January 5, 2007
To Phnom Penh: vistas and rice fields
We're a little bit delayed this morning because our milk has frozen solid in the fridge. It has just begun to get light as we roll out of town. The landscape is wide open today, we see large vistas of rice fields, palm trees and wooden houses on stilts. We are cycling the alluvial plain that is drained by the Tonle Sap. There's an interesting cloud sky this morning which makes for several nice sunrise pictures.
We stop at a mileage marker to eat our second breakfast and find our nice loaf of brown bread from Siem Reap has molded. Fortunately, there were only a few slices left. We eat some bananas and move on. Some kilometers further we stop by the side of the road to shoot some pictures of a group of people harvesting rice. A machine separates the rice from the straw and shoots the straw in the blue sky.
Just as we get ready to ride on, a guy on a bike laden with coconuts stops. He convinces us that we want to buy a coconut, then props up his bike with a stick, uses his flip flops to keep the bike from rolling. He cuts a large nut from the bundle hanging behind the saddle and starts hacking with a large knife. Both the bottom and top are flattened, then he cuts a small hole in the top and sticks in a straw. Fresh coconut milk!! Patrick takes pictures during the process and gives him a dollar, probably enough to buy a dozen coconuts. Lots of smiles and gestures but no talking because neither of us speaks the others language.
We are having a nice tailwind at first. Then the wind shifts a bit to a crosswind. The last 30km the road follows the Tonle Sap River to Phnom Penh. On one side of the road, the river and the other side, flooded fields. The narrow strip of land on either side of the road is crammed full of wooden shacks, livestock and drying stink stuff. It is dusty and it smells! Rachel wears a mask, it's too hot for Patrick to do so. Patrick has learned that breathing the dust gives him cold-like symptoms the next day...headache, stuffy head and sore throat.
Traffic gets much busier as we near the city, the last 10km are pretty crazy with bikes, mopeds, and cars everywhere with no apparent traffic rules except for "size wins". We have changed our minds of where to stay in Phnom Penh. Instead of heading for a cluster of budget guesthouses in the western part of town, we will stay along the river where a whole series of hotels and restaurants line a nice boulevard. It's only one o'clock but we quickly discover that rooms fill up early here. Patrick looks at four hotels all about in the $30 range and the best is a room buried inside the building with no outside windows. We continue on and end up at the Bali Guesthouse, a place talked about by the Dutch cyclists. For $20USD it's not the best value with only a lukewarm shower, no fridge and a bed with a large foam pad on it, but on the plus side it has a TV with good stations and best of all a river view.
From a roof terrace we overlook the confluence of the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers. The boulevard is lined with flags from many nations. We treat ourselves to a pizza and beer and spend the afternoon relaxing and watching movies.
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Today's ride: 92 km (57 miles)
Total: 3,707 km (2,302 miles)
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