The race started at 6:00am on Saturday. That meant we all had to wake up at 4:30am to get ready and meet in town to ride together to the start line. The start line was 8 kilometers away from the meeting point. I felt a little mislead since that meant we were biking 46k, not 30. As a well known poor biker, and this weekend one who was running on little sleep, those extra 16k didn’t help me. However, biking through Siem Reap in the dark was really fun and it was still nice and cool throughout the whole race which is a huge feat in Cambodia and explains the 6:00am start time.
A few friends and I cruised along, stopping frequently to take pictures of the temples (or waiting for me to catch up) which I will post so everyone can see them, even though some are a little blurry since I took them while biking (footnote 3). The road doesn’t actually run through the main temples of Angkor Wat but we did get to see Bayon, and the Terrace of the Elephants, among other things, which are both pretty famous landmarks. I was really impressed with the temples we saw and cannot wait until I get an opportunity to really see Angkor Wat. The highlight for me was definitely near the end when we saw all the monkeys on the side of the road. I stopped to take some pictures and one monkey walked right up to the edge of the road, where it picked up a hard candy, unwrapped it and ate it! I was so excited by this, maybe just because I was a little delusional after biking for over two hours on 4 hours of sleep, but that monkey definitely wrapped up the race for me (pun intended… get it? He had a candy wrapper?). We had maybe 10 more minutes of riding after the monkey sighting. I like to think that I am a decently athletic person. I can hold my own at most athletic events, and keep up with the average person, but I am certainly no biker. I am fine to cruise around town on a bike, or even ride for a little exercise, but there will be no Tour de France appearances anytime in my future. If it weren’t for my friend Lori yelling, “Don’t stop pedaling! We are almost there!” I would probably have given up about 5 minutes before the finish line. We all finished in a cool 2 hours and 24 minutes. Next year I’m going for 2 hours and 20 minutes. I think it is do-able.
Overall I had a really great weekend because this was my first chance to do something outside of Peace Corps in Cambodia and really feel like I accomplished something challenging, even if I accomplished it slowly. I was ready to go back to site by the end of the weekend though. As much as I am bored in my village frequently or irritated by my co-teachers or my inability to communicate in Khmer, I think I am getting used to village life. Being in Siem Reap town for a weekend is enough to wear out my patience (and my budget). It is nice to go in to town and be just another white face in the crowd for a few days, instead of the token town “Barang,” but it is also irritating that to all the tuk tuk drivers and little kids hawking postcards or books you are just another visitor. They don’t know that you live there and aren’t interested in their service or products. I appreciate that these people are hassling me to make their living, but it grates on the nerves to have someone yelling, “lady tuk-tuk!” at every corner. I am ready for a little peace and quiet, reading my book, sitting in the hammock, and even, believe it or not, a little rice.1. http://www.angkormarathon.org/
2. http://www.villagefocus.org/
3. http://picasaweb.google.com/meaganeg/AngkorWatBikeRace
Hi Meg,
ReplyDeleteSounds like you are acclimating to village life. Sounds like too much civilization came to Siam Reap this weekend. But, I'm glad you had fun.