Rural Siem Reap - written by Marvin

After all the Wats visited it was time to see rural life on the outskirts of Siem Reap.  The best way we thought to do this was via quad bikes.  There are a couple of different companies advertising whole and half day tours, although we went for the 1 hour sunset ride.  Great to get picked up from our hotel by Tuk Tuk, then dropped off at the Quad Bike shop just south of the river.  http://www.srquadbikeadventure.com/index.php/en/

After a quick briefing we were off.  The 300cc quads are fully automatic so really simple to drive, we had one adult and one kid sharing a bike each.  The "doctors masks" are for the dust as most of the trip will be on dirt roads.  We followed our guide who was on his own 2 wheeler.  It was all very relaxed as we made our way through outer town, then progressively onto dirt roads and further into village life.
With each house we pass, out appear a few kids (some only toddlers) to wave and greet us as we ride by.  A few farmers are tending to their livestock, feeding hay etc, and we came across numerous water buffalo.  We can see why they get their name as they wallow in the deeper creeks and canals feeding the rice fields.  Farmers tend to have only 2-4 cows and as you can see they are slim by NZ standards. 

We continue through village after village then come across what we thought was a wedding, only to find out later it was a house warming party.  Connor was nagging to drive so I jumped on the back.  It was a piece of cake for him given his past experience on quad bikes. 

Our guide lead us to a large expanse of rice paddies, where people were getting ready for the up coming season.  Buffalo are used for ploughing or most common now are small hand operated dozers or cultivators to pull the plough.
With the sun setting it was a quick ride back to the home base, experiencing ever increasing traffic along the way.  Overall a great way to see village life, we would've been hopelessly lost if it wasn't for our guide, so well worth doing the quad tour.