January 3, 2007
To Pursat: Phnom Penh Hotel
As the morning light becomes stronger, we see a town and countryside awaken. As we load our bikes, the hotel owner gave us 2 scarves as "souvenirs". A bakery is open, and we got some baguettes for the road, and we are out of town. The road has a nice shoulder and its asphalt!! ...not red dust.
As the day progresses the countryside is much like on the way to Siem Reap...one big rice field. We start to see wagons filled with hay pulled by oxen and small horses pulling carts, like the reliefs on the temples.
There are still plenty of land cruisers and Lexus on the road. Today is a long day in kilometers, but we make very good time and even have a slight tailwind for a while. Just after we take our first rest stop of a baguette and Nutella, we catch up with the two Dutch cyclists, both on Vittorio's, the same as Patrick's bike. They have front and rear panniers just like us and look like serious cyclists. We ride with them for a while but then we go ahead because they are a bit slower.
On our next rest stop they pass us again, only to get caught again by us. They are slow and steady. The country is again very flat. All around us are rice fields, dry this time of year with most rice already harvested. There are wooden shacks built on stilts, a sign most of this country floods in the wet season. Everywhere children shouting "hello" or "bye bye". Some know enough English for a "what is your name." Of course, every shout deserves a reply from us, so we are kept busy responding. Traffic is light, there are some annoying taxis mostly white or dark Toyota Corolla that drive too fast for the road conditions and try to make room by leaning on their horn most of the way. Most entertaining are the pickup trucks loaded high with cargo and people.
Sometimes there are mopeds tied to the back or people sitting on the hood... We get to Pursat at about 1pm, find the hotel, we have a very nice room, hot water, fan, fridge and satellite TV for $7USD. We check email and walk briefly down the street, but for most of the afternoon we enjoy the luxuries of our room. The Dutch cyclists do not show up in our hotel, there must have been a communication problem. We have dinner in the hotel restaurant, recommended by the Lonely Planet, but the food is very disappointing.
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Today's ride: 107 km (66 miles)
Total: 3,520 km (2,186 miles)
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