I am back :) now where were we ? Oh yes we were just getting on the tuck tuck for an hour. It was a bumpy ride but we had a lovely guide called Alex who works for a social enterprise called Isanborei - thats for you Liz. They have identified that lots of tourists visit this area for a day to see the temple but there is so much more to see and they have worked with local families to create home stays that are western friendly - ish :)
This means the local communities benefit from the tourism and not hotel chains. There are so many other ways responsible tourism is promoted in Cambodia there are lots of leaflets about not encouraging begging children and did you know 72% of kids in orphanages still have parents. They also have fair trade market stalls, restaurants and shops. I am not sure the pollution from the motorbikes quite fits into the category.

Anyway back to Alex he is from one of the families in the village and he is one of 6 guides. Other tour operators intrepid and buffalo use the homestays but only for one night, hayley and i agreed 2 nights is better to really adjust to the pace and way of life. It is basic. We could have gone by car to the home but the tuck tuck feels more real and sets the scene perfectly. So after the hour we arrived.
The family spoke no english. We learnt helllo and thank you, hayley thought of "hakuna matata" everytime she had to remember thank you as it was "Ar kun". Alex briefed us on the plan and showed us around including a lesson on how to shower, you stand on the floor and throw pots of cold water over your head ! The loo was easier there was no flush but you had to pour water down it and not put paper in the bin. Now on to the bedroom it is custom to never wear shoes inside, or outside for the kids. We were offered two rooms but they had only made up one so to be polite said we would share. We quickly change our mind when we considered the heat, mosquito net and the fact it could be hard to sleep, so hayley got sent to the room next door - we could still chat as if we were in the same room as the partition was v basic !

It was all a bit too much by now we were tired so had a little nap! Well about 3 hours. We woke in time to shower and prepare our rooms before sunset when the mozzies would arrive. There was power at the home but it was basic and sourced by solar power.
There was enough to charge our phones but no wifi. So to the shower yes it was like getting in a cold pool Hayley opted for the backward bowl where I went for the forward either way it was cold! We had a nice dinner of pork and rice (we think) and little did we know this would continue for the next 5 meals sometimes with noodle or egg. The family were around but we did not chat! They were lying in hammocks under the house, whilst the kids were just entertaining themselves with dirt and stones we stayed with the grandparents but their children lived either side of them. There were also some german tourists staying a couple of houses up.
So sleeping was interesting it felt like the house was going to take off a couple of times, but it was just a lorry going past, you did not notice them during the day but at night they woke me up. And then it started about 5 am i popped to the loo not an easy task when it is outside and down some stairs and then passed grandad sleeping under his mosquito net in his sarong! I had to use my phone for light but then learnt there was a light switch in the loo! When i got back to bed the cockerel started, then his mate next door, then his mate next door but one and before you knew it there was a chorus. The dogs joined in too, every house has a dog but they dont have names and stay outside ( hello teds and dom you dont know how lucky you are
:) ) there were free range chickens at the house and some cows fortunately they did not moo. We quickly learnt that people sleep not long after the sun sets and they are up when it rises.

We had breakfast at 7:30 and then our day started 22km on the bike, and it was such an awesome day. You do not have to cycle but you can take regular breaks. Or you can go on an Ox cart. We headed off along the red snow to the equivalent of a primary school we just wandered in and took some pics and watched the kids playing, they knew hello but had not officially started learning english yet. I could not resist the temptation to join in the skipping! They go to school 7-11am at this age.

We then cycled through the village where Alex lives and went to visit a Buddhist temple the home to 20 monks, I am still shocked how something so grand can be somewhere so poor. It was amazing to dodge the cows and look inside. It was beautiful although the statue is quite garish in my opinion.

After this we got back on the bikes the saddle sore had not kicked in yet and went to the senior school, they have started to learn english some kids were sitting outside as their teacher had not turned up one of them was reading about steve jobs! I should add that both of our guides had nice phones! We had a chat with them they were in their final year and wanted to study medicine, hayley thinks we chatted to the clever kids !
And then the real riding began we went off road! Along the river where the buffalo were swimming in the water, the young kids were shouting hello at us and we were getting covered in red snow!
It was a real meaningful moment, to quote Hayley we were in a home we did not know, a village we did not know, with people we did not know all we had was Alex our 24 yr old guide and his subtle stutter - the trust was off the scale but it never worried us we just went with it.
We discovered the meaning of bicycle dancing as we went on tracks made for mountain bikes and not our little bikes with a basket. I'll be honest as we headed back to the home stay for lunch it was hard to sit down and the first thing we did when we got back was have a can of full fat coke! At a cost of $1 paid to the family. I had some mini haribo bags that I gave to the children in the village and they loved them.
We had until 3 to recover for round 2 and trust me when I say it was hot even the shower didnt feel too bad ! ...