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5.30am wake up today! I found it really hard to get out of bed today but a FaceTime conversation with Steve perked me up :-).
Breakfast at 6am which was a bit in the ropes side. I played safe with fried egg sandwiches, Tom went for the noodle soup which turned my stomach just looking at it!!
After a quick warm up we set off at 7am. That first sit down on my saddle made me 'oof' out loud - but luckily after about a minute it was fine. We stopped after about 3km to visit a temple. Although it was nice to see I would have preferred to carry on cycling. With a group as large as 53 it's never going to be possible to stop somewhere 'for a quick half an hour'! Especially when there's a toilet nearby! So an hour later we got back on the road & soon made progress whizzing along 15km to our first water/snack/toilet stop. The ride was lovely! The road was lovely smooth & flat, the temperature wasn't too warm & the scenery was amazing. After our stop we had another 15km to the border which surprisingly only took us 40 minutes to cross - I did think they might keep us waiting for ages! We had lunch 3 km into Cambodia & that's when I hit my first wall :-( I didn't enjoy lunch which put me in a bad mood because I knew I had to eat to give me energy but I wasn't hungry & I didn't find the food very appetising. There was a large silver bowl in the centre if the table & when the lid was taken off it reminded me of that scene in Indiana Jones when a sheep's brain & eyeballs come floating to the surface of a watery substance.
The next 15km was a real struggle. I wasn't mentally feeling it which made it hard to do physically. My wonderful brother stayed with me & saw me through it which was brill. All I wanted to do was go home!! After sulking through the break & stropping about the off roading that was coming up in the next stint I got going.
We cycled 12km on a bumpy dirt track which led through a residential area. This was amazing to see - straight away since entering Cambodia you can see differences between the people & houses. Cambodia seems much poorer but the people are happier & friendlier. The children run to the road waving their arms and shouting 'hello'! I soon snapped out of my bad mood & with Lionel Richie booming out if my iPhone I was back on track.
Once last stint brought us to Svey Reang. We are in a really basic 'hotel' - but to be honest we're so tired we'd sleep anywhere! The guides have put on a Cambodian language lesson which normally i'd be all over but if i don't catch up with my blog then i'll forget what we've been doing! Tom, Dad & Fi have gone so they'll have to fill me in.
Dinner was better - we had noodles as well as rice so I feel like i've eaten well. It's very unlike me not to enjoy foreign cuisine. I wonder if it's the nature of the trip? it's so physically demanding & emotional that maybe I'm craving familiar comfort food. I'd kill for some marmite on toast & a mug of tea!! or a jacket potato mmmmmmmmmm!
right, off to bed. I just hope that dog outside stops barking!! Gggrrrrr.
We did a total of 93km today in temperatures that reached 36 degrees Celsius. There were lots of sore bottoms & tonight I've got sore knees!
Here's to a good night's sleep & feeling loose tomorrow!
Xxx
- comments
Natalie Drake Keep going Liz - ignore the pain - cycle through it! Marmite on toast awaits you when you get home! Keep Smiling Much Love to you all xx
Emma Well done Liz - you really are a superstar xxxx