Once again we woke up half an hour before the alarm went off and we were on our bicycles soon after five o'clock, once again to beat the heat. The route to Phanom Rung was mostly on quieter 4 digit roads with only fourteen kilometers on highway 24. It was slightly uphill most of the way, just enough for one to notice that it wasn't flat and it wasn't too hot so we made good time despite a few stops for breakfast (some grilled chicken and rice which we shared with a dog somewhere on the 2208) and a few colddrinks.

Cycling in Thailand is so easy with good roads, (mostly) law-abiding drivers and plenty of local shops and 7-11's for relieving ones thirst etc. Even the busy highway 24 wasn't too bad, certainly not as busy as the section between Prasat and Surin two days ago. Birdlife is also more obvious than in Cambodia although mostly common birds and nothing new for us. I must say that compared to four years ago the bird density in Cambodia appears to have increased. The northern areas of Cambodia seems to have good birdlife, particularly around Kulen Prum Tep Wildlife Sanctuary which covers a lot of the countryside between Krong Preah Vihear and Anglong Veng.

We're staying at Smart Resort in Phanom Rung, just 7 kilometers from the Historical Park of the same name which we plan to visit tomorrow along with Muang Tam, another Khmer site.

We shared three plates of food between the two of us last night and had some bananas before we left so, with the rice and chicken from earlier on still keeping us satisfied, we ended up giving second breakfast and lunch a miss today. I'm sure we will get the munchies in a big way later this afternoon.

And so it was. Leigh went off to buy food while I was working mid-afternoon. Not a minute too soon.