Day 21: Adrenaline

Today was dedicated to fun, adrenaline filled activities.  We got up early this morning so that we could head out early to ride ATVs around the countryside.  I had never driven a quad (as they are called here), so I was quite excited.  At 7am, we were picked up from our hotel and taken to the ATV garage.  There, the French owner told us how to drive the ATVs, and our Cambodian guide took me on a test run to make sure I could drive the ATV without crashing.  When I managed that, we were off.

This was before we got dirty.

The ride through the countryside was great fun.  I started out conservative, getting a feel for the quad, but soon I was wishing our guide would go faster on his lead bike.  We drove through villages with people on bikes driving all around, as well as through the open countryside, with only houses and rice fields.  In some areas, we drove through the middle of several fields, where we could see far into the distance.  At one point, we stopped at an orphanage and school, which the quad rental company supports with their profits.  The orphanage was very nice, with many classrooms and living quarters.  Our seven year old guide around the orphanage had better English than most of the guides I have had at tourist sites.  He told us that when he finishes school, he wants to become an English teacher himself.  Both at the orphanage and around the countryside, the children were not shy.  Everywhere we drove, there were tons of kids along the street, and they would all wave and shout “hello” as we passed.

The mud was the best part of the ride.  Many of the dirt roads were muddy from last night’s rain, either in the form of isolated mud puddles, or entire stretches of muddy road.  In the mud puddles, I could splash my way through them, and on larger sections, I could slip and slide all around.  Flooring it down the road and then sliding around the corner gave a great adrenaline rush, as did speeding through mud puddles.  At one point I came up to a shallow puddle, but there was an older woman walking along, so I slowed down a bit before I hit the puddle.  Well, the puddle ended up being way deeper than I expected, and Greg reported that I sprayed the lady from the shoulders down.

The roads varied in quality, with this being a little worse than average.

The scenery was great, from forest to farm to village.

We stopped for a drink break at a little shop, and there I was able to get a shot of one of the many fuel stations.

They sold fuel where we stopped for a snack

Along the way, we went through many large puddles, and we stopped at two of the biggest to take some pictures.  At first, I shot Greg going through, but he was too much of a sissy to get wet, so his puddle was lame.  Then, he shot my go.  I turned around and went back a ways so that I could pick up some speed, and then I throttled into the puddle, making the biggest splash of the morning.  I was soaked, but it was awesome.  There were many puddles we had to go through, and we had tons of fun.

Preparing to go through the puddle.

That's not so bad…

Oh…

Wow

I think I might get wet.

Through the drops.

This puddle wasn't quite as big.

It was still fun to go through, though.

Just after that last picture, our guide told us we needed to calm down a bit and not be so crazy.  It was Greg’s second warning.  In total, we drove 42km (26mi) and had a great time.  When we got back to the garage, we finished up and headed back to the hotel.  After lunch, we headed out on our next journey, an attempt to find a supposed shooting range near Siem Reap.  On the internet, we read vague directions, saying the range was “near Banteay Srei”, but we could find nothing specific.  We asked a tuk-tuk driver if he knew where it was, and after consulting his buddies, he told us he could get us there.  We figured he was just lying and would drive around unable to find it, but for $10, it would still be a nice ride through the country even if we didn’t find the range.  Of course, we had to fill up with fuel before we left.

So that is where the petrol comes from, or is that beer?

After about an hour of driving through the Angkor complex and the countryside, we finally turned into the “4th Troops Training Center” of the Cambodian Army.  After driving past some barracks we found the shooting range at 13°29’7.49″N 103°57’22.78″E (Google Maps).  The range was just a covered patio with several 50m tunnels connected to it.  The only guy not in military clothing came up to us and showed us the wall of guns and a menu with the prices of shooting each.  There were all sorts of weapons, from AK-47s to M16s, K-50s to Uzis, and grenades to RPGs.

Greg with a gun. He didn't shoot this one.

We shot this AK-47.

We chose to shoot the AK-47, which is really what you think of when you think Cambodia.  We went to a 50m tunnel, the guy loaded the gun, turned off the safety and handed it to Greg, saying “Shoot away.”  No instructions, no safety, just shoot.  Greg fired off half of the magazine before handing the gun over to me.  It was clearly obvious that I had never fired a gun before, because the guy gave me a bit more help, showing me how to stand and where to place the butt of the gun.  He also braced me in place on the shoulder, which really was not necessary, as the gun kicked far less than I expected, only moving slightly when fired.  Shooting was easier than I expected, and quite the adrenaline rush.  When I was finished, we walked down the tunnel and checked out our target.  It turns out that we hit the target fifteen times out of a thirty round magazine.

Greg's turn

My turn

Greg with the gun.

Don't I look so intimidating? I didn't think so.

I guess they don't bother to clean up.

We got about 15 hits out of a 30 round magazine.

We figure that the soldiers in the base run the shooting range using the army’s guns and ammunition, but without permission and simply pocketing the money, hence why the guy was the only one not in the a military outfit.  We also thought it best that we didn’t shoot an RPG, throw a grenade that is likely 30 years old, or shoot the rusting mortar sitting out front.  After such a thrilling day, we relaxed a bit at the hotel and shot some more pool after dinner.  I know I’m bad at pool, but the giant pool tables they had seemed ridiculously difficult.  It was still fun though, if a bit frustrating.

I think my socks got a little dirty.