Another Temple - but what a beauty

Last night we were treated to a fabulous buffet dinner in Siem Reap. The entertainment consisted of Cambodian dancers, Fabulous to watch but the sound track was brain numbing.

Prior to heading out we celebtrated Leah and Bobs 41st wedding annivesary. Smey our guide arranged a cake (green in the centre) and Andy a bottle of wine. Also we had the daily awards. There is one called the "Nuffy"and the other is the "Honorable" Award. We had several nominations for the honorable, but Bob won it hands down due to the fact He canned off twice and still managed to get back on his bike and finish the day. I won the nuffy for my spectacular dismount over the handle bars on the bridge. Bob got a gold scarf to wear for the day and mine was pink.

Today we started off at 7.00am and biked through the crazy Siem Reap traffic to the long straights outside the city. We stopped a couple of times, one for coffee. The coffee here is amazing. A shot glass of condensed milk is placed in the bottom of a glass and then ultra thick coffee is then poured on top of it. Mix with a spoon and drink it back. So sweet, but really nice. Again the kids and people were fantastic.

Our destination today was a temple called Beng Mealea. It was built in the 12th century by the same king that built Angkor Wat, but unlike the others no restoration has occurred. It has also collapsed and is overgrown. They have put a walkway through the place but other than that it is untouched. Many of us found this to be the best. So peaceful. today we cycled 45km.

From there we had yet another fabulous lunch we all piled into the vans and were driven to Kampong Cham. This was a five hour journey and it was so nice to just sit and view it through the van. The villages are amazing and so basic. We took a "quicker"40km dirt road to the town rather than go around the outside (150km) on the sealed roads. We saw Cambodia at it's most rural. These people are so poor. At one point we had to stop and get out and walk to allow the van to get through the mud.

We often have to stop at random villages and towns in order to go to the loo. Todays experiences really pushed some of our boundaries, but when you got to go you got to go! Most of the toilets are squat toilets (pan in the ground) and you have to pour water into them to flush.

We arrived at Kampong Chum 5 hours later and went straight to our restaurant. The guides are trying to ensure we get to try different types of Cambodian food each night. So far it has been really great.

We got to our Guest house, all of us pretty had it really. The Awards were given out for the day.
Lynn got the honorable award for staying back to bike with Leah for alot of the day. Gaylene got the nuffy. She had complained about how hot the nights had been in Siem Reap and how she hadn't really slept well for three days. She had removed her hotel key card each night to turn of her lights at bedtime, instead of just pressing a button to put off the lights. Consequently her room had no power and therefore no air conditioning!! Colin was also nominated for waving at the people through the tinted windows of the van. I should also mention though Colin (who is actually an ex-All black) Farrell was also nominated for the honorable award due to fact He allowed some of the ladies to hang their washing in his room as they ran out of space in theirs, and then he handed it back to them in the morning all folded.

I will upload photos shortly. It tends to take some time on this computer.

I will now hand over to the fabulous Steve to share his thoughts about the day:

Today another temple visit, but quite a contrast to those seen to date. Obviously off the normal tourist circuit as we had the place almost to ourselves. This temple has had no attempts made at restoration and I actually found this gives it character - its significantly collapsed, but not hard to imagine what it once was. Called the "jungle temple" the tree routes intertwine around the stones to create a photographers delight. Wandering round the mounds of giant stone blocks on the official route was an experience in itself, but as we were about to leave Adam and I were beckoned on by a uniformed guide. She would be lucky to weigh 40 kg, up to my chest in height, but clearly a cross with a mountain goat as we had trouble keeping up with her as she leapt from stone to stone. We were lead through little tunnels and rooms that would have had the OSH people bringing prosecutions back home if anyone approached within 10 metres.

After the temple we were in for an exciting trip in the vans down to Kampong Chun. The road needs to be experienced to appreciate - as rough as any we had biked over, and a very slow trip. It is easy to see why cattle are so widely used as transport as in the rainy season any vehicle giving traction through the wheels would be going nowhere. Much of the road we could have covered the groud as quickly on our bikes, but as we were in the dark long before our destination this would not have been an option.