Hey everyone Tania here. What a great day! After arriving in Siem Reap at an airport terminal that looked more like a hotel we were greeted by our wonderful and enthusiastic guides for our trip, Succum and Smey who bundled us into vans and whisked us to our more than adequate hotel. After introductions and de-briefing, we realised we were being guided by a world class cyclist and champion Sprinter!!! We piled into the two vans and weaved through chaotic traffic to our restaurant, where we thoroughly enjoyed some traditional Khmer dishes. Drinks are cheap as chips, but we soon realised why the first group suggested taking very small denominations of $US. Although the official currency of Cambodia is the Riel, the unofficial or preferred currency is the $US.
By the end of dinner most of the group were really drooping. We had been awake and travelling for at least 24hours and were all fairly trashed.
Although the beds are quite hard, it really didn't make any difference, it was just sooooo nice to sleep verticially, without your head hanging out the side of the chair!
Sleeping Beauty! - We hadn't even taken off yet.
We rose quite early this morning and were given our bikes. So exciting to finally get them. Many of us have brought our own seats, pedals and bike bits, so after a time putting everything together we headed off into what can only be described as chaotic, yet orderly traffic. I think Miles gets the prize for the most bike gadgets!!!
I guess the first thing that we sort of remembered very quickly is that cambodians drive on the right hand side of the road. It is amazing there are not more accidents, as there is traffic going in all directions, and you really need to keep your wits about you.
Our ride today was a leisurely 30kms. I found myself after the first few meters almost in tears with the emotion of the fact we were actually here and doing it!!! It has been such a long hard road, raising the funds, and then the training. It all got a bit much for a while there. Stopping and starting, we visited several ancient Temples. Totally awe inspiring really. They took us to the smaller ones first and the day just got better and hotter as we went on. my biggest fear on this trip was where and when I would have my regular toilet stops. Thankfully it wasn't to much of an issue as you just sweat and sweat all day. I normally drink a glass of water and within ten minutes I have been to the loo three times (a bit of exageration) however today I must have consumed over five litres throughout the day, and it didn't seem to touch the sides. Cold water and snackie poos are available at every stop, so we are really being looked after.
Apart from the amazing children we encountered today (my heart melted so often with their constant smiles), I have thoroughly loved chatting and getting to know our fellow group members as we rode along. We are all very different but it is such an awesome group of people. I am really looking forward to getting to know them all better.
Anyway all I will now hand over to rubbernecky Hawkes, who I nearlly lost several times today as he went off in strange directions having his eye being caught by several different rock structures and creatures"!!!
HOW RUDE! Clinton here. I promise we will get a few of the others to share their experiences on this blog in the days to come. However as harder act to follow Tania's bowel motions are, I will give you the touchy feely part of the day. Our first temple we visited was amazing and really did take your breath away a little; it was called the 'Jungle Temple' and was where Tomb Raider was filmed. It was an amazing structure with an incredible amount still standing and secure enough to walk over and through considering they were created in the 12th century. I found myself drifting away a little (as Tania kindly pointed out!) and would wander away a distance from the crowd to allow myself to 'feel' the moment and emotion of the history of such a place. I have learnt from a previous trip to the Great Wall in China, that you can view the whole thing through your camera screen and miss the moment, only getting home to wonder just where have you been.
This temple's main striking feature was the several hundred year old trees that had overgrown many of the walls and features with metre thick roots swallowing years of history. It was awesome to stop and just touch the carvings and stone work and wonder how many hundreds of monks had walked thoses passages in the past.
Next up was 'Angkor Thom'. This is the largest temple area with a walled complex of three square kilometres. This area had many temples on it and at it's peak had 1,000,000 people living in it's walls!
After a lovely lunch we rode off to our last temple which was the classic 'Angkor Wat' - it was massive and impressive. We walked through, all the time receiving fantastic commentary from Sum (pronounced soom) he had been a monk for about 10 years all up in the years past. Lots of photos and more reflection.
I have to share the favorite part of the trip for me personally - it was the kids! As happens in many povety striken countries there are throngs of wee kids touting their wares at every stop and even if you arrive on a pushbike it is the same! The cry of ' one dollar, one dollar' was ringing through the day. It could be forgiven to think that this could become a little irritating after a while or while your eating lunch. Nevertheless I chose to enjoy the banter and tried to break through the practised whines and sorrowful faces and dissolve the stereotypes of desperate poor and wealthy westener, trying to get into their little lives just for a moment and it worked several times. Two of these little girls were Mary and her sister 'Spider Girl' after a little more banter (probably for the hovering mothers sake) we started to laugh and joke around, teasing and egging each other on. In the end both girls just ran up and gave me a gift, Mary gave me one of the post cards she had been desperately trying to sell me and Spider girl gave me a braclet 'for your wife' she said.
Spider Girl
I think the moment we brush off these little ones as annoying or trite, we have lost sight of why we are here in the first place, why friends and strangers have entrusted us to make a difference on their behalf. The Khmer people are genuinly beautiful and deserve every bit of dignity and manners that we would share with our peers. I told you it would be touchy feely - signing out for the day. Clinton.
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