this was the day we had all anticipated. I had woken through the night after sever stomach pains, My room mate, Mavis had also experienced this. After i had breakfast, i had no more pains. We took the bus out of the city to the spot where we would start cycling. I think there were alot of nerves when we saw the our brand new bikes for the first time. We loaded up with sunscreen, water, put on bike gloves, helmet and sunnies. We were away, down the National Highway.
The cycling was so much fun. It was broken up into 10km stretches and we stopped at the bus to re-apply sunscreen, have a drink and some fruit. It was easier than expected. The hardest part was the intense sun constantly beating down on us and the humidity. I have to say that i said "My eye balls are sweating".
Our first pitt stop was at a temple. Instantly, kids approached us asking us to buy flowers & insence to give to buddha. I purchased them and then another child came up and asked if i wanted to buy a candle to go with it, I drew the line at that.
Cycling past the paddy fields, kids yelled out "Hello". Sometimes you saw them waving but others you could hear from afar or from inside their houses.
At the start, i was riding up front, but as my water bottle wasn't within easy reach i had to stop along the way to take a drink and other times because the scenery was so beautiful it was a shame not to stop and take a photo. This meant that i slowly crept back to the back of the pack. I had a nice leisurely ride along with Tristanne on one of the 10km stretches.
We cycled off the highway and along a very bumped dirt road filled with pot holes and had fields on either side of us. The kids were out of school and on their bikes on their way home.
We came to a place by the river where we had lunch. It was a river picnic spot with floating huts. Nak had our lunch packs ready. Delicious food. The toilet there was a squat and next to it was a cage full of pigeons. Very unusual.
After lunch we had to cycle back along the dirt road and onto the highway. One of the girls made a suggestion that we go to the Bear Rehabilitation Centre. Nak said that we cycled right past it. This was not completely true. We cycled off the main road and down a road that basically consisted of sand. Have you ever tried riding a bike on sand ? It was bloody hard work. This road was filled with beggars, every one hundred metres. They had tins out and rattled them as we past by. This was the toughest part of the cycle we had experienced. There was not really any shade. Again, I had fallen to the back of the pack and was glad to have the company of Tristanne, Lynda and Zoe. We were all extremely hot. Lynda spewed on the side of the road. We all poured water over the top of our heads to cool ourselves down. By the time i got to the bus,i felt ready to spew too. But i didn't. Not only was the road sandy but it was on a gradual hill that never seemed to end. The support vehicle was behind us and we were seriously considering ditching the bikes on the back and getting a ride up. But we didn't. As this part of the journey was not part of the plan, we decided it was ok to sit on the bus for the next 1 km through the gate of the bear rehab centre.
There were not only bears, but tigers, a lion, monkeys and elephants. I took a photo of a baby elephant that had stepped on a landmine and injured one of his feet.
Time to finish the journey to Takeo by bus. Arrived in Takeo in the evening. Mavis and I had 3 flights of steep stairs to drag our suitcases up. This hotel was the most basic we had stayed in, even though Nak kept telling us it was a 5 star hotel. Many of us had to try to figure out how to use the shower that hung over the toilet. Dinner was at a very local restaurant. The vegetable soup had chicken in it, so i ate the other vegies provided.
This was the first day of cycling and i really feel like i have achieved something today. I'm looking forward to the next few days of cycling. Mavis and I both feel like there has been no time to rest yet and no free time. But we are both excited to finally be cycling out in the countryside. Tomorrow we cycle to the seaside town of Kep.
