Vietnam Velo Vacation

 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 ...

 A day off from touring but on our bikes to visit Koh Ker temples 6 miles away. The lovely tarmac road soon turned to red dust as we entered temple territory. This area was capital of the Kymer period from 928-944AD. There are loads of temples in the area but none have been restored so nature has reclaimed much of them. We were on and off the bikes exploring the ruins for quite a while until we came to the Prasat Thom Complex, built by Jayavarman IV in 928 when he became King of the Khmer Kings. He commissioned a step pyramid, 35m high which we were able to walk to the top of via some rickety wooden steps- the originals being in no fit state to climb. The view from the top was far and wide. On our way down from the pyramid- which was truly impressive we met a large delegation of what looked like important people. We stopped to let them by, their leader who looked breathless and needed some excuse to rest stopped and enjoyed us in conversation. He asked where we were from and I repl...

 On day 48 we left one rather nice hotel to cycle 35 miles to a rather swanky chalet with swimming pool and associated foliage. In between these two places we had to grapple with an ever changing wind direction and as is the norm here, stultifying heat. We stopped a couple of times for refreshments and once for a cyclist heading in the opposite direction. The hardy young German cyclist who we met yesterday was also on the road. We complain about the heat but this young woman cycles in long trousers and a shirt whilst carrying twice as much gear as us. Today she was hoping to cycle km all the way to Siem Reap a distance of 85 miles. That would be a challenge under British conditions, under these skies it’s heroic. We were content with our 35 miles and a beer by the pool, oh and joy of joys two plates of chips! They tasted so good and seemed to be just like the chips from yesteryear. I suspect they were cooked in animal fat- but let’s just keep that to ourselves! Off visiting temples...

 A day of rest and so it was apart from a 7mile round bike trip to a lake. The 'free' breakfast at the property was a help yourself coffee , toast and jam which we enjoyed on the covered seating area of the hotel. It was already 28 degrees but the breeze made it OK.  A short cycle to the lake then followed where we hired a covered area with hammocks. I had a couple of dips in a rather warm rather murky lake but because the water level was quite low, although I could  lower myself in from the pontoon- I couldn't get out so both times my knight in shining armour had to rescue the damsel in distress. It wasn't quite as elegant as it sounds but it was worth it for the slight cooling effect the water had. We had lunch at the attached restaurant - if you can call it that- a shack which had a couple of gas burners in. I said we didn't eat meat so I was shown fish, big snails and small snails but decided on just some fried noodles with a bit of cabbage and chillies of cours...

 The hotel in Chhaeb was worse than all the reviews indicated- dirty bedding, dirty room a tap  that didn’t work, a toilet that didn’t flush and no toilet  paper. But things got worse, perhaps we shouldn’t have asked for toilet paper because by the morning our water had been turned off! Oh and perhaps worse of all NO WIFI!!!! We did have a lovely meal the night before at a local restaurant though, so Chhaeb wasn’t all bad.  We left by 6:50 glad to have left and again a race against the sun. Consequently we tend to literally race in order to cover as many miles as possible before it gets unbearably hot. In theory a good ploy but in practice it just means we get hot and sweaty anyway. With no breakfast other than a few bananas we were hungry too and found no place to eat. By 10.30 we had covered the 35 miles and stood outside our new abode. We had to wait for our room to be cleaned and shown to a lovely cool room where there was free coffee on offer and bottles of wate...

 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 head...

 A lazy day for some but not for Jenny who started the day at some ridiculous hour with a run along the river and through the market. Whilst I was unaware she'd gone. We decided to take our bikes along the mighty Me Kong river to some rapids 10km away. It was incredibly hot even at 10 am. We stopped firstly at the market and bought a french stick and what appeared like donuts.  After a few miles it was a quick stop for a coke at a riverside vendor, then on to the rapids. Though they were not the most impressive rapids we've ever seen the parking place offered shelter from the burning sun and some hammocks to lie in. Lunch was a bit of dried bread and donut - the outer was lovely and sugary and very don't like whilst the inner was not jam, nor custard but a not unpleasant savoury concoction- I should add a once in a life experience. For once sitting and resting got the better of me and I made a move to go. A mixture of heat and the south east Asian obsession with posing for ...