Today was our longest day of the trip, riding approx 110km. We rode on rural roads through beautiful tropical countryside interspersed with jungle, rice fields and villages where the sight of lycra clad/sun burnt foreigners caused quite a stir amongst the locals. Towards the end of the day we rode through colourful market towns of Kompong Thor and Santuk finally arriving 110km later very tired, dehydrated and unable to walk at Kompong Thom for our overnight stay.

Day 7  final day of riding, WE MADE IT!!!!!

Transfer 1h30 transfer from Konpong thom – ancient bridge

Cycle ancient bridge – Angkor Wat

Today we embarked on our final 85km of riding with an early morning transfer to the ancient bridge at kompong kdei. This is probably the best example of the remaining 800 year old ancient bridges in Cambodia. We cycled from the bridge along the historic highway which connects the provinces of kompond thom and Angkor Wat. We continued on to Siem Reap before turning off towards Angkor Wat.  After a final 15km along roads lined with lakes, moats and temples we reach Angkor Wat. We had a late lunch here before heading to our hotel at Siem Reap where we prepared to go out for celebratory drinks and even managed to stay up past 9pm for the  first time in the trip. None of us wanted the cycling to end even though everyone is exhausted it’s been one of the most amazing experiences we have had, only wish that the ride could last longer. We’re looking forward to exploring Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples tomorrow, and to joining the group for a celebratory meal in the evening where one of us hopes to win the prestigious “best bum” award.

After a few km the road condition gradually improved and we started to see the sights and smells of rural life in cambodia. We were overawed by the welcoming locals and the fantastic scenery. We spent the night in a small town called svay rieng in quite a basic hotel with no hot water which is just as well as dave has got terrible sunburn (despite all warnings that factor 15 was really not strong enough especially with his delicate complexion). Everyone is very tired and dehydrated but loving every minute. Approx 80km cycled today saddlebottom (Ed. Think he means saddlesore!) is rearing its ugly head.

Day 5 Transfer Svay rieng – neak lung; cycle neak lung to Kompong Cham. We had an early morning start to the town of neak lung before we set off cycling through more rural sights past padi fields as far as the eye can see, nice flat cycle ride across the mekong river to reach the destination of kompong Cham the 3rd largest city in cambodia. Today was our longest ride so far at 107 km but a longer ride ahead tomorrow. Don’t want the trip to end really enjoying all the cycling however saddlebottom is becoming a real problem amongst some of the riders (Bam).

After a 13 hour flight to Singapore we had a very different experience being able to swim in  the airport’s pool whilst waiting for our transfer flight to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), where we were left to our own devices to explore the sights and sounds of this captivating  city. After finally finding our way back to the hotel through the hustle, bustle and commotion of the city, we were told more about the challenge that lay ahead apart from getting over the jetlag it finally seemed to sink in that we had nearly 500km to ride over the next few days, who’s silly idea was this anyway?

Day 3 Saigon-Tay Ninh

An early start today through the crazed drivers of Saigon to the Cu Chi Tunnels to have a guided tour . The tunnels of Cu Chi are an immense network of connecting underground tunnels located in the Cu Chi district of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam, and are part of a much larger network of tunnels that underlie much of the country. The Cu Chi tunnels were the location of several military campaigns during the Vietnam War, and were the Viet Cong‘s base of operations for the Tet Offensive in 1968.

After an early lunch of probably dog and cat meat because let’s be honest and who knows what we’re getting (Ed. eating cat and dog meat is not common in the south of the country) the race (ride) finally began. The ride for today totalled around 70km with the 1^st 20km taken slowly in the immense heat to Dau Tieng. The next part of the trip we went inland to quiet rural roads where the scenery completely transformed into paddy fields with roaming water buffalo and local farmers putting us to shame cycling along balancing huge bales of straw. The final leg of today’s journey was on a busier route meandering through small villages of simple wooden houses all the way to the market town of Tay Ninh, where were very thankful to leave our bikes for the night.

