Pailin to Pong Nam Ron
We crossed over to Thailand after about 15K. Unfortunately we had to say good bye to some of our fantastic Cambodian guides. One of which was Polo who I thought did a fantastic job with organizing our rides and Smie who was our cultural guide. Vanik is our only guide that is constant throughout the trip.
The other thing that was sad to go was my little red bike. I really liked it, I had the fit dialed in and was quite happy with it. The bike they had for me in Thailand was 2 sizes too small. This made the hills in Thailand both difficult and painful. My knees were really aching and due to the bad position on the bike I got a saddle sore where my butt cheek meets the back of my thigh. Ouch! I should have a bike that is the right size in the morning (fingers crossed).
The place we are staying is near some mountains and very pretty. We watched a storm roll in in the evening and it was lovely.
There was karaoke at the restaurant tonight and of course Jeff sang. It was not fantastic, ut he made up for a lot with enthusiasm.
The increased economic status of Thailand versus Cambodia was immediately evident. The houses are nicer, the animals look healthier, more cars and less scooters, the roads are better, there is even less litter (but the air quality is pretty bad today). The people seem to be less friendly and less outgoing (they are not un-friendly, but we dont have children running after us and waving and asking for high fives, we are pretty much ignored). Even out guides seem to be much more reserved. It will be interesting to see if this is true for all of Thailand or just near the border.
All of us at the border crossing.
Our guides and support team.
Me on the way to the hotel.
The storm rolling in.
The other thing that was sad to go was my little red bike. I really liked it, I had the fit dialed in and was quite happy with it. The bike they had for me in Thailand was 2 sizes too small. This made the hills in Thailand both difficult and painful. My knees were really aching and due to the bad position on the bike I got a saddle sore where my butt cheek meets the back of my thigh. Ouch! I should have a bike that is the right size in the morning (fingers crossed).
The place we are staying is near some mountains and very pretty. We watched a storm roll in in the evening and it was lovely.
There was karaoke at the restaurant tonight and of course Jeff sang. It was not fantastic, ut he made up for a lot with enthusiasm.
The increased economic status of Thailand versus Cambodia was immediately evident. The houses are nicer, the animals look healthier, more cars and less scooters, the roads are better, there is even less litter (but the air quality is pretty bad today). The people seem to be less friendly and less outgoing (they are not un-friendly, but we dont have children running after us and waving and asking for high fives, we are pretty much ignored). Even out guides seem to be much more reserved. It will be interesting to see if this is true for all of Thailand or just near the border.
All of us at the border crossing.
Our guides and support team.
Me on the way to the hotel.
The storm rolling in.
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