In Cambodia I use a bicycle for transport, and I like to travel to a number of different towns.

I dont like to cycle from town to town for safety reasons. If you do a lot of cycling on busy roads, the risk of getting hit by a vehicle is too great. On rare occasions, you will hear about cyclists being hit by vehicles, and sometimes killed.

I have done a little cycling on busy roads. For example, I stayed in a small town. There was no transport from there to where I wanted to go, so I cycled 15 km to another town to get a ride.

So I take my bicycle in buses, minivans and taxis. Following is some information for those who may be interested in taking a bicycle with them when they travel.

Buses

An adults bicycle will fit under a bus in the luggage compartment if you take the front wheel off. However, buses carry luggage for other passengers, and deliver things for customers. If you ask at a bus company if they can take your bicycle, they will often say, wait and see if there is enough space. If not, you may need to wait until another day when there is enough space. So I mostly use minivans.

Minivans

You can take a bicycle in a minivan. In some cases they may put it inside the minivan. In other cases they may tie it on the back.

Taxis

I have taken the bicycle in the boot/trunk of a Camry. I had it standing upright, with the front wheel outside the right side of the car, turned at 90 degrees. The bicycle was tied, and the boot/trunk lid was tied down.

Tuk tuks

On rare occasions, I have also transported my bicycle in tuk tuks. You can put it through the passenger area, with a wheel sticking out a bit each side. I have also tied it on to the back of a tuk tuk. I supplied the rope. Not all tuk tuks have something strong enough to tie a bicycle to on the back. So you need to select a tuk tuk which has.

Preventing damage

Sometimes you need to watch them, and tell them if your bicycle is being transported or secured in a way that may result in damage.

I have seen a minivan carrying passengers, with timber slid under the seats. A bicycle was put on the timber, and more timber was put on top of the bicycle. That is how bicycles get bent.

When they tie a bicycle on the back of a minivan, some people tie the rope to the carrier/pannier. This could get bent or ripped off. I tell them to tie it to a solid part of the frame.

They sometimes tie motorbikes to the back of minivans, then put other things on top of the motorbikes. I tell them a bicycle is not as strong as a motorbike, and they cant put things on top of it.

Price

Some people will try to put it over you. One place said to take the bicycle, I had to hire the entire minivan, and it was $70. I just walked away.

The least I have paid with the bicycle is $1.25 in addition to the price of a passenger, which is me.

The most I have paid is $6 in addition to the price of a passenger.

I most commonly pay $5 in addition to the price of a passenger.

I should mention, I travel with the minivan or taxi full with other passengers. It depends how far you are going, but it is common to pay around $5 for the passenger and $5 for the bike, which is $10 total.

Experiences

What may happen is, they pick you up, tie your bicycle to the back of a minivan, and begin the journey. A while later they pick up someone transporting a motorbike. So they untie the bicycle, tie the motorbike on, then tie the bicycle on again.

When I was in the Camry, the driver was concerned about being booked by the police with the front wheel outside the car. He rang his mates to see where the police were. About a kilometer before the police checkpoint, we stopped and took the bicycle out. I cycled through the police check point, and about a kilometer down the road. We then tied the bicycle in the back of the Camry again and continued the journey.

I should mention, it is easier if you speak Khmer.

I cycle all over this country and I feel the roads are not that dangerous outside of major towns. There's some really idyllic places with decent roads. Highway 11 to prey veng from highway 8, and Chhlong on the mekong not far from Kratie, are 2 places I've ridden through in recent weeks. Passing through villages like that reminded me of why I came to this country in the first place.

Regarding taxis, try to get a Lexus 300 or highlander. You won't even have to take the front wheel off your bike.

how about by train ?

Cycling is my main form of transport around Phnom Penh and I've often wanted to take it when I travel outside the city but so far haven't so thanks for the detailed info.

As for trains, I have taken a moto on a train. They had a special carriage for them so I'm sure a bicycle is not an issue.

I took my bicycle under a big bus by stripping it down and putting it in a bag. No charge. Its just baggage. I've also cycled most of the country avoiding highways. I used mapsme app, and its cycle routes and it maps a route avoiding highways. So I had peace and quiet, hardly seeing cars most of the way. It was also mostly on dirt roads but I'd rather that than traffic. I did it on a fully loaded touring bike, no problem.