12 Reasons to cycle South East Asia

1. Top Food at a low price.

Where else can you stop anywhere at any time and get a wonderful freshly cooked meal full of great spices and herbs? Where else can you have an open market meal that is tastier and fresher than any fancy restaurant and costs one hundredth of the price?

2. Great quiet roads.

Some countries such as Laos and Cambodia have very little traffic; in others there are plenty of country roads with little traffic and courteous drivers. The locals actually think that cyclists have the right to be on the roads.

3. Culture, culture, culture.

Cycling gives you a great opportunity to experience the cultural diversity, traditions, foods, customs and beliefs. Is there a better way to experience local culture than cycling through small places and big ones, sleeping in local hotels and corner restaurants and meeting the locals?

4. Say Wat.

Visiting historical places such as Angkor Wat is without any doubt best done on a bicycle. Just ask those who have tried it.

5. More bang for your Thai baht.

Your dollar, pound, euro or rand can stretch further in Southeast Asia than in most other places around the world.

6. Friendly folks.

South East Asia has the friendliest people on earth and it is very safe to cycle anywhere in the region.

7. Connected.

South East Asia has a well-developed modern infrastructure so if you need to use the internet or an ATM machine you are never too far from one.

8. Start in a jungle, end on a beach.

With a bicycle you will cycle through some of the lushest scenery only to end up in some of the most amazing beaches in the world with nobody on them.

9. Capital cities.

In a few weeks of cycling, you can see some of the most grandiose metropolises in the world: Bangkok, Hanoi, Kuala Lampur, Phnom Penh, Singapore.

10. Drinks and snacks.

Because if you get off the bike in Laos, you can always have a great ‘Beerlao’; if you need a break in Vietnam, you can always have a Vietnamese coffee; if you get an unexpected hunger attack in Cambodia, you can wave down the guy cycling beside you and buy a baguette from his large basket; and if you feel like trying something really local in Malaysia, you can have ‘Tea Tarik’ made from black tea and condensed milk.

11. Strange and wonderful fruit.

Because you can stop anytime, anywhere and buy the tastiest mango, rambutan, dragon fruit,  jack fruit, mangosteen, lotus flower seeds, sapodilla, longan, papaya, pomelo, guava and, if you dare, a durian or two.

12. Massaging those cycling legs.

Because after a long day on a bike, you can get a great massage that will not put you into debt. Most towns will have basic, but reputable massage shops. For less than $20, you can get a well deserved massage to help recuperate your tired body.

Join Tour d’Afrique in South East Asia on the Bamboo Road bicycle tour