Days 5 & 6 Cycle: Siem Reap to Thailand. 80 miles Day 1; 50 miles Day 2

 

Day6 cycle route

After 4 days of luxury r&r at the Golden Temple hotel we felt ready to set off again, heading for the border with Thailand and with our next adventure awaiting us 😉

We set off bright and early - 6am - 78 miles lay ahead of us and (unbeknown to us) our toughest ride yet!! It wasn't long before the temperature really started to rise and, as if that wasn't challenging enough, we faced a strong headwind all day. That saying "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" kept coming to mind 😂

Setting off from Siem Reap bright and early 

We didn't really have a master plan coping strategy - keeping cool and trying to get miles under our belt seemed to be our dual aim though. Unfortunately the roadside offerings weren't quite as good as we'd enjoyed thus far but as we became more desperate the kindness of strangers came to our rescue and we were given free water and ice. One lovely lady, without speaking any English, managed to make friends with Max on Facebook within an instant and was delighting in working out our back story 😂. Moments like this helped us to dig deep for the remainder of what can only be described as a gruelling day's ride. 

Free (and much needed) ice from a very kind man 

Max's new Cambodian facebook friend 
"That picture says hot" to quote Kerry and yes, indeed it was!! 

Our $12 dollar accommodation for the night - no complaints from us👌 

We were so relieved to arrive at our accommodation that night. It was quite basic but clean and comfortable with another perfect spot to hang our washing! They had a "restaurant" on site and, not having eaten much all day, we were very hungry indeed! No-one spoke English but with the help of Google translate we just about managed and before long we were tucking into beef, rice and a lovely salad. I wouldn't describe it as a gourmet feast but being our only option and given that we were absolutely starving, we were very grateful indeed. Not much more to report on this day as once fed we barely managed to watch any TV before we were both in bed and fast asleep!! 

Up again at 5am the next morning, and both feeling much better after a great night's sleep, we were back on the road again by 5.50 am. Today we were crossing the border into Thailand and facing our first real climb of the trip. No pressure then!! 

The ride was 50 miles and the climb came half way just as we reached the border. When I saw the hill in the distance I wondered how on earth we'd manage but when it came to it we did just fine. The area around the border itself was quite pleasant and getting through border control (both Cambodia and Thailand) was quite exciting - the bike and our travel plans proved almost too much for the official I spoke to and I think he just waved us on in the end as we couldn't easily tick the boxes to his questions 🤣🤣
That sign was designed to scare! 

The border area - a very relaxed and friendly atmosphere prevailed 

Having climbed to cross the border we were rewarded with a nice downhill stretch on the other side and a fairly gentle ride for the remainder of the day. In need of refreshments but with no Thai money to our names, our next challenge was finding a cashpoint. Easy or so we thought until the first town we reached with an ATM had completely run out of cash! We struggled on and had to do abit of a detour into the next town before making our way to our accommodation for the next couple of days. 

We finally arrived at Ryan's Resort around 2pm. Max was convinced we'd be met by Ryan an Australian but as it turned out Gary was infact the owner and he was from Belfast 😂. He was a really nice guy anyway and, perhaps more importantly, a really good cook! So, we spent the next couple of days getting our fill of proper home cooked English food - well Max had a couple of curries (his favourite home cooked food!) which Gary made extra hot for him 😉

Ryans Resort - that pool was a very welcome sight! 

There were quite a few expats at the resort too and they were really friendly and good company during our brief stay. It was really interesting to hear their back stories, what had led them to move to Thailand, their perspectives on life as an expat, the ways and foibles of the local Thais and a host of other topics in between 😂😂

After a couple of days of rest and good food we were ready to set off again. Our next leg was going to be a fair challenge - four days of cycling with a mix of long and shorter rides. Only time would tell how we'd fare 🤞🤞







Comments

  1. Anonymous25 December 2023 at 01:15

    Sarah and Max it all looks fantastic to me and your blog bought back memories of another hospital experience nearly 50 years ago when Sarah got sunburnt in a Welsh beach / take care Helen

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sarah25 December 2023 at 03:48

      Oh yes, I remember it well 🫣 I'd like to think I've learnt my lesson - it's factor 50 all the way these days 😉

      Delete
  2. Jane27 December 2023 at 11:03

    What an adventure! Sounds a opportunity to really experience the authenticity of the region - and very well done on the cycling challenge!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sarah28 December 2023 at 01:42

      Yes, we definitely feel like we got beyond the tourist experience and got a real insight into local life. It certainly felt very authentic x

      Delete

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