Tour de Mereuch - part 1

Little did I know!

Tour de Mereuch - The Mondulkiri WWF Bike Tour
To be honest I am so knackered that I can hardly type! Here's a couple of photos from the first two days of the mountainbike tour. The story will follow when I've had some more rest.
Above is a picture of me outside our hotel in Sen Monorom before setting out on Day 1. If I knew then what I knew at the end of Day 1, I wouldn't be smiling - it was probably the most exhausting day of my life. I cycled in excess of 70kms on that first day, my first proper cycling experience in more than 30+ years. I'm pleased I made the trip but the cycling was much tougher than I, or anyone, expected. It was a unique introduction to my first view of Mondulkiri province, the protected forest we visited covers a huge part of the northeast section of the province and at its heart is the Srepok Wilderness area that is home to tigers, leopards, bears, gaur, banteng and rare birdlife. We stayed for three nights at two ranger stations in the forest (at Trapeang Thmeir and Mereuch) and got a taste of the potential for ecotourism activities that WWF are hoping to promote there. Below is the bike team at the start of Day 2. The photo was taken outside the Srepok Wilderness/WWF Field Outpost at Trapeang Thmeir and I'm taking the photo as I simply couldn't find the strength to start the second day - as it turned out, I am so glad I didn't make it. More of the details later.

LtoR: Nick, Stefan, Ken, James, Mark, Olga, Brendan