(HA) Evening Travel Program: Bikes, Boats, and Boots in SE Asia

Bangkok was the beginning of a bike adventure for John Leary and friends, through three of South East Asia's most exotic, fascinating countries; Thailand, Cambodia & Vietnam. Traveling South East Asia by bike is the best way. Once you get away from those busy highways, the back lanes and dirt tracks open and offer gorgeous views of the surrounding countryside and local village life. Out in the sunshine riding through paddy fields, fruit plantations, alongside rivers and lakes you are rewarded with an altogether more intimate travel experience than catching the stuffy bus. It is surprisingly easy to access remote areas barely touched by tourism. In rural Thailand, curious locals welcomed us as we biked picturesque rural roads and trails through remote villages. In Cambodia, we found it fun and liberating riding mostly on dirt roads where stunned local children were delighted by sweaty tourists trudging along a rutted, dusty track. We saw Siem Reap and the world's largest temple complex the stunning Angkor Wat, sailed across Southeast Asia's largest lake, the Tonle Sap, visited Phnom Penh and “The Killing Fields”, the Irrawaddy River Dolphins, beautiful beaches, many, many temples and markets and rode into Vietnam to experience the wonderful, watery world of the Mekong Delta and much more.