The two adventurers have finished their stay in Vietnam and have crossed Laos. They then reached Cambodia where they visited Louvain Coopération projects. They are now continuing on their separate ways to their final destination: Malaysia. Discover the rest of their adventures!

Yonas and Corentin are two students who have recently graduated from UCLouvain and have taken on the somewhat crazy challenge of cycling to Malaysia, while raising funds for Louvain Coopération projects in Cambodia. Projects that they have only just discovered.

After a few adventures crossing the border into Laos and obtaining their visas, they rode, also not without difficulty, to the city of Pakse: “We had it all, completely destroyed roads, rivers to cross either by boat or by bike, muddy climbs, stone paths, roads lost in the jungle, etc.”

From Pakse, they took the road to the 4000 Islands. These are small islands in the middle of the Mekong. “We stopped there for two days to rest. We had to get the bikes onto small boats.”

They then reached the 19th country on their trip, Cambodia. They made their first stop in Siem Reap to visit the Temples of Angkor, and then arrived in the capital, Phnom Penh. “We visited the former S21 prison, which detained and tortured opponents during the Khmer Rouge regime. It's crazy to hear about the massacre that took place in the country for several years. It was important to see it when we were in the country.

In Phnom Penh, Yonas and Corentin met up with our team and they set off together for Battambang. There they met several farmers and were able to discuss their work, the difficulties they face and how they are integrating agroecology into their practices.

In particular, they met Veasna, a teacher specializing in agriculture. She teaches farmers how to diversify their crops and replace the use of pesticides. Then they met Sim, president of the KEA agricultural cooperative. It is a union of farmers that promotes their rights and teaches them agroecological practices. They also attended a course given to farmers on the subject of improving agricultural methods to increase yields and improve their incomes. They noted that a majority of women attended these courses, which then allows them to get involved in farm work and gain access to positions in farmers' organizations.

They then visited other projects of Louvain Coopération on site that help other farmers by assisting them with the difficulties they encounter in their crops. For example, they show farmers how to treat diseased plants.

They have seen the impact that the NGO has on the ground and how the projects really help people to make a decent living from their work and help them to train.

The two companions are parting ways at the end of the trip: Corentin has a dissertation to finish and is going directly to Thailand, while Yonas is staying a little longer in Cambodia. Corentin will arrive in Singapore at the end of June, Yonas at the end of July. They will then each take a plane home and meet up in Belgium.

We wish them a safe journey to Malaysia, their final destination, and then a safe return to Belgium!