Day 10: Quad Bike Tour and a Fish Massage

Siem Reap - Friday 24/12

Ed: I thought it would take a day or two to catch up on blogs following our trip north, as we tend to go to sleep quite early due to the early morning rises ... however tonight is Christmas Eve and the hotel is running a party until 11 pm ... and right now we are listening to an excrutiatingly bad karaoke like singalong out on the pool deck ... while the girls are not amused as they want to sleep ... the singing from the "band" is so bad it's funny ... absolutely impossible to sleep, so may as well get the blog right up to date !

This morning was another special activity just for our group - quad bike riding !! Another early start at 6:30 am with a short tuk tuk ride to quad bike headquarters, an business setup by a French gentleman. The girls were all given a short "driving test" to make sure they could ride a quad bike - the machines were very simply to ride as they were automatic, so just a throttle and a brake.

A quad bike tour is a fabulous way to get out and see part of Siem Reap that are impossible to access with a bus. To make the tour safe, you are led along back streets and small lanes out into the country side and along country tracks that are only negotiable with a bike of some sort.

We toured in single file along the tracks, passing through many small villages and even more rice paddies and crop fields of various sorts. One of the stand out features of Cambodia is the genuine friendliness of the people - we were warned we might get a sort thumb from operating the throttle of a quad bike, the RSI was more likely in the wrist as every small child along the way wanted to wave to you ... it was just fabulous.

Our tour was four hours long and we moved along at a fair clip, so must have covered something over 75 kilometers during the morning. We stopped at various places along the way for breaks, including a long break in the middle at a special orphanage that the quad bike company has associated itself with.

The Chres Village School and Orphanage is another organisation started by a former soldier to benefit orphans and poor children from surrounding villages near the school who's parents cannot afford any sort of education. The owner of the quad bike company found the school when setting up the routes for his tours and formed a relationship with the orphanage founder.

Stops at the orphanage are a permament feature of the quad bike tours and some of the elder children show you around the explain about the school. This helps them practice their English and also engages visitors into understanding the benefit of education to the children. Many visitors from quad bike tours have subsequently donated money to help the school build new buildings and facilities - one new classroom at the school for a class of about 25 children costs about $1,500 ...

Following the orphanage visit, we continued on around many more narrow tracks, more villages and more rice fields - you can get more idea of the scenery from the photos.

While this was certainly the most expensive activity of this trip by Cambodian standards, we all agreed it was certainly a highlight, both from just having fun riding a quad bike, but also what you saw along the way out in the small villages.

It was quite dusty out around many of the trails - Jaymee definitely won the most grubby prize, having started out in the white t-shirt and finished in one that looked a peculiar share of orange.

After several showers to attempt to remove the orange dust from our bodies, we headed into town for our final dinner in Siem Reap and a wander around the markets.

The girls final piece of fun for the night was to try a "fish massage" - this is a "thing" that has found it's way down to Siem Reap from Thailand. There is a certain species of small fish (who knows what it actually is) that likes to nibble on dead skin - so the hawkers in the markets set up "fish massage" tanks into which you dangle you feet and the fish give you a lovely pedicure ... of sorts ...

For the princely sum of $2, you get to dangle you legs into a fish tank and let the fish nibble at your feet ... Tessa and Ellen R gave up after about 15 minutes saying it tickled to much, followed by Ellen K ! Celeste was in and out but Loz went the distance, although we did not examine the outcome too closely ...

Chris and Julie opted for the more traditional foot massage by hand ... also for the princely sum of $2 for a 30 min foot massage ... pretty ecomonic compared to Australian prices.

And to top the evening off, a few of us indulged in a yummy banana or chocolate crepe from a street side vendor in a traditional food cart - roll out the batter by hand, on to the hot plate with butter, add the flavouring with a touch of condensed milk, expertly rolled into a piece of paper and hey presto, instant tasty dessert for the standard Cambodian charge for many things on the street ... $1.

So as soon as this lousy karaoke finishes ... the attempt at Lady Gaga was especially hilarious ... it's zzzzzz and we are off to the bus station in the morning to travel to Phom Penh.

More blogging in a couple of days ...