Well, the dogs were quiet until about 2am when they decided to have a competition with the cockerels- who can bark/crow the loudest!! I managed to get back to sleep until 5am - alarm goes off at 5.30am anyway. I must remember to fish out my ear plugs from my bag for tonight!

After a disappointing breakfast yesterday today's was amazing. We had a lovely fresh omelette (which was warm hurrah!) & a baguette. The tea & coffee were revolting but you can't have everything!!
One of the women on the trip, Brenda is a spinning teacher so she took our warm up this morning! It was like a mini aerobics class in the hotel courtyard! We set off at 7am & cycled a very pleasant 15km. The sun had just risen, the temperature was perfect & the scenery was beautiful. We cycled past water buffalo out in the lake, rice fields, & smiley waving friendly locals.
Our first stop was at a local school. We visited them in their morning break & gave them pens, pencils, paper etc along with a donation of money for the school. Then we got to play with the kids who were lovely & happy despite having nothing! It was great but made me really emotional. Half the kids had no shoes & their clothes were a mishmash & grubby. The school toilets were horrendous - a grubby hole in the ground to squat over. It made me think of my 2 and just how lucky they are. We played 'duck, duck, goose', the Hokey Cokey & ring o' roses.
We then set off on the next stint of our ride. We'd been told that out of the 98km for the day, 60km would be on an unsealed road - well the first part was horrendous! It was uneven & rocky which took so much concentration & extra strain in hands, arms & shoulders. To make matters worse we were riding into the wind.
It was a really difficult morning of riding & I got a slow puncture so had to pull over & have my tyre pumped up. This meant I was at the back on my own & I could just see the last person in the group in the distance. The local guides that are riding with us are fabulous. I was getting shattered trying to catch up riding into the strong wind so one of the guys rode in front of me to provide shelter & acted as my pace maker to help me catch up.
We then stopped for lunch before getting back on the road & back into the wind. Thankfully now the road was more of a dirt, sandy track & mainly flat. But my tyre played up so I had to pull over to get my wheel changed. I'd made the mistake of setting off in the last group so by the time I'd got a new wheel I was miles behind the others! I had the mini bus & 2 local guides with me! One rode in front and the other behind me & it was a good half an hour before we caught up with the last person. Although this ride isn't a race, it really affects you psychologically if you're at the back on your own. It also means that when you get to the rest stop you don't get much recovery time so by the time you've been to the loo, had a drink & snack it's time to go. Then, if you don't set off with the front group you end up at the back again ready for the next break so it's a vicious circle.
The last couple of 17km stretches were tough too. Everyone was suffering because of the wind. A man on the trip called Ray was my hero for one stretch because he cycled right in front of me to shield me from the wind - lovely man. He did the same thing for another lady who was struggling in the last stint when I had Tom to help me.
This time we didn't finish at the hotel but got on the coach for 45 minutes into the city. It was a quick 45 min turn around before heading out to an orphanage. I was a bit apprehensive as I've really been missing my boys so had visions of smuggling Cambodian babies out in my suitcase! It was fine though because it turned out to be an orphanage for 6-19 year olds. They did a dance show for us and we gave them gifts if toys and a donation. They were lovely kids. Dad asked one of the older boys which football team he supported & when said Liverpool Dad went to fetch Ray (scouser) who proceeded to get out his Liverpool shirt & give it to the boy who, as you can imagine was over the moon!
We had a lovely dinner then Janine from Marie Curie handed out letters of support from home. It was a bit like 'I'm a celebrity'! Tom & I got one from mum & Tom got one from Phily. I was upset not to have one from Steve but it turns out my bro has got some secret letters stashed in his bag so I'm off for an early night to read them :-)
Night all
Lots of love
Xx