We had a hearty breakfast before setting off from our hotel at a more respectable hour of 7am. The ride out of Siem Reap was busy, but it wasn’t long before we were on the backroads out of town. We rode on red clay roads through lush rice paddies and picturesque countryside, enjoying the cooler morning temperature. Unfortunately, it was not to last as the sun came up, and we got back onto sealed roads with very little shade. The riders were well watered by our support crew, but we were very glad to make it to our lunch stop in a shady restaurant overlooking the forest.

After a hearty meal we set off for a walk up a hill to an ancient Angkor site known as Kbal Spean. This is a stream with many carvings on the sandstone stream banks, predating Angkor Wat. The hike to the Kbal Spean was hot and sweaty, so many riders took the opportunity to cool off under the waterfall.

The riders visited one last temple on our Angkor tour, Banteay Srei, which was a favourite for many. It was the most intricately carved of all the temples we’d seen, and a beautiful example of Khmer architecture.