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




 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 who had an Angkor Wat pass, which we didn’t  have and we turned back and had to do a large diversion avoiding the temples. By now it was extremely hot and we were getting tired and thirsty.We arrived at the Homestay and were told to wait until Mr. Bunyong arrived home.

Mr Bunyong duly arrived and is a real character with good English. He spoke as if he’d known us all our lives and we were his long lost siblings - gushing.

The place is not the most salubrious but Mr B and his family are very welcoming and we enjoyed the most delicious veggie meal. We also managed a few beers and some ‘happy water’ homemade rice wine- very potent and intoxicating. We were so tired after today’s ride that even our lovely host and the young Kiwi/Australian couple could not entice us to stay longer. Also at our table was Grace who told us she was Canadian- but we all reckon she was Russian as she had the strangest of accents for a Canadian!! To be fair would you admit to being Russian at the moment?

We are here a day earlier than expected and the end of our cycle touring- now we will be tourist with no luggage to carry if we use our bikes. We reckon we have ridden approximately 1100 miles, and to be honest it has been enjoyable, though we did not prepare or anticipate the extreme heat. The terrain has been easy in the main and the journey relatively uncomplicated. I’m looking forward to discharging the bikes and being a regular tourist for a while.






Comments

  1. Dr FeelgoodFebruary 27, 2024 at 8:31 AM

    What a fantastic journey, and thanks for sharing all the stories and pictures with us - as you say the heat seems to have been a major factor!
    Great effort - well done 👍👌

    ReplyDelete

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