The roof of the Patuxay war monument in Vientiane. Built in 1957 in dedication of Laos independence from France.

Cries of ‘SABAIDEEEEEEEE!!!!’ (Hello in Laotian) pelted me from nooks and crannies of every roadside village from Vientiane Cambodia. If I happened to pass a school at break-time entire schools would fire off shouts of ‘SABAIDEEEEEEEE!!!!’ punctuated with ferocious waves punched out at me. If words and gestures could take physical forms they would have manifest as bullets defensible only with acknowledging ‘SABAIDEEEEEEEEs!!!!’ of equal force.

Watch the video below to see my impression of the childrens cries of ‘SABAIDEEEEEEEE!!!!’

It never failed to bring a smile to my face, and on the predominantly long, straight road loosely tracking the Mekong all the way to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, brought a welcome break to the incessant stream of thoughts that occupied my mind.

Cycling along the Mekong with hoards of school kids on their way home. The saffron robes and shaven heads worn by Theravada Buddhist monks symbolises simplicity and detachment of materialism.

One thought, more than all others, is never far from the surface and has been since the inception of the idea to cycle around the world: How can earn money as I travel? Otherwise, the journey can only last as long as the money in the bank, which due to unforeseen circumstances surrounding an investment I made before leaving, is about half the original sum.

Finding work isn’t difficult but I don’t want a job, I had a good one of those before leaving. I want to do something which I could build a business around longer term, and set my own schedule in the short term. Something that will hold my interest, allow me to earn, and travel. It’s not an easy set of requirements to fulfil but I think I have found a solution: Teaching English to foreign language students on-line. I haven’t given up on teaching Yoga but see it as a longer term opportunity to pursue when I have further developed my own practice and have a more permanent residence.

The view across the Mekong at Savanakhet.

Ben from Leicester!

Ben from Leicester was cycling around Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand for two months you can follow his progress here: Shutterhappy.co.uk

It’s not totally clear yet where and for how long I will stop to teach English. I will probably spend some time in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand over the course of twelve to eighteen months. For the time being I’m in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, finishing off the TEFL (Teaching English to Foreign Language students) course which will enable me to teach.

Videos from the road:

First day in Cambodia sheltering from the rain with Zac:

Zac was cycling from Sussex to Sydney and already plans to start another cycling adventure on his return home: Sussex to Cape Town on a tandem bicycle, anyone can join him along the way to occupy the second seat!

Strung Traeng market:

A species of lizard I believe, this one had seen better days.

Sugar cane drink:

Riding the dirt road between Strung Traeng and Kracheh:

Arriving into Kracheh:

First impressions of Phnom Penh:

The route travelled between Vientiane and Phnom Penh was actually only 820 miles, the heat was consistently in the early to mid thirties though, which goes some way to explain why it felt like so much further!! Either that or I’m just getting soft.

I’ll be heading to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, mid December to meet up with some friends of friends and hopefully talk at some schools. The next few posts will be from Phnom Penh reflecting on some of the greatest learnings I’ve had along the way.

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