hello all, a couple of us RTW'ers have stayed stationary for long enough to hack out a slightly crazy plan for a charity scooter ride around Cambodia.

www.rideforcambodia.com

The ride in January 2012 is a scouting run, so 8 of us are headed over to ride some of the back roads and see how viable it is to run a yearly event.

If anyone has significant experience riding off road in cambodia and can help with suggested routes and GPS info that would be really helpful. We have the OSM maps already, and have ridden a bit of it ourselves, but if someone has spent months there we'd love to hear from you!

We hope that in 2013 we'll do it all again but with a much bigger crowd.

The premise is this...

it's a 2 week event, that anyone can participate in regardless of experience, with a budget of about $3000 including flights to and from your home - so it's cheap. (there is NO ENTRY FEE)

We all meet in Phnom Penh and have a kickoff party, then buy little local motorbikes (125cc hondas for $300 to $600) and ride them around the country for 10 days. At the end we donate the bikes to a charity supporting children's education, have another party and go home (or preferably back to our motorbikes).

It's not an organised tour at all, so there's no entry fee, just get there, have some fun, and give a little back to the little communities you roll through in your usual adventures.

If you're planning to be in SE Asia in Jan 2013 then keep an eye on the website, and think about coming along.

And if you have some experience riding offroad in Cambodia, I'd love to hear from you.

bye all,

Dino

www.rideforcambodia.com
www.donkeyandthemule.com.au
www.motodino.net

3000 is cheap?

You could raise more for charity if you cut out the fun part and gave ALL the money to charity.

Worth thinking about, as your goal is the charity, first and foremost?

I might be a starter for 2013

To clarify is the $3,000 an estimate of likely expenses or are you organising a package as such where people pay you directly?

BTW I believe a stick with a plastic bag attached by the side of the road means landmine

sure we could just stay home and donate the money, but then no one would go, so there would be no event at all...

and actually yes - $3000 is very cheap. For a 2 week motorcycle tour, including getting there and home, the bike, all your expenses and a $500 donation to a charity... it's a no brainer.

regarding the money, 3000 is just an estimate based on what we spent when in cambodia last year + the cost of the bike + a return flight to the US, Australia or Europe + miscell. if you want to travel 5 star it will cost more, if you want to camp it will be less - your call.

but it's not an entry fee so you dont pay anyone, you just turn up, make some friends and ride with them. then donate the bike at the end. simple.

a tour compay would charge multiples of this for the same experience, this is just a way for people to get an authentic experience without that cost, but with the security of doing it with a group of other travellers.

Great, would love to have you along! And thanks for the tip on the landmines!

We will post lots of pics and eventually a video about the 2012 ride too, so keep an eye on the website for more info, if you like what you see and think it would be fun then do it!

We were thinking of SE asia in 2013. I will keep an eye on your web page. It is something my wife and I would consider doing. Good Luck.