So Christmas was reminiscent of times gone by when I use to get up at the crack of dawn and go charging into mum and dads room eager for Christmas presents - although this year my excitement was due to the beginning of my first touring experience. I loaded up my bike with panniers which was easier than I had anticipated and as a group we headed off out of Siem Reap - riding with panniers also easier than expected although it certainly does give you a good leg work out.
Ride distance for today was 57kms and the first 20 I guess was ok paved sealed roads and then the fun begun along with the dust. It is times like this where you are not sure whether the tan you are acquiring is because of the sun or the dust. Jen and I rode together and were pleasantly surprised when we saw our tour guide coming the other way telling us it was just after the petrol station on the right hand side - obviously there was a little bit of miss communication as we rode around for half an hour in a town that you can ride beginning to end in in about 5 minutes. Finally it was time to stop at the petrol station and use the trusty numbers we had been given, just as i called a large number of our group turned up and we had over shot out house where we were staying.
Everyone was a little tired, hungry and sore after day one on our bikes and after a cold shower in a bathroom that flooded headed out to find some food.
PEPY had organised a holiday dinner for us and the rest of their staff that night in the nicest restaurant in town. I felt bad because we were in no way up to being social and interacting with people after what was a hard first day. PEPY is in the process of building a new school and the chief engineer was at the table I was at - I had to bite my tongue as he expressed some very sexist views. And on the way to the toilet I was propositioned by a member of staff who kept insisting I take his phone number - all in all a interesting night!
Its been a long time since I was at a slumber party.... Exhausted we returned to the house to find our room had been infested with ants, the floor, our bags and our beds, once the ants had been sorted we once again tried to get to bed to find the mattress on the bed was indeed a number of couch cushions with distinct lumps throughout them, By this stage Jen, Sara and I were so tired and half, laughing, crying and being generally frustrated at the days events.
Needless to say not much sleep was had that night... a comedy of errors
Photos coming at a later date....
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment