but it was pretty fun looking at the guys
performing some tricks. Then it was time for dessert and yes he knows where to
go, I just had to hop on the back of his motorbike and soon we were racing
through the streets of Phnom Penh. We were not very lucky since it started to
rain really bad as you can see on the picture; a real mousson rain
The rain
wouldnt stop so he drove through some small alleys (with plastics hanging
everywhere to protect against the rain) and before I knew it I was back at the
guesthouse. A really good guesthouse btw, if you are ever going to Phnom Penh
and you want a clean, cheap guesthouse with friendly staff: go to ORussei
market, go down the road next to Capitol guesthouse (107street), follow this
road and just after the first crossing there is a pink/orange building on your
right hand side
This is a good guesthouse.
Now the next goal was to find a trailer; not the easiest
task. To get one delivered from America or Europe costs 300$ shipping only +
250 $ for the trailer itself. Way too pricy so no option
I drew some
schematics about what I wanted and downloaded some pictures from the internet.
With this and Thyas brother as a translator we went to some workshops. All of
them looked at me as if I came from a different planet and said that they
couldnt make it
Then we went to a place where they have thousands of
bicycles; all junk that they are giving a second life. Maybe there would be a
trailer for sale
We werent lucky
I would have to make it myself and then
bring it to a welder, for that I could use the motorbike workshop on Sunday. On
Saturday I went looking for materials to see what I could use; the materials
here are different from home. For example, they dont have aluminium, which I
would normally use to make the thing lighter
But they did have a wheel from a
shopping cart, which I could use for the attachment to the bicycle. This would
take care of 2 options for rotation! All I found for material was steel, so I
knew the cart would be pretty heavy
I still had one problem: what to do about
the wheels. Then I stumbled across the carts that they use for the motorbike.
The size is about what I need and well, the design is pretty similar
Some
minor adjustments and it should be ok!
So instead of using the workshop on Sunday we went to check
out the street where they make these carts; maybe there would be someone who
could make my design
We didnt find anyone to make my design but we found a
pretty cheap cart without the small fat wheels for 35$. Across the street there
were 26 wheels with a bigger opening so they would fit on the axis but they
use normal bicycle tires. I bought them for 20$... It was getting late so I
would come back the next day. The next day I found a workshop where someone
spoke English and I explained him what I wanted. He helped me really well and
modified the newly bought cart to my wishes! While he was doing it he said:
why didnt you let me make it from scratch? this almost freaked me out: did I
finally find someone who was willing to make it now that it is too late? He
would have made the thing for 20$ and then I would have to buy the axis with
wheels for 25$ so that would safe me 10$ + the 25$ that he charged me now to
modify it
Anyway it was too late now
His men did a good job and I was even
allowed to help, I made the attachment to my bicycle and could go wild while
cutting of a bar from the original cart
Now I still needed tires and I would
be set to go! I bought the tires for 10$, not the cheapest one but Japanese
ones so that I wouldnt get a puncture that easily
I was proud of the
result!!!
Another thing I had to do in Phnom Penh was to get my visa
for Vietnam, for this I first checked some prices in different travel agencies
and Excellent tours on 107 street offered a closeby and good rate. I asked them
for a normal 30-day visa, the normal means that it will take 2 days; you can
also take an express
The next day in the evening I went back and my visa was
ready however they had a 15-day visa! How could I ever cross Vietnam by bicycle
in 15-days? So I said that I needed a 30-day visa and I needed it fast: my visa
of Cambodia was running out and it would take me at least 2 days to the border
Another word of advise: when you want to use your Vietnamese visa for the
fullest, you need to give them the date of entry when you are applying for your
visa. Vietnam is the only country around here where that is necessary
Anyway,
she recognised that it was her fault so she would fix it and said I could come
back in two days in the evening. This was not possible for me, so I said I
needed it the next day in the evening
After playing a little cat and mouse
game it was ok and I could come pick it up the next day at 5 pm.
On my birthday I could leave!
11-10-2010, 04:39 geschreven door zoriander 
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