If you can’t make up your mind exactly when to volunteer with Globalteer’s Cambodia Community Project in Siem Reap, then here’s a story that might inspire you, help you to set your date and guarantee that you get a very different view of the Temples of Angkor!
23 year-old British volunteer Frankie Bolton (pictured above) combined her five week trip to the Globalteer Cambodia Community Project in November and December 2013 with the annual Angkor charity bike ride. Here she tells us about the highs and lows of a very long race!
“Cycling 100km around Angkor Wat seemed like a great idea at the time... Not quite my thoughts during the race but it was an amazing experience! I'd seen some banners around town advertising a charity bike race to help protect against child exploitation in Cambodia and wanted to get involved - it was an opportunity to bike around Angkor Wat and raise money for a very worthy cause at the same time so it seemed silly not to.
“I mentioned it to a few other volunteers at the Globalteer guesthouse and it turned out that another volunteer who comes every year was doing it too so the night before the race I went to sign up. It was $25 to take part - all international volunteers get a discounted price and I was given a little goodie bag with a t-shirt and various other things inside for the race."
A very early start...
“So, at 4.30am the next morning we set off in a tuk-tuk armed with our bikes to attempt the 100km race (there were 3 distances – 17km, 30km and 100km)
“After seeing the sun rise over Angkor Wat we began the race. The first lap went by in no time but by the 2nd and 3rd I was definitely feeling the strain and sadly after 75k I had to stop!
“It was a beautiful ride and as I STILL hadn't got round to exploring the temples it was great to have a sneak preview of them. The atmosphere at the event was great, there were people from all over the world competing and it was pretty cool dodging elephants, pigs, tuk-tuks and tourists along the way."
Would you recommend it?
“If I'm back in Siem Reap next year or in years to come I will definitely do it again and complete the race too! I'd totally recommend doing this if you're here - it seems to be a growing event and next year will be the 10th annual race so I'm sure it will be even bigger and better than before.”
Huge congratulations from everyone at Globalteer to Frankie for taking part in the race.
The Bike Race 2014
If you would like to take part in the Angkor bike race next year as part of your volunteer trip, the date has not yet been set but it is usually the last weekend of November or first weekend in December - you can stay fully up to date at the Bike Ride Website. Registration fees go towards the race’s official charity but you might want to ask friends and family to sponsor your ride in aid of your chosen cause too - perhaps your Globalteer placement project!
For details of how to apply for a placement on one of our Siem Reap community projects go to our Volunteer Cambodia Community Project page.
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