To Takeo: fried bugs

January 9, 2007

We are on the road by 6:20 and see the sunrise over the Mekong River. The traffic is picking up and it is chaos when we reach the roundabout and make our way out of the city. Rachel is feeling weak, when she gets off the bike she needs to sit down and it's difficult to just stand over the bike.

When we reach another intersection, we stop to figure out which way to go and we are given directions by the locals. The wind helps us today, we make our way through familiar looking landscape of rice fields. One rest stop for cold water, Patrick takes individual photos and then a group shot.

Patrick buys bananas which look old but taste oh so delicious. Unlike some American produce that looks good but tasteless. When Patrick stops for pictures, Rachel keeps moving. We get to the hotel by noon, Rachel sleeps, and Patrick goes out for water & baguettes. Rachel feels like she has a fever with chills, nausea and takes an antibiotic and Tylenol to sleep some more. Another couple of hours before she feels good enough to shower and starts to feel better.

At 5pm we wander around town to find a restaurant recommended in the Lonely Planet, it is on stilts over for now low water and only has about 4 tables at the end by windows. Rachel asks for chicken soup but they don't have and we are unable to communicate what they might have so we leave to find another restaurant in the opposite direction. There are two German cyclists, we join them at their table and exchange cycling information. They had met the Dutch girl cycling that we met in Phnom Penh.

Back at the hotel, we talk with one of the Australian cyclists that is leading a group of 20 for a fundraiser for Oxfam.