Anne and Jo's Bike ride in Vietnam and Cambodia

Don't have time for a full post so more tomorrow. But we are safely in Siem Reap after a long day of cycling on red dusty hot roads Check this out: https://youtu.be/nKM--ptgQys

Our first day cycling in Cambodia which started by taking the ferry from the rapidly growing city of Phnom Penh into rural areas which was very interesting. The people have very little and they live in houses built on stilts so their cows can live underneath. We had a packed lunch sitting outside and lots of children from the local village turned up and it was lovely to see their faces when we handed out pens and small toys. Jo has finally recovered from jet lag and acclimatised to the heat and cycled the full 80k. We had a 2.5 hour transfer at the end of the ride with a stop in the insect village where Anne sat on the bus and did not look at anything but Jo went into the market and sampled some crickets which were quite tasty. Other members of the Group ate scorpion and tarantula. Our hotel is in Kampongthom village and we feel very remote. We have had two power cuts already and had to carry our cases to floor 3 as there is no lift but the Wi-Fi is great....! leaving Phnom Penh 

Today we transferred from Vietnam to Cambodia spending over 4 hours on a boat travelling up the famous iconic Mekhon river. We arrived in Phnom Penh which is a vibrant bustling city with mopeds and cars to contend with. After lunch, which was the best meal so far, we went to S21 prison  and then onto The Killing  Fields of choeung  ek where many of the 17,000 prisoners from S21 were executed. It was a very sobering experience and hard to believe these atrocities happened in our lifetime. Early night tonight as we cycle from the hotel tomorrow and face 90k in 36 degrees of heat and no shade so we are all feeling slightly concerned.  Several days of these high temperatures are taking their toll on everyones bodies in different ways. We are going more remote tomorrow so not sure if we will have Wi-Fi.... leaving Vietnam flowers at lunch The Killing Fields

 floating market how to make noodles the last 10k of the day where we could go as fast as we wanted along a straight road that went on forever! relaxing at the end of the day

Today was our last day in Vietnam and we can only describe it as incredible. We started off seeing the floating market in Can Tho where the people live on and sell from their boats. Then we went to a noodle making factory, and on the way to lunch stopped to buy a live snake and snails which were then cooked for lunch. Jo tried both!  And one of our group was bitten by one of the snakes but is still alive!  At the end of the ride we had a 2 hour transfer which was a bit tough, but then a lovely dinner when we said goodbye to our tour guides. Bit of a late night as no cycling tomorrow. I can't upload any photos from this Wi-Fi connection  but will try later.

Today was long and tough but we cycled through some amazing scenery - banana groves and rice paddyfields- and saw lots of temples. Anne managed to fall off  again into a rice field and is giving up on cleats tomorrow and Jo succumbed to the heat and had a spell on the bus. We are staying in Can Tho and j ust had a lovely dinner and have to be up at 6am again tomorrow so time to sleep....