Kampong Cham to Angkor Wat to Phnom Pehn

Sorry folks, feels like Im getting behind on these postings...I'll try to pick up where Ev left off. After our epick ride from Kratie to Kampong Cham, we woke up the next morning feeling pretty drained, but decided to grind out the 60 miles to Kampong Thom anyway. Seems like 60 miles in a day doesnt sound like much anymore, but like Ev said "you still gotta pedal every single mile". Not a super eventful ride, but we saw for the first time the enourmous rubber tree plantations that are very important to Cambodia's economy. we rode through miles and miles the trees (all differnt sizes--they stop produing after about 50 years, so the plantations are always cutting some and planting others to keep supy up) each one with a little cup attached to it to collect the sap. A nice change from rice fields--pretty, and they also provide shade on the road and block the wind (awesome).

Anyway, we made it to Kampong Thom (kinda a nothing crossroads town) and found a cheap guest house, a coupla beers and a whole lota food. I dont know if the food here is not as complex (rice, rice noddles, etc) as the food Im used too or if my metabolism is in hyper-drive from riding over 1100 miles in 4 weeks, but I cant stop eating. 4 or 5 meals a day, no joke. Fortunately, food here is cheap, plentiful and tasty! Still seem to be loosing some weight, though.

The next day, we rode about 20 miles out to temple in the forest called Sambor Prei Kuhk. Being fairly out of the way and the off-season for tourist, we pretty much had the place to ourselves. Three temple complexes originating in the 7th century were dedicated to the Hindu pantheaon-Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma. These temples remained active places of worship into the Angkorian period (10th - 12th centuries), although some of the art and focus shifted to Buddhism as Therevada Buddhism replaced Hinduism in Khmer culture (khmer=dominant ethnic group in cambodia). Unfortunately, much of the artwork associated with these temples was destroyed or looted during the Vietnam War(...-1975), the Khmer Rouge era (1975-1979), the Cambodian war with Vietnam ('79-80), and the following Cambodian Civil war (1980-1989). Nevertheess, many of the brick and sandstone temples still stand, more beautiful for the jungle that engulfs them, and enough of the original stonework survives to give a glimps of what must have been an incredible work of arcitecture.

That afternoon, we hightailed it through a massive rainstorm back to town and threw our muddy bikes and muddier selves on a bus to Siem Reap, the home of Angkor Wat. Felt like kinda a cop-out, but it saved us a whole day (90 miles), and time is starting to seem a little more real to us---I cant believe this crazy trip is more than halfway over!! Anyway, we hit Angkor Wat yester, and it did not dissapoint. I wont try to desccribe it all cause I could write a book and still not get the message across. Anyway, we spent all day on bikes and foot cruising around to different temples and didnt see half of what was there. It just goes on forever, each temple is huge--mostly carved sandstone blocks--and so ornately carved that it seems that you could look at one temple all day and keep finding new and amazing sculpture. An interesting collision of Hindu and Buddism, with many temples honoring both sets of gods, it was constructed by the Khmer Angkor civilization at the hight of thier power (10th-13th century) when they dominated most of mainland SE asia. Its an amazing place, and we finished teh day at sunset drinking a beer on top of a temple looking out over the jungle. Then it pissed rain on us for 10 miles back to town--it can REALLY rain here, but after a while you just get into it and its just like jumping in puddles like when we were little kids. Some things never change.

Today, we bused it to the capitol city, Phnom Pehn. Its a crazy alive city, without feeling dangerous (except the traffic). We hit up the National Museum this afternoon where they keep a lot of the statues and artifacts that were recovered from places like Angkor Wat and Sambor Prei Kuhk--sadly, those things have a way of dissapearing when left in thier original places. Tommorow, we've signed up for an all-day cooking class: we'll start with a trip to the market for ingredients, then we'll spend most of the day whiping up traditional Khmer food!!! Sweet! Get ready for some serious curry action when we get home!

On Deck: Next few day should find us heading south to the Cambodian and Thai coast. We may swing into Thailand for a couple of days of beach time and hopefully rendezvous with the long lost Ms. Victoria Stannard, who is currently on vacation from saving the world in Yap. Still ironing out the details, but it sounds like a go.

Alright, I love you all and hope this finds you well.
Miles

p.s. Steve, Im wicked jealous of you catching all those Tuna!!!!!