Day 5: Bikes, Kids, & Elections, Oh My!

Before we went off to bed last night the four teams competed in one of many challenges that have faced them the past five days. This one involved drawing another team's name from a hat then heading to the markets and buying a present for them that was iconic enough to get all teams to guess who bought it and who they bought it for. No easy task, save for SBS, who wiped the floor with MediaCom, Mindshare, and OMD, securing a PERFECT SCORE and a miniature Buddha for the effort. I've never seen such carnage.

We hit the road early today and were on our bikes cycling by 8:30am. The pounding sun wasn't yet in full force, which made the first part of our ride incredibly enjoyable! At the end of that leg - 25 kilometres - we pulled off for a rest in front of a school right as recess was starting! It was absolutely epic. Running, screaming, chanting, cheering, hugging, loving, and lots and lots of laughing. There is universal joy in making kids laugh and we had a blast riling them up before setting off on the second leg of the day.

I hopped safely into the back of the mechanic's truck and made a valiant effort to snap flattering photos (not successful, but who could be with this group?) of every person here who has worked so incredibly hard for themselves, their organisations, Inspired Adventures, and Australia for UNHCR! The team are just $500 shy of raising $50,000. A phenomenal accomplishment!

Another short break later and we were back in the saddle, wrapping up a mega day with a slightly shorter third leg of 15 kilometres. From there it was off to lunch, where we managed to catch both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama's post-election speeches before re-boarding the bus for Kep, a sleepy beach town on Cambodia's south coast.

It will be a quick dip in the ocean tonight followed by dinner and a mega slumber as we rest up for three more days of cycling in brilliant Vietnam. We can't wait!

GO TEAM!

 

Day 4: Resting up for the next four!

Today was all about recharging our batteries and learning as much as possible about the history, people and culture of our incredibly gracious host country. It started with a somber visit to both the genocide museum and the killing fields, where we were confronted by the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge that so badly affected this nation.

 

After a another full-on lunch we tried to get more involved with the Cambodia of now, heading to the markets in true Inspired fashion: in an extremely exciting (and phenomenally safe) tuk tuk race across the city! Thanks to our brilliant drivers who joined in the fun and all the shopkeepers who gave us all "very good deals."

 

It's back on the bikes tomorrow so time to sleep!

 

GO TEAM!

 

 

Day 3: 72 Kilometers in 3 hours. What the what!?!?

Today we came to play. Go big or go home was the name of the game and we went big! It was early to rise as we were at breakfast by 6am and driving away by 6:30am. After a three-hour bus transfer out of the hustle and bustle of Siem Reap we hopped back on our bikes for a 3-hour no-holds-barred cycle of our lives, averaging 24 kilometres an hour on what would definitely be considered "undulating" terrain.

The whole group gave it their all and it was definitely a team effort. Such a team effort, in fact, that Amy acquired a gang of kids using pens and notepads as bait. It started with just three or four but as news spread the kids came literally running down the road from every direction! One girl wearing bright pink pants took a particular liking to Amy and was desperate for a photo of the two of them, which we snapped!

We had yet another brilliant lunch at a Buddhist-run non-profit restaurant aptly named "Smile" (which we did, as the food was AMAZING) before hopping on the bus to cruise into Phnom Penh just as the sun was setting. We made a pitstop en route to discover we had some competition on the bikes. An army of teenage girls cruising along like it was nothing!

Special shout out today to Kate, who used "nature's toilet" for the first time in her life!

More soon. Go team!

 

Day 2: Bring on the heat, bring on the temples!

By 8am as we prepped our bikes for the day ahead the sun was already pounding down on us. Thankfully, this time we were ready for it, embracing its all-encompassing warmth that brings red faces, feeling puffed, and sweat. Lots and lots of sweat!

Today we did a mad dash around the Angkor complex, stopping at Angkor Thom, the Tomb Raider jungle temple, the lady's temple, and finally Angkoor Wot itself - the crowning achievement of what was one of the world's first great civilisations. When Angkor was a bustling metropolis of more than 1 million people, London was a country village of just 50,000. It's truly remarkable.

The intricate detail of the peering faces at Angkor Thom were spectacular. What wasn't so spectacular was the human wal l of unaware tourists in every possible direction. Still, we managed to snap some brilliant group shots and agree on a photo theme for the day: JUMPING!

Jumped at Angkor Thom and we jumped at Angkor Wot. Dan got funky and super excited at the jungle temple and then joined Claire in the all-star jumping photo at Angkor Wot. It was an all-out fun-splosion!

As we also needed to cover 60km on the cycles today, we hunkered down and did the second bigger portion - 35 kilometres - in two big sections jut before the afternoon heat took our breath away. In fact, we even worked in a ACTUAL 10km bike race, with special congrats to Sam and Amy, who were victorious!

Our day finished at the awe-inspiring Angkor Wot, where we firt met a group of monks who asked us, "why are you wearing matching outfits?" To which we responded, "we are a charity group on a challenge together. Why are you wearing the same outfit?" They thought this was hilarious!

From there it was inside to begin one of the trip's major challenges: a photo hunt through the entire complex for three very specific reliefs. While everyone started quite casually, within ten minutes you could tell the teams were edging for victory. In fact, the entire thing ended in a full-on running race across the complex (note the two matching shirts in the bottom left of the picture below).