Team Nambodia have had a great week, ‘Nambodia Day’ was a massive success surpassing all expectations and raised £2,600 to the delight of all involved after weeks of effort and stress organising the event.

Thanks have to go out to everyone who chipped in to help the team and all those who donated to the auction.  Special thanks go to Arnie Skelton who was a star with all his efforts.  We would also like to thank Meera Mohindra for partaking in everything the day had to offer with enthusiasm.  Caroline Booth for organizing the brilliant cake stall and everyone who donated cakes, all the guys who kept the car wash going all day.   Also Little Sue for giving a helping hand at the moment of need all day.

Well done to Ric and Lee for their winning efforts in the wang a welly and hockey dribble events respectively.  And again to Lee for his beautifully designed boat in the engineering challenge.  Last but not least to Vic who teamed up with myself to build a bridge of unrivalled strength, if not beauty, in the first engineering challenge of the day.

We are ecstatic to declare that on the back of the day and a surge in donations from friends and family we have now surpassed our first target of £9,600, the minimum amount we had to raise to be taken on the ride, but it still needs collecting so please be forthcoming with any monies owed.   A personal mention goes to Gerrard Hennessy who beat the previous largest donation with a whopper! Thanks.

We may have reached our first target and we are all much more relaxed because of it, but we still have a few tricks up our sleeve so watch this space!  Next up Team Nambodia Golf Day on the 26th September, please contact one of us to register your interest.  FORE!

Dave

GTN!

Just a quick note to let everyone know about a couple of upcoming events that we’ve organised.

The first is ‘Nambodia Day’, which will take place at Heald Green Village Hall on Saturday 12th September. We’ve organised a variety of different activities on the day which include games and challenges for adults and children.
There is an admission donation of £10 (children under 16 free), all of which is going to the charity. Food and drink will be available, but if you prefer you can bring your own.
If you’d like to come, and would like more details, then please get in contact with one of the three of us, we can send full programmes of the days activities will be sent out to anyone who wishes (you don’t have to be there for the whole event).

The Second event is the ‘Team Nambodia Golf Day’, which will be held at Styal Golf Club on Saturday 26th September. We will be playing the 9 hole, par 3 course. The first tee off will be at 10:00am and the Golf will be followed by a BBQ at Ric’s House (5 minutes drive from the course). All abilities are welcome.
The minimum donation for the day is £15, which will cover the cost of both the golf and BBQ, leaving a donation of around £5-8 for Regain.
Places are limited so please let us know as soon as possible if you wish to attend.

I hope you can make one of the events, it would be great to offer you something in return for all of the support you have given.

Full details can be found at the following Facebook pages:
Nambodia day: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=132527573752
Team Nambodia Golf Day: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=126154972018

or by contacting one of the team.

See you soon,

Ric / Bam

All 3 members of the team were at the Wilmslow Show today, riding the exercise bike (suggestions for names for this valuable 4th team member are welcome). Thanks to some extremely generous donations and some freebie cakes supplied by Kayt and Laura, the team managed to raise another £210.98 for Regain. Huge thanks go to Frank McCarthy and the rest of the team at the Wilmslow Show for allowing us to park up and cycle at the show.

The task is far from complete though, so all your donations are still needed in order to reach our £15,000 target. Please visit the justgiving site and donate whatever you can.

Many thanks for your continued support,

Ric
TN

Two pieces of extremely good news! The first is that all 3 members of Team Nambodia have officially started training (although I’ve not actually been on the road yet – only an exercise bike).
The second piece of news is actually linked to the first. To mark the start of my training, I took my trusty exercise bike (kindly lent to me by Matt Slimming) down to Wilmslow High School’s sports day, where I cycled for the entire two and a half hours of the event. Many thanks to all of the students and teachers who offered both their moral and financial support on the day, helping to raise over £100!
Following the success of this event, Team Nambodia took the bike down to Wilmslow High School again on Tuesday night, this time collecting from some of the parents at the school. Again, this was a great success, which helped us raise even more money for Regain (we haven’t counted how much we raised yet).
This Sunday (12th July), we will be at Wilmslow High one more time to attend the Wilmslow Show, where we will be riding and fundraising again. Many thanks to Wilmslow High School and the organisers of the Wilmslow Show for being so supportive in our efforts to reach that £15,000 target.

