Wanderlust: Mekong Delta

"I tried finding the continuation of the small road along the Mekong river towards Kratie. My GPS showed that I was right at the turn off for the road, but all I saw was dirt. I wandered around for a while, and then decided to plunge into the dirt.

I followed faintly worn paths for a while, and took some wrong turns. Farmers shouted at me to turn around, and pointed me in the right direction. I looped through corn fields, slid through sand, and pulled my bike through mud pits until I finally found a wide, red clay road. It’s the journey, not the destination, right y’all? (Sometimes when I’m really hating a road, I say this corny saying to myself. It takes my mind off of hating the journey, so I can channel all my hate to this phrase.)

Volleyball is a surprisingly popular sport in Cambodia. Volleyball courts are set up in the dirt everywhere and there’s usually a game going on. On my ride I passed a 2-versus-1 game, so I stopped and joined in. I could hold my own, but they were really good. A few times I blocked the ball at the net. I felt like volleyball Shaq. At the end, I bought cans of soda for my volleyball friends.

At the end of the day, I turned down a road towards the Mekong. I wanted to swim and look for a camping spot. It was a really secluded area with only cattle and a few farmers around. I jumped into the river, washed myself, and did my laundry. Drying off in the setting sun with my native Cambodian krama slung around me felt awesome." Eoin

See more of Eoin's trip here.