Mindshare claimed victory, with MediaCom a close second thanks to Amy's brilliant hustle at the end! It was another dip in the pool for us (60km in 42-degree heat is no laughing matter) followed by dinner and bed. Tomorrow is an early one. 75 kilometres to cover!

GO TEAM!

P.S. A special shoutout to Liz, who struggled (but succeeded) to take a photo of some tourists using their POLAROID HELLO KITTY CAMERA. Yes, that happened. Well done!

 

Day 1 - Team Inspired SBS for UNHCR finds the world's next David Beckham

It's 7am and it's hot. Really really hot. The team is prepping for a 50 kilometre day one cycle and just standing still in the shade leaves sweat lingering on our brows in this unseasonably hot November. But this is an Inspired Adventure and the challenge is to be expected. Embraced, even.

We hop on the bus and bumble to the entry gate of The Angkor complex, have our badge photos snapped, prep our bikes, and head off into the rice-paddy jungle that is Southeast Asia.

It doesn't take long for us to find our "wheels" (even Jared, who only just learned to ride a bike a few months ago for this trip) and before we know it we have arrived at a school deep in the countryside, which is locate down an unsealed side road that I would have missed had it not been for our brilliant guide Vutu.

We devour our lunch, recharging our battery packs for what is to become a wild two-hour soccer extravaganza encompassing 16 Inspired Adventurers and every kid in the school that wants to join in! It was absolute street ball style, no holds barred fun!

The goals were blocked by a wall of kids (brilliant strategy) and both teams had a power forward that was no taller than my hip but faster than a cheetah and more agile than whatever animal is really darn agile. These kids were stellar!

We played everyone in then just the girls then just the boys before finishing with an MVP match that pitted Dan and boy wonder against James and boy wonder's best friend. It was brilliant soccer on any scale and wildly entertaining!

Just after 3pm we saddled back up and hit the dirt road again (this time nearly wilting in big sand pits), cruising all the way back to where we started in the cooler afternoon air. A little dip in the pool was followed by a fantastic dinner at one of Siem Reap's newest non-profit restaurants that trains street youth in hospitality. Now it's off to bed, as we have another massive day tomorrow!

Big shout out to Dan, who took MVP with his little buddy and also managed to stack it TWICE today, the second time falling off his bike while sanading still. Nice one Dan!

GO TEAM!

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Cambodia The Resilient

Due to bus routes (and the lack thereof) we had to pass through Phnom Penh to get to Angkor Wat. That meant taking in the country's modern history before stepping back 1000 years to the time of the mighty Cambodian Empire.



As I learned, Cambodia was - at one time - the world's largest empire, controlling nearly all of Southeast Asia and even up into southern China. Of course, by 1975, the story was very different. A man by the name of Pol Pot came to power under the communist Khmer Rouge party and from 1975 to 1979, he systematically killed more than two million Cambodians during one of the World's largest genocides. His target? Anyone educated, anyone handicapped physically or mentally (what use were they?), and anyone who wore glasses (because if you wore glasses then you had them because you needed help reading. In a truly communist state, no one needed to read, so clearly you needed to die).



College-educated himself (in France nonetheless), in just under four years he somehow managed to completely destroy the entire nation of Cambodia. By the time he was removed from power, the two million he killed her complemented by the more than 500,000 who died of starvation because of poor harvests. As all evil dictators seem to enjoy, Pol Pot was given asylum in Thailand and lived out the rest of his days in house arrest, passing away in 1998 with absolutely no justice ever served to the Cambodian people. Needless to say, this is a nation where healing recent wounds is of the utmost importance. Part of that healing means never forgetting what happened.


Tuol Sleng Prison does just that. Once a high school, under Pol Pot it became a detention, torture and death center right in the heart of the capitol city. Schools were used because they were no longer needed - people didn't need to be educated in a truly communist utopia. Political dissidents, educated people and the handicapped were brought to Tuol Sleng in numbers large and small. They were then tortured beyond reason until they gave the "correct" answer at which point, they were killed using some horrifically gruesome method. Several detention cells are still open and additional exhibits about the events that transpired at the center - as well as photos of every victim killed at there, are on display.




The second site we visited was the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. While those who had information were brought to Tuol Sleng, the ones who just needed to die came directly here. They were offloaded in the dozens and marched out to a fresh patch of open pasture. The victims were then given shovels and told to dig a large hole. The guards would then have the victims kneel by the hole and proceed to beat them over the head with the shovels that had just been used by the victims to dig their own graves. Tens of thousands of bodies have been recovered at Tuol Sleng. There was, as might be expected, a certain chill hanging over the entire area.


Since the fall of Pol Pot nearly 30 years ago Phnom Penh has slowly come back to life and is considered by many (especially those who live there) to be the next big thing in Asia. We did our best to shake off the tragedy and enjoy the warm spirit of the incredibly resilient people as well, which meant shopping the market and, along with Graham and our new BFF Stacey, taking in the booming nightlife at a floating restaurant and bar called Pontoon, crutches and all. Don' act like you'e not impressed.