My second day in Siem Reap was spent going to Angkor Wat with Sophie. We decided to rent bicycles and see the temples by way of bike. The last time I was here I went by tuk-tuk and although the tuk-tuk is faster, there was nothing more special that riding a bike through the park along tree lined narrow roads. It was hot, but the shade of the trees made the heat a little bit more bearable. We left the guesthouse at about 8 and got to the park in about ten or fifteen minutes. After a small breakfast from a street vendor we went into Angkor Wat. I don’t know if people need to know the layout of the park that is known as Angkor Wat or not, but for anyone that doesn’t know, Angkor Wat is kind of a catchphrase for a large park that has, I think, hundreds of temples. It is also the same name of the best known city in the park. In other words, the park with lots of temples is known as Angkor Wat and in the park is a large city/temple that is also Angkor Wat. We spent about an hour walking through Angkor Wat (temple) and then headed out for the rest of the day. It was a lot of fun and although we didn’t see as many temples as we could have if we had taken a tuk-tuk, I had way more fun.

We ended up not getting back to the guest house until about 7:30 in the night.  I was so sore and tired that when we pulled the bikes into the place where we rented them I thought I would cry for joy. During our ride around the park we ended up going very far from the city. We were so far that it took about an hour of straight bike riding to get back. That’s an hour of riding when we had been riding the whole day. I also have to mention that Sophie was so unaware of the cars and traffic around us that I was terrified that she was going to get hit. It was about 7pm and dark, and there is Sophie checking her map on the bike in the middle of the lane. Cars are speeding by and she just didn’t seem to care. I have to admit that although I was scared for her, I was also very impressed how she owned the lane. At one point when we finally got into the city, we were riding along with the cars in what can best be described as a traffic jam. It’s dark and try to remember that this isn’t the US, where rules are followed, this is a free for all of a mix of vehicles all trying their best to get in front of the car ahead of them. One time Sophie and I are kind of riding together, I’m actually behind her, but we are together. We come up on a big truck that decided that they want to enter traffic so I kind of back off, they are just moving forward. Sophie though stands her ground and almost forces the truck back off the street. It was scary and funny at the same time. I ended up riding on the side of the road but I could see her up ahead with the truck behind her and surrounded by cars. She’s got some balls.