17 March 2010 - Monkeying around!

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We want to explore the local area so rent a bike which is a semi-automatic. Rik has only ridden an automatic so after he is given a quick lesson on how to use it, we are ready to go. We drive around for ages, looking for a temple we don’t find. The ride is great, however. We ride along the coast and eventually we’re going past fields and dodging cows intent on crossing the road. It’s safe driving a bike around here as despite it being the main road, vehicles only pass now and then. In fact, there is not much in Kep - it is refreshingly unspoilt and undeveloped. All you get in the way of shops are a few huts scattered here and there. It is a totally different world …

On our way back we stop at a beach and spend some time there, before making our way to the guest house. I suddenly shout ‘Stop!’ and point out some monkeys at the side of the road to Rik. So cute, we say, until a few of them start making their way towards us ... A bike drives past us and as it passes the monkeys, one of them tries to attack the driver. Not so cute after all! Riks turns the bike around and drives away from the monkeys, which are getting pretty close, and then turns around again and drives past them quickly. Don’t want those little darlings getting their hands on us! Back at the bungalow, I chill in the hammock with a beer and watch the sunset. This is the life ... !

Later on, we go to the restaurant for dinner. We are getting bitten a fair amount and there are lots of bugs about, which increase the later it gets, and at one point I am smacked in the face by a UFO. Later on I discover a beetle crawling through my hair … it’s all part of the experience!

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