Siem Reap was an oasis of luxury on my trip. Cakes, oil massages and temples abound. After 5 days there, I left for the distant (by road) Battambang on the straight, flat and boring main road. I left at dawn, and arrived shortly before dusk. In between I cycled, cycled and cycled.
The flat road
Mark had been in Siem Reap for 3 or 4 days already, frantically sending me luscious photos of the cakes he has been eating. Just after I arrived, a whole battalion of his friends from Hong Kong arrived for the half marathon, and together we explored Siem Reap, Angkor Wat and the Tonle Sap lake.
Tonle Sap lake
Tonle Sap lake
Lynda and I on the Tonle Sap lake
Angkor Wat
Bayan Temple
Ta Prohm temple
Siem Reap offers services to dream of. Just imagine – free WiFi while having a massage. The pinnacle of customer service!
WiFi and massage
After not having run for 8 months, I ran in the Angkor Wat half-marathon. I discovered running muscles are different to cycling ones. I could hardly move the next day. ☺
The Angkor Wat half-marathon
The Angkor Wat half-marathon
Angkor Wat
arctic-cycler.com 
What? You’ve cycled halfway around the planet and then did a half-marathon? Incredible. Well done and good luck for the rest of your amazing trip.
Cheers
Michael
I used to run a lot. I’ve run in about 10 full marathons and countless half – marathons, but not for a while. I was running every day in February in Taiwan, but haven’t run since.
Wow,that’s impressive. And I really get what you’re saying about the difference between cycling fit and running fit. I can cycle all day happily but am knackered after running 2km.
Yes. I could hardly walk still yesterday but happily cycled 176km to Battambang. It was sometimes a challenge getting on the bike after stopping, though. 🙂
Loved the Siem Reap pictures – could remember standing in those same spots in Angkor Wat and Ta Prohm a few months ago. Very nostalgic. (But we didn’t have the oil massage .. will have to go back for that!)
Yes. It was a lovely break in Siem Reap. 🙂
Later you arrive in Indonesia, especially Yogyakarta and a bit of Central Java, you’ll see more temples, but the temple complex is not as wide/big as in Angkor Wat, Matt..
Yes. I’m looking forward to Indonesia.
Siem Reap looks like a beautiful place! Good for you for doing the half-marathon, esp. in the heat and humidity. I loved the little children putting their hands out – how cute. 🙂
The kids are really lovely in Cambodia.