We left Phnom Penh this morning shortly after 6am, hoping to beat the heat and arrive in Kompong Cham around midday. We had a 110km ride ahead of us and we had been warned by Tim and Tina (who are now well ahead of us and are kindly providing us with lots of useful tips) that the road conditions would not be great. About 10km out of the city, the road went from smooth tarmac to dirt and gravel which started to slow us down.
(Early morning view of Phnom Penh from the Friendship Bridge)
(Road works and dusty roads)
(A little stilt house floating on a sea of red dust)
(Men doing repair work, using very rickety looking scaffolding)
We escaped onto a small road that would take us along the Mekong all the way to Kompong Cham. When we found it, it was a relief to be off the dusty highway and onto a smaller, quieter paved road which took us through some lovely little Cham villages. The Cham people are mostly Muslim and we passed a few mosques and many women and young girls wearing hijabs. With the warm golden sunshine, the coconut and mango trees lining the roads, the lazy Mekong meandering along in the background and all the smiles and waves from the local people, it really felt like an exotic little paradise.
(One of the many Mosques we passed along the Mekong)
(A Khmer woman wearing a traditional krama tied around her head.
The tradition of wrapping their heads is said to date back to the Angkor period)
(A pony with a colourful harness)
Unfortunately our exotic paradise later turned into a hot dusty mess and the last 40km of our journey was hard going as we found our wheels getting bogged in sand or thrown around from underneath us by the rocky sections of road.
(The sight of the Mekong helped us know we were still on the right track)
We arrived into Kompong Cham mid afternoon feeling absolutely spent. Paul had been struggling with an upset stomach all day and had no appetite despite having eaten very little all day. Once we had found a hotel for the night and washed off the tonne of dirt we had dragged in with us, we settled in for a lazy evening. Our plan was to cycle west tomorrow but at this stage, the furthest we're likely to get tomorrow is up the road to the nearest cafe.
(Finally at our destination. Who needs a sun tan when you can just cover yourself in a bit of red dirt and sweat)
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