Ride: 50km; total: 729km
Day 13: Sihanouk Ville – Ream National Park (50km) Breakfast at the hotel and early morning enjoy swimming at the beach. Then cycle 25km through 3 hills to take the boat trip at Ream National Park to visit the mangrove forest. Relax at the quiet beach before hiking 45 minutes to 1 hour through the jungle to the village where lunch is prepared with local family. Relax on the boat and observe patiently to see the dolphin. Afternoon, return back to Sihanouk Ville for relaxing at the beach (B,L,D)The
first part of the day, from 8am, was a pretty tough ride. They took us up some unrideable (for me
anyway) rocky hills. I managed to stay
on the second big hill but the first one got me when my front wheel lifted off
the ground. I just haven’t had any practice at this off road stuff. I do like it so will be doing more from now
on.
It
was then onto the busy hwy for a very quick 10km ride to the next quiet road.
I started off by staying on Ken Uren’s (a world champ) back wheel, but he
quickly pulled away on the hills so I just took my time. The quiet road
led us to a great beach in the middle of nowhere where there was a muslin
fishing community. The Chinese are developing a casino, golf course and
resort in this area too. The Chinese are everywhere!
The
lunch was great, the dining room a simple palm leaf thatch roof open area.
A few of the group weren't eating much due to tummy problems so there was
food to spare. I had a fresh large coconut drink and was stuffed by the
time I finished. There is nothing better that a fresh icy cold coconut
drink on a hot humid day. It’s good for
you too I believe.
I
then wandered down to the lounge chairs in the shade and had 40 winks. I
awoke to find everyone gone. They hadn't noticed that I was sleeping;
however the back up truck had waited for me. I rode the 15km back out to the pickup point
on my own, which was nice for a change.
Back
to the motel where I spent most of the afternoon washing and cleaning gear. I then went for a wander to the
For
dinner we went to an Italian restaurant run by a little Frenchman. Most
ordered pizzas and pasta but I had a nice fillet steak with veggies. Very nice, but a bit too rare. The meals were a long time coming, which
simulated the appetite nicely. This
was also Leslie's (
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