Dear all,
The day started early, slightly before the sunraise.
 |
| Peter & Marta sleepy in front of the hotel |
The hotel was close to the city exit towards Phnom Penh, so we would not need much time to cross it.
As the hotel did not have anything that we could have for breakfast, we stopped at the first place we found open for some meal. Communication was not so easy, but we could find the way to order some food.
 |
| Not really a breakfast, but great calories to be burnt in a while |
 |
| Marta & Peter at the restaurant frontyard |
The "breakfast" was very tasty and soon we were ready to start the cycling day.
Here there is quite a lot of people movimg around by scooter and also a lot of kids going to school by bicycle, depite being so early in the morning.
 |
| Road number 5 |
We stopped and one of the first road signs for a picture of the kilometers left to Phnom Penh.
 |
| 270 km left to the capital |
Although the picture do not show it, the traffic in this road is somehow intense, but the most annoying thing is that almost every vehicle use the horn. Gosh, it is so hard to have some minutes of silence and enjoy the cycling trip!
 |
| Peter Lamb & Marta cycling |
 |
| Somewhere on road number 5 |
Due to the intense heat, we stop many times to buy some water. There are loads of places to buy cold water bottles and the price is always the same (1000 riels for 2 bottles of 500 ml). At this place, there was a kid selling the producta. We was very nice and we took a picture with him.
 |
| At the shop |
It is very common that this shops also sells fuel for the scooters. I could not find the volume of the bottles, but I think that it should be over 1 litre and it costs 4100 Riels. They use old Coca Cola bottles :)
 |
| The fuel, on the left |
We passed through some villages and as usual people were very friendly to us. On the next picture, although it is quite dark, you can see Marta waving at one girl that was going to school by bicycle.
 |
| Peter Lamb & Marta |
If you think I am talking too much about kids going by bicycle to school, have a look at the next picture. It was taken at a school frontyard. The number of bikes was impressive!
 |
| Bikes at a school |
The sky was getting more and more grey and then it started to rain. It felt quite good that rain to cool down a bit and, despite being harder, we kept cycling.
 |
| Cycling under rain |
 |
| Marta struggling to keep the good pace |
The rain did not last long (probably around 25 minutes) and we stopped by a local street vendor to buy some hammicks. They asked us for 9 USD for each hammick but we said that it was expensive and we would like to take 2 hammicks for 10 USD. They agreed immediatly which made us think that we could pay less for it. But lets be real, 10 USD for 2 hammicks that we will use a lot it is very cheap!
Now we have to find a place to set our new hammicks and rest for a while, afterall it is getting quite hot and we need to wait untill the afternoon. Luckly we found out a temple, after taking an unpaved road for about 500 meters, and we entered to ask someone if we could have a rest there.
 |
| The temple's entrance |
 |
| Laying buddha |
There were some younger monks and I talked to them, but they were very shy. One of them brought a older monk, probably around my age and he said in quite good English that we were welcome to have a rest at their place.
When I was trying to settle the hammicks under the tree I just made a normal knot, bit one of the monks came and taught us the best knot to use. Well, it is hard to explain by words how is it, but I took some time to learn it and the monk was very patient to teach it over and over again.
 |
| Marta having a rest |
 |
| Just before having a nap! |
After some hours resting, blogging and waiting for the sun to get a bit lower, it was time to go back to the road. We thanked them for the hospitality and they wished us a good journey. I did not ask to take a picture with them, as I did not know if I should or not.
 |
| Some very heavy loaded bicycle |
The road is nice, almost always flat and there is loads of time for waving and greeting, looking at the landscape, resting, thinking, taking pictures, make small videos...
 |
| Peter Lamb's shadow cycling |
The kilometers were passing and all the small villages (read as a buch of houses close to the main road) we were passing did not seem to have any guesthouse, so we kept cycling, as we have no other option.
 |
| Good lamdscape, tired face :) |
 |
| Sun is going to set soon |
 |
| Cambodian countryside |
 |
| Sunset time and still no place to stay! |
We found a guesthouse just when was getting dark, which was a very lucky event.
After locking our bikes, take the bags inside and have a shower we asked where could we have some dinner. The owner of the guest house suggested a place across the street, but another guy said that he could take us to another place nearby. We came on his scooter (without helmet of course) and it was a fun ride, the three of us on his scooter.
We had some fried rice and payed a couple of beers for him and his mates that were gathering at the "restaurant". The rode back was also on the scooter.
Summary of the day:
- Daily distance: 83,2 km
- Daily time: 4h21m32s
- Average speed: 19,08 km/h
- Maximum speed: 28,17 km/h
Total travelled so far: 429,65 km
Total time cycling: 25h31m52s
And that is all for now folks!
Best,
Peter
Postado com o Blogsy
