This morning we left Siem Reap at about 6:00. We stopped after 13 km for breakfast. We reached Srei Noi around 10:00. It was a little too early to call it quits, so we had second breakfast and moved on We ate a late lunch in Anlong Veng. Where we stopped the proprietors were eating their meal between serving lunch and starting dinner, so they ordered for us from the restaurant next door.
Still not ready to call it a day, we pushed on to the border crossing. The last 5 km of the road in Cambodia are quite steep. We walked our bikes. At the top of the hill I saw a much wanted sign for a restroom and made for it. In my haste to find the restroom I was delighted to find that the proprietor spoke Thai. After taking care of necessities, I had a nice talk with her. She was very nice. She was from Thailand and was very proud of her piece of civilization on the Cambodian side of the mountain.
After she had allowed us the use of her restrooms and served us free clean ice water, I thought it good to buy something (not considering the early hour of sunset). After eating some well-prepared food we proceeded through the border. Everything went smoothly.
Once in Thailand it looked like we were going to have just enough light to make it to a room 10 km in. Having gone about a kilometer, Mark, while taking a picture, veered off course into my bike. Some part of my bike (left pedal?) took off the top of his front tube’s valve, quickly flattening the tire. Darkness fell as we replaced the tube. We realized that it was good Mark hadn’t been able to bring his patch kit and so had brought a spare.
As we resumed our decent, Mark noticed that his front rim was a bit bent up as well. Between the rim and the gathering dark, we were not able to take full pleasure in the long steep downhills, We arrived safely at our lodging for the night. The toilet is a squatter, and there is no hot water. We do, however, have both a fan and an air conditioner. The beds are quite doable.
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