The Down Days

I sit in Kampot ... still. I had went on a couple of adventures but they were admittedly forced. My sickness would just not relent. Usually I am the sort of person who says "Ahh I am sick, oh well, it will go away eventually. I just got to push through it. " And so I did these days of biking and oh boy did I suffer.

I decided to bike up the road that leads to Bokor Hill. It used to be an old French town that was built to get away from the suffocating heat in the lowlands of Cambodia. The road starts at sea level and cruises up to an elevation of around 1050m. That's a good bit of climbing!

And so for the next 7 hours I went up that mountain as slow as could be until I crested that peak and rolled slowly into the old town of Bokor.

Taking a break. If the air was clearer you would see Kampot way down there.

Got some spectacular views. This is taken from the Summit of the climb.

Once you start heading down a bit and into the Bokar town area the climate changes dramatically from the scouring sun to an eerie misty landscape.

An old church in the fog looking all spooky.

The old casino. What else would the French do up here I guess.

After spending some time up high I decided to go down a bit and find a camping spot. I has starting to feel a little down again and I thought getting camp set up before the whole sickness fell upon was imperative. I found a really cool area where I was able to push my bike up this rock by the road and into an opening in the jungle. I made a little camp fire and cooked some noodles. I feel asleep soon after. Then the sickness feel upon me and I spent the night with chills, heat flashes, and mostly everything thing. I survived a beautiful nights with the lights of Kampot shining bright below me. I didn't get a photo of the landscape that night I regret due to my energy drained mindset.

Dinner almost served.

My new cup now doesn't look so new.

After the trip to Bokor Hill I cycled to Kep City where the sickness peaked. I got a 20 dollar hotel room where I spent the day/night in a delirious stupor. I survived the night and decided that I must go to the hospital. I rode my bike back to Kampot where I will stay the next couple of days to fully heal from this bug. However, in Kep I did get to go to a French pharmacist who prescribed me a whole whack of pills. After taking the pills and having another rough night I now feel particularly better. I have a big appetite and I feel energy coming back into my limbs. Lets hope I am cured!

However, the planned trip to make back to Bangkok by bicycle is now flawed because I do not have enough time to make up these lost kilometers. I will stay in Kampot for at least a couple more day. So I have decided that I will take a bus up to Battambang, which is close to the Thai border and try to ride the bike from there to Bangkok. I am sad that is has come down to that but this is what time restraints do.

So with the last couple days of biking I now have cycled 2595km and climbed 19432m. Not bad!