On the 11th December, Café Living Room and The Cambodia Trust will be welcoming adventurer and artist Ben King to Phnom Penh with the launch of:
BikeBen in Print – Two Wheels, Twelve Countries & 10,000km
Taking nothing but what he could carry on his bicycle, Ben started his journey in Budapest, Hungary, seven months ago. Since then, he has ridden along the Danube River to Serbia and on to Bulgaria. Ben then pedalled east through Greece to Turkey and on to Iran, where he spent a month discovering the other side to a country the rest of us were watching break into political protest on CNN.
He then took a short flight over Pakistan to India where he completed two months of tough cycling in the high Himalayas; climbing over five mountain passes above 5,000mt. It was then on to central and southern China; a country of amazing diversity and enormous engineering projects casting shadows over old roads and communities. After riding up the last temperate mountain in China, Ben reached the 7,000km mark of his trip, and in one day the climate and vegetation shifted as he descended into the tropics of Southeast Asia. The northern hilltribe villages of Vietnam lead to the final stage of this amazing adventure into Laos and Thailand, towards Cambodia.
Since May, Ben has ridden through twelve countries, discovered diverse communities, experienced incredible hospitality and kindness, and peddled 10,000km to his final destination in Phnom Penh. Throughout this journey, Ben’s unique eye and exuberant photography style has captured the people, places and joy of our world.
Throughout his journey, Ben has been raising funds for The Cambodia Trust, and all proceeds of work sold from this exhibition will be donated directly to this fund.
A word from BikeBen:
Every since picking up my first National Geographic when I was maybe 3 years old, I have had a deep fascination with people and places. This has led me to far off places in search of what makes a person who they are and what connects them to that place they call home. Since starting cycling I have travelled extensively, always in search of real human interaction, at a level that is not based on money or business, but a real interaction where I can attempt to gain an understanding of a person through their environment and willingness to interact with me as a westerner who is there without a car.
My trip will cover a total of at least 10,000 km through 12 countries and at least 100,000 of mountain climbing. I have passed through areas speaking 15 languages and 8 religions. I will take more than 10,000 photographs and shake hands with an estimated 2000 people. I will drink more than 500 litres of water and use just six inner tubes. My pedals will rotate more than 10 million times and I will replace my brake pads at least 3 times. Burning about 5,000 calories each day, I will churn through a whopping 1,250,000 calories during these seven months on the road.
On a bicycle you are forced into intimate contact with your surroundings, the grass on the side of the road, the vehicles that drive past, the farmer in the field, that damn hill under your wells, the rain on your face, the smell of the wild flowers (or the broken sewerage pipe for that matter). This interaction gives a real sense of the place, the traffic tells you what kind of things are going on in the area, tourism, logging, farming, industry etc. The constant exposure to the weather gives an astute awareness of the day to day changes, or in the case of a strong head wind, any natural feature which will give some shelter . Hungry, thirsty and tired, a warm smile and a few words (or more often hand signals) is all it takes to find a place to pitch the tent for the night, on real ground with a newly gained sense of the place after a long day in the saddle.
Ben will be arriving in Phnom Penh on the 2nd Dec, and being welcomed at the finish line of his journey at The Cambodia Trust rehabilitation and training centre in Phnom Penh. He will then be in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap for a week preparing his exhibition and attending the Angkor Marathon. If anyone from the Daily is interested in speaking to him about his journey, fundraising efforts and photography, or would like copies of any images, please feel free to get in touch with me to organise a time.
You can have a look at some of Ben's photography, see his stats and map, and read his tales from the road at www.bikeben.com
