TR II two

Riding the Dikes

Yupers, its a Jungle out there.

Idiot in the Jungle

I never learn. I have tortured myself with jungle paths before, and I suppose I will do it again.

After riding roads, trails, and then salt pond dikes, I came to the little "mountain." After searching about for a trail, I found a likely route up to the top. Stashing TR II in the bushes, I started clambering up. After a bit this jungle trail did what all jungle trails do: it disappeared.

The SE Asian jungle is a ravenous beast. It eats any open space it can find and it eats quickly. What was a trail yesterday is an almost impenetrable tangle of vines today. And so it proved, and still I ventured on, ever the stubborn optimist.

I found snatches of trail here and there. I also climbed through, under, and over a grabbing, snatching, interwoven matrix of lush jungle growth. Ah, now where did I leave that bush knife?

Still, compass in hand (iPhone) I managed to go in the general direction of where I was aiming. After almost giving up, several times in fact, I found an almost path and saw what appeared to be the top. Voila! So it proved to be. Very hot and very sweaty, I gained the small summit and was rewarded with sweeping views and a cooling breeze.

After a good long rest I found a reasonable trail back down, though in the totally opposite direction form where I had left TR II. Still, a walk in the open down below seemed preferable to another foray through the jungle maze. I emerged, with only a little brush busting, in a Khmer farm yard. Giving the guard dog and water buffalo a wide berth, I hiked back to my steed and set off for town.

Sailing down wind always means tacking home upwind. On TR II, it means taking wind in the teeth, with burning quadriceps, all the way back to Kampot. Still, a few stops for water and an icy treat, and I was parked in front of my noodle shop, ready for my lunch.

The rest of my day has been spent doing nothing. I did some nothing on my veranda, some nothing at my local coffee place, and then some more nothing back on the veranda. TR II has, without remorse, been re-stabled in the guest house corral. May I never lay eyes, or ass, on it again.

Alas, tomorrow i bid farewell to Kampot. Tomorrow is a travel day to Phenom Penh. This two days, which has turned into four, has been wonderful. I believe I will be back.