Yesterday we arrived into school by bike. It’s 5k to the school from our guesthouse, so in one day we will cycle 20k... great bit of exercise especially when the thought of getting up to do a 20 minute hiit session at 5.30am in 38 degrees heat just isn’t that appealing. We fixed up one of the school’s bikes and one of Tammy’s, at a local street stall. We dropped them off on Tuesday at lunch time and then went back after school to collect them, but forgetting everything is on Cambodian time, this meant that they only started fixing them when we arrived. What was the rush anyway?.... €1 later for fixing two bikes, we couldn’t complain! We will then leave the bikes at the school for school use.

The roads are interesting to say the least. There are unwritten rules that you just seem to pick up. No one indicates or signals and cars, bikes, motorbikes, tuk tuks, lorries and moving food stalls all share the road... what are cycle lanes? You ride on the right hand side of the road, which you would think is hard enough to get used to, but you then have traffic coming towards you on your side of the road. This is totally normal (an unwritten rule), and it means that they are either entering the road from a smaller turning or exiting a road that is on your side. We picked this up quickly and now achieve this smoothly, even though we are the only ones on the road to signal with our arms... although when a tuk tuk and a lorry are coming towards you and you have half a meter breathing space, you can only but smile and hope for the best. There is no right way to over take, you can overtake whenever and however. Seeing families of four on one motorbike undercutting a car is the norm, so is a cart with coconuts overtaking and going into the opposite lane while the oncoming traffic dodges it. When you ride you take in all the sights, you smell the smell of the fish paste being cooked on the streets and constantly wipe off the sweat from underneath your sunglasses... I’m not making it sound luxurious, it’s not. Cambodia isn’t. My hair is like Monica’s from friends when she goes to the Bahamas, and I’m constantly red from either being burnt (even though I’m reapplying throughout the day) or due to the heat. But there is something quite freeing about it. You can stop when or where you like, even speak to locals who want to practice their English at the only traffic light in town...I would still ride here over London any day, but call me crazy!

B x