Off to do a photoshoot for the paper now.

Ric

Things are moving along slowly, but unfortunately with university and work getting in the way, they are moving far too slowly. We are currently on £3,135, which is great and we are very thankful to all have donated. However, we are still well short of our £15,000 target and with only 3 1/2 months left to fundraise. As we approach the end of the school year, my own personal contribution to active fundraising will improve due to having more time on my hands, so watch this space…..

In the mean time, please dig out those piggy banks and see what you can find. Or even pledge your coin jar to Team Nambodia’s cause. As an example, if everyone in the facebook group for Team Nambodia gave just £5, we would raise an extra £1000 for Regain! I hate asking for money from friends and family, but I assure you that this is a fantastic cause and we will endeavour to do you proud when we finally ride in November.

Please just take 2 minutes of your time to visit the site and donate what you can.

Further to this, we have a letter drafted that we send out to companies asking for their support. If anyone would like a copy to send out to their clients / friends / boss, please send us a message with your email and we will get a copy sent out to you.

Thank you so much for your support, we really do appreciate it.

Ric

First blog entry from me (Dave), I dont suppose Nat will work out how to use a computer before we leave for Vietnam, but we live in hope.  The fundraising ball is well and truely in motion, Nat has been tireless in his efforts ringing and pestering anyone with a phone number and cheque book, especially schools.  Bam’s  Dad has been brilliant too contacting alot of his assoiciates and applying the kind of pressure only an international spy could, thanks Mike.

I have managed to get some donations rolling in from sports teams, so watch out for our charity auction later in the year, lots will include, but not be limited to rugby tickets, signed photos and tickets to the Lowry Theatre which includes access to the members club and free bar!

We have had some brilliant donations on Justgiving in the “lead” is Chris Shelley who I have to mention for donating a whoping £200.  Thanks Chris!  Thanks to everyone else who has given too, if you want to be mentioned by name beat Chris. ;-)

We have also been in receipt of support from a number of companies so far we have Eastpak, Mohindra Maini Solicitors and Effective on board, so a big thanks to everyone at those companies too. 

Thanks for taking the time to read this, please feel free to contact us with any suggestions, tips or whatever you feel the need to share with us or ask.  Dont forget to donate at http://www.justgiving.com/teamnambodia Thanks.

Oh yeah the fundraising total is at £2,830…

Dave

My hope is that this blog will be a great platform for us to let you know how we’re getting on with our fund raising and training, but also somewhere for you to put to us any questions, challenges, opportunities and whatever else you can think of. £15,000 is a lot of money to raise and we’d have a tough time raising it all ourselves so we consider all of you who help out of show your support to be valuable members of Team Nambodia.

So what has happened so far? Well we’ve been fortunate enough to have 3 major donations already! Eastpak, Effective Training and Development and Mohindra Maini solicitors have all pledged their support to the team thanks to some great fundraising work by Dave and Nat. We’ve also had our first donation on www.justgiving.com/teamnambodia from Emma Ireland. Emma’s donation via the website earns an extra tax bonus thanks to gift aid, which is even better news for Regain. Thanks Emma!

All of this takes us up to £2,505, leaving us only £11,995 to go (at least)!

So where to from here? Well, watch this space for news of upcoming fundraisers and news on our training regimes (which haven’t started yet…..). We’re looking to engage some more companies in our fundraising efforts so any suggestions would be welcome. In the mean time, you can catch up with us in the following ways:
You can join our facebook group: Facebook Group
You can also follow us on Twitter (which I am currently fascinated by): Twitter page
(Update – My fascination with Twittering has led me to stick it on here.)
<—-look left

Also, please take some time to look at Regain’s website to see why we are doing all of this: Regain Website

I’ll be updating this site pretty soon with information about the Team and the challenge. If there is anything else you would like, let me know.

Thanks again!

Ric