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Published: June 25th 2017
Geo: 13.4691, 104.041
No sunrise this morning just a very leisurely start for WayJay. In fact it was a little sleep in for everyone because it was a "freedom of choice" selection on the itinerary.
Loraine opted to be the group's front runner for shopping and joined 7 others for a look at some specialty shops and back street markets. In a convoy of three tuk tuks, Loraine was loaded up with Diane and Fiona as partners in shopping crime. According to all reports all shoppers (and therefore vendors) were winners and purchases were made. Loraine scored a bag, some shirts and at the same time scored a hit for the AMOK curry. The rest of the group will retrace these steps in the afternoon.
Richard headed off in a tuk tuk with Lorraine from Newcastle in the direction of the countryside. The horse ranch had about 40 horses that were well cared for and well groomed and the ranch offered cart rides and horse rides.
With Richard and Lorraine - with two Rs from Newcastle safely on board - the horse ambled sedately along behind the cart in front and it was a leisurely ride punctuated with Lorraine's version of life in Newcastle. As
an aside from the Newcastle story, the horse cart driver was working two jobs and was building his stash to get married. He said he needed about $2000 US for this. Interestingly he didn't have a girl in mind....yet.
Richard does hope that this little cart ride does not turn out to be the highlight of the trip!
And after the slow pace of the morning, Richard suffered a definite blow to his ego. He had spent over 90 minutes cosied up to Lorraine with two Rs from Newcastle on the tuk tuk and the horse cart and when he passed her 15 minutes later in the lobby of the hotel, she had no idea who he was - she may have two "r"s in her name but seems as if she has dementia.....or 90 minutes with Richard without two Rs is totally unmemorable. Take your pick.
WayJay had ticked the box for the quad bike ride. Howard joked on the ride in that Long had tried killing us in the villages and along the Mekong and with food poisoning - and this was his last ditch effort to get rid of us. For a little while it looked as if we weren't
going to make it as our tuk tuk trailer, carrying six knee to knee passengers had a blow out on the dirt road to the village. I was mortified because the tyre that popped was the one right under my butt - and yes, I was the butt of all jokes. Looks like the weight loss juice I had for breakfast wasn't working either.
The instructions on how to ride were delivered by Nicho and it all seemed simple. Turn the key, select the gear, accelerate or brake. Mac went for his test drive and passed to drive solo. I opted from the start to be a pillion passenger. The bikes took off along the back roads of the countryside. Through red dirt, along rice fields and lotus ponds while waving at the locals and wherever possible hitting the mud puddles and sending the red muck flying. It was a true sense of freedom. Luckily all riders were wearing face masks otherwise their teeth would have been covered in red dust. Everything else certainly was, including Mac's ears which acted like satellite dishes on the side of his head and collected enough red dirt to start his own rice crop (cheers
big ears.)
As pillion passenger with Isobel I benefited from a running commentary - although it was heavily accented and punctuated with the occasional French. Isobel is the wife of the owner of the business and the family of four spend 6 months in Cambodia and 6 months in France. Isobel was providing info on a lot of the unanswered questions. She had a deep respect for the Khmer people and praised their kindness, integrity, honesty, loyalty and their work ethic. Her stories of the subsistence farmers, the lack of education, the piles of rubbish, the challenge of building a house and raising a family, the role of the government and the daily lifestyle of the people reinforced the information that had been shared by our guides over the last few days.
The group rode through the farming community for 90 minutes with just one pit stop where Mac became the hero of Diane and Jude simply by shouting them a drink. Most of the ladies had left their handbags back at the base to avoid the red coating of dust. Have to say that all the riders were equally excited sharing stories of dodging cows and bull dozers, chickens, ducks and
even children, while intentionally hitting every bump and mud puddle along the way. Lisa had been in the early morning group and loved the experience so much she was a double up! Even "TooWetandTooHot" who demanded bike 28 was full of compliments. Mac and Jude had been partners all the way and they were keen to celebrate with high five and share their stories.
The red dust crew were desperate to return to the Sofitel and clean up. It was a quick turnaround because Loraine sent through a message to say she had found the best coffee shop in Cambodia.
