Day 9 started with a ride of about 80kms on graded highway looping back via T’ Beang Meanchey to the trail that would eventually take us to the Preah Khan temple where we would have a bar-b-que and camp inside temple grounds.
The graded highway was in the process of being repaired which meant we came across small sections of road with large stone chipping waiting for a grader to compact them, one of the slippest road surfaces we encounter on the whole trip. On the highway we saw our first snake a dead black banded snake. The trail into the temple was tight trail with a few sections of sand a couple of streams to ford.
Just after 3 pm we got our first view of the temple and our campsite outside the main entrance. After a quick beer and a chance to change into our swimming truck we jumped in one of the trucks for a trip to a nearby river for a wash before the bar-b-que. The trail was twisty and the truck was bouncing around and we need to keep a watch out for low hanging branches.
The bar-b-que was also a chance for us to wish one of the team a happy birthday as it was Debb’s birthday. A few of the people on the trip had brought some fireworks so we had a firework display with the temple acting as a backdrop.
Once all the alcohol had been drunk we all headed for our tents and a night’s sleep under the stars. It is amazing how much the temperature drops overnight which meant in the early hours of the morning I decided to get dressed to get warm again.
