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.
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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.