Cycling Cambodia

Sitting here, I've been racking my brains trying to figure out when the last time I enjoyed putting ice in my pants more than today...Not many (some) but not many come to mind.  Today was a really physically and mentally hard day, we rode for 40 miles and I felt every pedal.  I was sick yesterday and could not ride, so I was stuck in the van.  I firmly believe that touring the country on a bike is the best way to get acquainted with a place...I realize I actually know very little of this place and am taken by surprise almost every turn of my head.  

Don't get me wrong there, are no doubt advantages of touring around on a bus...Air conditioning...Comfortable seats...Not pedaling a bike.  

Some might think this is nuts.  And believe me there is a huge part of me that agrees. When we first started thinking about a trip it was Connie (Madeleine's friend from swimming) who introduced us to Tree.  She and her husband had work with him before and he came with high praise.  Tree is awesome, I don't know if anyone else could provide me with what I needed from this trip any better.  Every mile we were faced with the sounds, smells and temperatures of the real Cambodia. 

 

Being in a van or bus you see the same things but you miss them too major.   You buzz by the world and can easily forget what you just saw.  Everything flies by at 50 miles per hour, and is gone and changed before you realize what is was.   There is also a chance to sleep, missing out on everything. 

I guess it depends on you goals.  Are you on a journey or are you getting to a destination.  This trip is all journey, in every sense of the word.  I have loved every pedal.  Every second is a new destination that melts into the next.  Riding through a village at twelve miles per hour you see everything and have time to take it all in.  Things approach you so slow and stay with you so much longer.  There is almost a sense of overload as you can't take it all in but you hunger for it.  

You are also engulfed by the world, in an almost shocking manner, there is no tint from a window, no filtered air, no direction to turn away to.  The ecology we've seen is so diverse.  Open grasslands and rice fields, to pine forests and jungles consisting of broad-leafed trees.  Each is as breathtaking as the last.  

 

 

Cycling 30 to 40 miles per day in 90 - 95 degrees (32 - 36 C) and 90% humidity has given me a new appreciation for culture as comfort.  Cultures main job is to allow us to live where we shouldn't in ways that are naturally unsustainable. But there is only so much it can do.  I'm sweating, and drinking, eating less than normal and working out it off in the first ten minutes...I must be losing weight...Still look like an overstuffed sausage in my cycling jersey.  Although I do have some pretty sweet tan lines. 

 

We have ridden through so many small villages, so many, I have no possible way of knowing any of their names.  But I can say that each has it's own spirit.  People are going about their business, taking care of children, tending their animals, working in their small shops or just waiting.  To me, every I see is today and special.  For them this is everyday and the mundane.  

Maybe a little excitement is generated when cyclist come through.  Actually yesterday Tree said when the kids see tourist come through, it gives them "dreams" of what could be.  I wonder, not to place myself in some special position, but I wonder if me being here could even larger effect.  They see me, as one of them, not just a tourist.  Maybe I can hope that in some way I am seeding the future success for some of the beautiful children. 

If we stop, a crowd usually forms, with a handful or more of children gathering around us.  If they are old enough and lucky enough they are wearing school uniforms.  Others wear western style clothing of various designs.  It is the smiles; bright, huge and constant.  You cannot see them enough and you cannot look away.  If we don't stop, the kids wave and then yell with all their exuberance "HELLOOOO!" from where ever they are playing. Life does not get better than this.