There was no stopping us. We bundled in to the first available tuk tuk and headed for the markets and Sister Shrey. Richard and I were a little distracted by tanks of hungry fish. The advertising sign guaranteed feet "as soft as a baby's bottom" and for the princely sum of $3 we fed the employees a gutful of foot sludge, detritus and dead skin for about an hour! What was it like? Ridiculously ticklish. Not so much relaxing as "a sensation." And we did get to share the experience with an Australian couple from Childers who were doing the "reverse"
trip and collectively we managed to pick their brains for some tips on possible itinerary inclusions for us. After removing our legs from the tanks we slipped on our shoes and felt they were half a size too big. The fish had even eaten the scab off the top of my foot. (Sorry Richard that is truly gross.) And almost hard to believe, for $10 we could have climbed the stairs for the full body treatment! Um, not bloody likely!
The coffee and food was as good as Loraine had promised and joined by fellow APT family members we slurped and chomped our way through more food, while Loraine added to the shopping collection by visiting the local boutique.
Mac and I then visited the markets because we were on a mission to buy THE SHIRTS. We were successful and all and sundry are invited to vote on "who wore it better." This was my treat for Richard and Mac and thought it would be a good gag for the night function.
The afternoon activity was a boy's only affair. Richard and Mac were determined to scale the third level of Angkor Wat and sourced themselves a $10 return ride from a tuk
tuk. The temple closes at 5 pm so they were cutting it a bit fine when they joined the snaking queue at the 30 minute marker. Only 100 people at at time are permitted on the top level. There was a system of "tags" on lanyards. As one person ascends, they hand the lanyard to the next person. In reality the wait was just on the 15 minute mark and they easily made the steep climb to the top and took all the necessary shots from all the right angles.
Mac, of course, had all of Richard's angles covered. I think this was his attempt at making peace with his previous anatomical focus. We'll see.
On the return journey the tuk tuk driver offered to stop off at an arts and crafts store which of course was politely refused. The driver then asked the boys to reconsider because he gets a free bottle of petrol for every visit. How could they refuse. So, with wallet firmly locked, they toured and admired the gemstones, assuring the sales person that they would be "Back tomorrow with their wives." Not likely, but the driver did get his bottle of petrol.
Dinner was the final farewelll gathering
and also featured a performance by the Apsara Dancers. We had front row seats for the performance. Can't believe how many farewells we have had and Howard commented that the dinners just keep coming like a John Farnham concert! Have to say that Mac was in his element tonight. Think he was buoyed by the attention of THE SHIRT. But he truly worked that table like a pro. I just had to sit back and laugh. He had Coralie, Trish, Diane and Fiona hanging on his every word, laughing at all his jokes and there was no doubt he was there hero of the table. Husbands, Denis and Tony, didn't get a look in.
The twin appeal of the shirts was the talking point of the evening and the group was polarised into love them or hate them mode. And with the added bonus of "9andahalfweeks" turning up in their shirts there was endless banter. Best 10 bucks I have spent on the trip. Don't think you'll see Richard or Macca in them again anytime soon.
The unseasonal rainy conditions continued with an amazing light show with sheets of lightening flashing across the sky accompanied by the rumbling of thunder. It was
that heavy "plopping" rain as if someone had the unzipped a cloud and the water tumbled onto the roof. It was a spectacle but did put a dampener ( that was intentionally punny for Gary) on the proposed foray into Pub Street for a wild night out. Apparently the tuk tuks were not the safest in these conditions and unless we could have sourced copious quantities of bubble wrap we would have been drenched. We opted for the usual cocktails in the hotel bar along with lots of other APT crew members.
Nothing planned for tomorrow morning except the packing. Could be a sleep in.
Steps: 9 562 (add additional for the boys who revisited the temple)
Temperature : 37 degrees with torrential evening storm
PS: Best deal of the day was the bargain on the bag of laundry. First shower in a while that I haven't spent stomping on the washing.
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Dick
non-member comment
I think I prefer the coloured collar on Richard's over the white collar on Wayne's. They both wore them well.