Cambodia - Day 3 Part 1

Of all my days at Cambodia, Day 3 was the most special. And even now, as I sit down to write this post, I wonder if I can do justice to what Day 3 means to me. Some things are just too difficult and too special to be expressed in words, but I'm not one to give up without a fight! So here goes Day 3...

There is something different about hanging out with an all-guys group. Of course, it has its advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages:
1. You are treated like a guy most of the time (and oh, may I say -- that is so refreshing!).
2. Where applicable, you are pampered like a girl.

Disadvantages:
As far as the disadvantages are concerned, well, errr... (let me think of something...) errr... ok, maybe I will talk about the disadvantages in a later post!

When it was decided that we will cycle the whole of Day 3, I had mixed feelings. Of course, it felt great to think of how exciting it would be! But I was also apprehensive about whether I was pushing myself too hard (ok yeah, so I have a bad knee and a genetic blood disorder that makes my red blood cells die faster than normal people, and I have to be extra careful about not tiring myself and blah blah blah...) well, but then who doesn't have problems in life?? I did not want to be ultra-paranoid.

Anyway, it was when Jeeves asked, "You can cycle, right?" (an incredidbly sweet gesture on his part) that I realised something -- if I hadn't been able to cycle, I would have to miss out on the whole deal of Day 3! After sending a mental note of thanks to Dad for buying me my first bicycle early in life, I replied, "Yes, I can! (I think.)" I think I was just as delighted about him caring enough to ask me if I could cycle, as I was about the others just assuming that I could! Ah well, you can't really blame me. Face it -- girls are complex. That's the essence of being one.

We got our bicycles and set off! We had barely started cycling when we saw this really cool-looking structure (no one had any clue what it was, and the inscription was in Khmer) and we thought we should start the day off with some pictures.


We stopped at the roadside and Ro dug his camera out...


...ran across the road to join us...


...and Chin took this photo...


And a close-up...


Chin: How come only "two" of us in this snap?
Where did the rest disappear?

Well, the rest were getting hot and impatient, and were already back on their bikes, ready to do some serious cycling!


And we set off!

Frankly speaking, I was quite nervous about cycling on the roads. It had been ages since I had last cycled, and I admit I was quite "wobbly" on the bike. Suddenly, Viv swerved onto my left to take a close-up, and I went "wobble wobble" again...


Yeah, I may be laughing here, but if this was a video, you would
have been able to see me wobble my way through!


Milestone #1 - Viv captures the moment with his camera.


Milestone #1 - Ro captures it with his camera (as evidence that
Viv was also there!)


And we set off again.

It was hot hot hot as usual, and yet the ride was so enjoyable! The road got better and better, and traffic got lesser and lesser (good for me, yeay!)


In the heart of Angkor...

It was such a pleasant sight to see trees of irregular shapes at irregular intervals, swaying irregularly in contrast to the "Stay-within-your-allocated-perimeter-or-have-your-branches-
chopped-off-and-yeah-don't-sway-too-much" trees that line Singapore roads.


What a pretty picture! Looks like a movie poster, doesn't it?

Not being in Singapore had never felt so good.