Today was our first rest day, and involved a long transfer to the capital city of Phnom Penh. It was fairly uneventful except for a midway stop at a the local market, where the riders got a chance to try local delicacies like deep fried tarantula, cicadas and fried maggots. The more adventurous riders sampled all three, while other riders were chased around the parking lot by kids walking around with live tarantulas. There were also a variety of interesting fruit at the market- from palm fruit, mangosteins, dragonfruit, jackfruit, milkfruit, and many others.
After arriving in Phnom Penh we went out to explore on our own. Most of the riders visited Tuol Sleng, a prison camp used during the Khmer Rouge era. It was a somber memorial to the horrors that happened here over 40yrs ago.
On a happier note, we enjoyed drinks at a rooftop bar before celebrating Josef’s birthday in a amazing restaurant by the river.

The Adventure Unicyclist tour group trickle in to the Frangipani Hotel in Siem Reap throughout the day. Anna, Gryffin and I had spent the night at a hotel down the road, along with Gilby and Itzel. We arrived just as Sean, Tom, Gen and Vonny were checking into the rooms. The riders were in varying states of jet lag, having just arrived from Europe, US, Australia and New Zealand.

After assembling our unicycles, those of us who had arrived headed off for lunch. It was interesting dodging the crazy traffic in Siem Reap as we walked to the old market. We managed to avoid getting run over by the Tuk Tuks, bicycles, stray dogs, motorbikes and cars on the way there.

The tour officially started with a group briefing at 5pm. Jason introduced us to our local guides, Phea and Art, and gave us an overview of the tour and what to expect. After that we headed out to a local training restaurant for dinner.