A sensible plan – Fooled by monkeys
N 10°28'47.6'' E 104°17'32.7''
Date:
03.05.2017 until 09.05.2017
Day: 673 – 679
Country:
Cambodia
Province
Kêb
Location:
Kep
Latitude N:
10°28’47.6”
Longitude E:
104°17’32.7”
Total kilometers:
23,717 km
Total altitude meters:
71.018 m
Sunrise:
05:44 a.m. – 05:42 a.m.
Sunset:
6:15 pm – 6:16 pm
Temperature day max:
37°C
(Photos of the diary entry can be found at the end of the text).
After studying the map carefully, we realize that our planned tour to the province of Mondulkiri in the east of the country will not be a pleasure in the current heat. “I don’t know if we really want to do this to ourselves,” I muse, leaning over the map. “You mean it’s going to be hard?” asks Tanja. “Tough as nails. The mountains in this remote region are up to 800 meters high and there are few developed roads. It’s exhausting enough to cycle around here in the lowlands, let alone at an average altitude of 800 meters with humidity of up to 98 percent and constant tropical showers. There is supposed to be an extensive jungle there where mosquitoes multiply extremely quickly at this time of year. But it’s not the mosquitoes that scare me, it’s the inescapable heat. I just don’t want to fall off my bike gasping.” “Well, if it’s up to me, we can visit the elephants living there at a later date and stay here until the worst of the heat subsides a little.” “Hm, if you think so too, we should scrap our earlier plans and actually use the time here to write down all the stories we’ve experienced and then, in two or three weeks’ time, cycle towards Phnom Penh, the Killing Fields and the famous temples of Angkor Wat. From there, it’s just under 300 km to the Thai border. We’ll explore the east of the country when we get back to Cambodia after our stopover in Europe so that we can start the elephant project if everything goes according to plan.” “A sensible plan. It doesn’t make sense to squeeze everything into the three months we have here in this country. Then we’d be no different to many tourists who pack in everything they can in as little time as possible,” says Tanja. “Exactly, less is more and at the moment I find it very pleasant here in Kep,” I agree with her.
I’m using the time I’ve gained to do yoga every day, go swimming and train my shoulder, which is actually making small progress. Every morning I take Ajaci to the beach and play his favorite game ‘catch the ball’ with him. In the late afternoon, we walk to the king’s abandoned and dilapidated summer residence, which lies in the jungle not far behind our hotel. Several groups of monkeys make the forest unsafe. Whenever Ajaci and I enter the forest, there is an endless clamor in the trees. Ajaci finds the monkeys fascinating and would love to chase them if I would let him. The monkeys, on the other hand, take great pleasure in teasing Ajaci with their mock attacks, wild escapes and loud roars…
If you would like to find out more about our adventures, you can find our books under this link.
The live coverage is supported by the companies Gesat GmbH: www.gesat.com and roda computer GmbH http://roda-computer.com/ The satellite telephone Explorer 300 from Gesat and the rugged notebook Pegasus RP9 from Roda are the pillars of the transmission.
