June 21, 2009

Quad Adventure in Siem Reap

The heat is something that I have expected, 'phew' it is not ordinary heat that you are talking about, it's freaking hot! Quad company arranged the Tuk Tuk to pick us up at 6.30am, and at that time the sun was already high arise brightly lit the whole of Siem Reap. On the way to the Quad company, I saw many Khmer sweeping floor to prepare for the day - business, work etc etc etc.

A couple from Ireland joined us for the morning adventure. The Bike rides was amazing at the very beginning, especially when hubby revved to the maximum for a short while. He didn't have the chance to go at the full speed as the guide told us to keep 15m distance away from one another, haha...so he has to keep it at a constant slow speed. The first destination was the Orphanage, the children there were amazingly well mannered and all of them welcome us in their fluent English. They showed us their study areas, kitchen, bedrooms and they even showed us the pig farms - roughly about 35 pigs there I was told. Everything was well kept, tidy and neat! It is a comfortable place for these children, and they are all very cheerful and thankful for the helps/donation received from all their guests. Hubby had prepared some colour pencils & crayon for them, and they received with thanks. One impressive occasion is when I tried to pass a box of the crayon to a boy, he immediately waved his right hand and took out his left hand which was holding a box of crayon. The boy was trying to said " I've gotten it already, thankyou!" They are so simple and friendly, not greedy at all! They told us about their daily activities and told us what they are studying. Hubby was so happy and kept on telling them to study hard and it will make them a better person in the future. So naggy!!! :)

After that, it was all the Bike riding under the burning hot sun, crossing all the villages and paddy field. Along the rides, many children from the village were estactic to see us, they ran as quick as they could when they hear us coming, they waved to you and greeted us "hello" with a warm welcoming smile. Hubby was so happy and he practically waved & greeted everyone while riding.

Quad Adventure is a great experience, it allows us to see another side of Siem Reap where people is living in a peaceful and simple life. Just like the Guide told us, they don't even know what's economic crisis, and they are totally unaffected. Crisis or not, they are still living in the simple world of their own.

However, it gets a little boring to ride under the steaming hot sun. Burning & Steaming, I could feel smoke coming out from my skin.... Yes!!! This is how hot it is! That's why I let Hubby drove most of the journey, and I used him as my SUN BLOCK! Good! Even though I was HALF-protected from the hot sun, I could not escape the hot breeze coming through which has made us so sticky as if we were glued to each other (LOL, just kidding)! Four hours ride is rather a little long for me especially under the sun, and what we saw is the repeating scenery - Paddy Field and Villagers.

The Ireland couple told us that they had expected more than these, as they read from the brochure that the half day discovery should include meeting up the monks and visiting temples which we apparently did not cover for today's adventure. They were quite disappointed! Yeah, I kinda agree that USD 80 of four hour rides seeing the same things is a bit too expensive to pay for! Hubby kept on repeating USD 100 next to me now, Yes, We paid a hundred because we shared a bike. USD 80 is for a bike per person.

Anyway, overall rating is 4/5. A must go adventure while in Siem Reap but I recommend Half-Day Discovery is good enough, don't go for the Full Day, otherwise you will barbecued!

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