I’ve never been a big fan of bicycling, but the few times I’ve done it while traveling have been extraordinarily rewarding.
No other form of transport allows you to thoroughly immerse yourself into the heart of the countryside, except perhaps walking, which simply takes far too long to cover any sort of decent distance.
Ireland and Vietnam are two places I did bike rentals for the day that took me off the beaten path and into areas less frequented by tourists. I remember coming across a small school down some dirt road in Vietnam where, at first sight of me, some 50 schoolchildren came racing out of the yard and immediately surrounded me, jumping and screaming excitedly as though I had just landed from Mars.
Bill Cashmore, writing for The Telegraph, enjoyed similar experiences while on a week-long bike tour of Cambodia. The 45-year old managed 250 miles through the Cambodian countryside, peddling past small villages and farmers, indulging in local foods, and otherwise taking in the very best Cambodia has to offer those who don’t whisk past it on a tourist bus.