What a Day!

TRACIE ... Yesterday will go down as another highlight. Jono is very excited to point out that many of my highlights so far have included motorbikes, and is wondering whether this means it is time for us to purchase another bike. I have told him, sell your car and your truck. There are no motorbikes on my agenda!
Anyway, yesterday we were on our way to breakfast, minding our own business, when we were asked by yet another moto driver if we would give him a job. Its hard to not get tired of people asking you for money or whether you want to go in their tuk tuk, but you have to remember that this is their life and without the mighty tourist (I'm kidding, I wonder whether we are really good for them at all) they may not eat. We were given a quick explaintion of what our day would look like in below average english, but it sounded ok and we needed a plan! The distances on the map looked pretty small, and even though we weren't desperately in need of visiting any temples, we thought that we had better look at one or two. Jono had heard of some of the places he spoke about, so we agreed to the huge fee (not) of US $10 each and off we went. Actually, we walked back to our accommodation and agreed on a meeting place 20 minutes later - our guesthouse had it's own drivers who didnt take too kindly to people infringing on their turf. The driver had said something about a short trip being three hours and I'm sure he said a longer one would be 5-6 hours (although I may have dreamed that part).
First stop was breakfast because we hadnt made it to that yet. THEN, off we went. I am sure what we did next is common in NZ if you're into off-road bikes and getting dirty, but probably not on the sort of bikes we were on. We went along for a very short time on a sealed road, then went onto a dirt road forever (like - an hour or two). It was so much fun, but bone and teeth jarring like nothing I have ever experienced. The roads were bumpy to say the least. My driver suggested that it would be easier on my hands if I didnt hold on (for dear life), which I complied with when the road wasnt bumpy (about 20% of the time) but the rest of it I was clinging on and bouncing around in and out of really big holes..
We eventually ended up at the bottom of a temple site; it was only 70 metres straight up, but we took the road - on foot, because it was too steep for bikes. The temple was ok, but the view was amazing. Not before I nearly died on the way. I haven't exercised for weeks now, but apart from that, with the incline and the heat and the humidity, I felt like I wasnt getting any air and I wouldn't make it! We did of course, and I dont think I have sweated so much in my life. '
There were rice fields literally as far as the eye could see - beautiful. Before we reached the very top we were taken to one of the famous Killing Caves. During the terrible times faced by the Cambodian people, this was one of the places they were killed en masse. People were thrown down a hole at the top of the cave, hopefully dying instantly at the bottom but I think that this would not have always been the case... There was a shrine of skulls and bones in the cave, and a tiny cage that people had been kept in. Incredibly sad, and I wish I could have stayed longer, but the few minutes in the cave, me crying of course, gave me the smallest glimpse of the sadness that the people of this country have had to live through.
After getting to the top, we took the steps down - we were told there were about 800. Writing this today, I can vouch that there were LOTS, cause my calves now feel like concrete.
After this place it started to rain, and we took shelter for a bit, then suggested that we could buy cheap raincoats so we could go on. When our driver got back with them, the rain stopped, which was pretty funny, but it rained later so we were glad for them. On to another temple, with this time only 500 steps to the top. From there we went past a site where there were a whole bunch of fruitbats (which was far cooler than it sounds) and then on to the "Bamboo Traïn". After all our exercise we were wet with sweat, and then with the rain had got more wet from the mud on the road etc (I had mud all up my legs - fun!). There were times when both of us thought that we would eat dirt (ie fall off), but somehow we didnt. Jono has taken one photo of the road, and that was pretty bad, but it was REALLY bad most of the time - but did I say FUN???
We got back about 5.30, cold and wet and having had an amazing time. One funny part about the cold and wet bit was that we had booked our first room without hot water, so a cold shower it was. I felt really bad giving the guys just $10 each for the huge day they had given us. I'm sure that it was a fair price for them, but they worked pretty hard for it, and of course had to buy petrol within that. There were a few things where better english would have been good, but this was a great day and we were so glad to have done it.