DAY 45 Chhaeb







 It was before dawn that we set off today! With 52 miles to ride of undulating terrain and temperatures getting up to 36 degrees, we needed to  'beat the heat'. Bike lights on, we left at 6.45 with a cup of black tea as our breakfast. Komoot soon turned us off the tarmac road onto a sandy track but after a few miles we were back on the main road and stayed on it for the rest of the ride. Our route in Cambodia seems to be mainly on the main road. It's not busy and the surface is good but we miss the deviations we had in Vietnam, through rice paddies and small villages. There just doesn't seem to be the road structure here. We passed lots of scrub land and then scores of Cashew Nut plantations. 

We stopped for drinks twice, at 25 and 40 miles. The wind came from the side for quite a while which was refreshing but then it was head on! 

We arrived at our destination a little after 11am, having been passed by Silvie, the french traveller about 10 mins before. She was heading straight to Siem Reap by mini bus and waved and yelled out of the window. 

We knew the guest house here wasn't going to be luxurious. There were no properties on booking.com but we saw this one on Google maps. Those that had left a review seem to be cycle tourers like ourselves and just need somewhere for an overnight stop.

Lazy afternoon - the usual shower and clothes wash followed by some lunch. We managed to get some noodles soup and despite saying we were vegetarian, contained much meat. We removed the meat and ate the tasty soup. 

This evening we looked on Google maps to find a restaurant. That worked well and we enjoyed some veg fried rice. 


Comments

  1. AnonymousFebruary 20, 2024 at 10:00 AM

    You make me feel tired. Good riding

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JennyFebruary 20, 2024 at 9:55 PM

      Who is this anonymous comment from? We are tired! 😂

      Delete
  2. BruceFebruary 20, 2024 at 10:38 AM

    Just caught up with your last few days, great stuff, though does sound a bit hot there for me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JennyFebruary 20, 2024 at 9:57 PM

      You do get used to the heat a little. It’s ok when riding - it’s when you stop. Makes us get up early !

      Delete
  3. B&MFebruary 21, 2024 at 1:56 AM

    Very atmospheric photo of hitting the trail at first light.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousFebruary 23, 2024 at 9:24 PM

    Hello ! Je suis contente que vous m'ayez entendue quand je vous ai salués sur la route quand je suis passée en minibus ! J'ai pu voir que vous n'aviez pas mis vos vélos dans un bus juste après avoir quitté Stung Treng, ah ah ! J'espère que vous serez assez reposés pour avoir assez d'énergie pour Angkor ! Extraordinaire mais éreintant ! Mais splendidissime !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JennyFebruary 23, 2024 at 11:46 PM

      Thanks Sylvie. You had a good seat on the minibus- in the front. I saw you wave. Koh ker temple was very quiet. Great to meet you. Enjoy the rest of your travels.

      Delete
  5. AnonymousFebruary 23, 2024 at 9:25 PM

    J'ai oublié de signer : Sylvie, the French lady !

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 50 Svay Leu (Boojie glamping pod)

Image
 In the Tour de France the penultimate day is the last day of racing proper with the final day just being a procession into Paris- racing done and celebrate the three hard weeks in the saddle. Today being our penultimate day to our final tour destination felt a little like that feeling - work done and look forward to that feeling of accomplishment on the final day's ride. Some random thoughts about Cambodia, the people are humble and many are poor but they are always welcoming, courteous and smiley. What I found staggering was every home we passed whether close to the road or some distance from it, we could hear the shouts of 'hello' from small children and upon our reply we would hear the sound of distant laughter. We have not figured out how they are aware of our approach but it is uncanny that we cannot go unnoticed- maybe they have better eyesight, hearing or even sense of smell but they always spot the westerner and send us on our way smiling at their beautiful smiles ...
Read more

Day 51 Siem Reap took us into Siem Reap and out again to our digs on the outskirts of the city. We were tired and was getting grumpy as our route took us ever westwards and away fro Siem Reap. We literally finished up on the outer edge of Siem Reap down a dirt track not knowing if we were in the right place. My phone had stopped accessing the internet. We arrived, hot bothered, thirsty and hungry. We had tried to inform the Homestay of our change of plans but with no decent internet access we were unsure if our messages had got through. We were greeted by an elderly lady who quickly called her daughter- who spoke a very little English. She asked us to wait for Mr Nr Bung

Image
 We left at 12:30pm having had a relaxing breakfast and morning dip in the pool- that is me anyway. Jen decided to get up at 5 to cycle up a mountain to see the sunrise- an 11 mile round trip. Not a problem as today was an easy 12km to our next planned stay in the nearby village Homestay.  Things didn’t work out as planned, when we got to the Homestay that was very primitive and not the best accommodation, they began with a charge of $50 (including meals) we paid less than that at the boojie hotel yesterday. With some negotiations that came down to $25 but by which time we did not feel comfortable about staying as they had tried to rip us off. It was now 1pm and very hot. Should we stay and forget our principles or leave and take our chances - we decided to leave and cycle the 60 km to Siem Reap in the burning afternoon sun. Jen was worried as she had already put in some hard miles. We followed Komoot into Siem Reap unfortunately the road it took us on was restricted to those ...
Read more

Day 53 Angkor Wat

Image
 Temple Day!  I researched the numerous blogs on line and found a suggested cycle route for a day tour. The temples are quite far apart so we knew we would just see a few but hopefully we would remember them.  With another 36 degree heat looming, we left at 7.30am after Mr Buns scrumptious breakfast of pancake and fruit. Angkor Wat was our first stop. Built in the 12th century, and described as a hindu- Buddhist temple, it is huge and magnificent. Thousands come here each morning for sunrise, but not wanting the crowds or the early start, we found the numbers fine at this later time. After a chilled stroll around and a cold drink we cycled onto the next temple. All the temples we saw were subtly different in size, construction, level of condition and degree to which they had been restored. One in particular was known as the temple with trees growing out of it. We overheard one guide saying at this temple that if a seed takes root within the walls, this is now removed to p...
Read more