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17 NOVEMBER 2013 - WAT BEUNG AMPEUL TO SAMLAUT TASIGN: 115KM

When the drum beats, the monks rise, and with them Sam and team.  Day 4 saw Sam make a head start by setting off on foot a full hour before the rest of the crew, since he was eager to get on the road.  After a heavy early morning rainfall the earth was sodden but the air cool, which meant a pleasant run for the first leg of today’s journey, and perhaps a chance for a little solitary contemplation for our man. With a total distance to cover of just over 111km it was going to be a long road ahead.

At 25km, Sam switched his running shoes for wheels to cover the remaining 27km to Pailin, a town with little to recommend it save for its notoriety as a Khmer refuge and high statistics for trafficked victims, in part due to its proximity to the Thai border.  However, the town has grown up around a magnificent temple, Phnom Yat Temple that sits at the foot of a small mountain, hence its Khmer name Phnom, meaning mountain.  The sights en route painted a variety of pictures: misty mountain vistas, rolling patchwork hills, tapioca and corn fields and paths of sliced cassava fruit drying by the roadside.  It was breathtaking and even more so when one contemplated the juxtaposition of the city’s complex recent history against the physical beauty of

the landscape.  A nod to this recent history were the signboards that dotted the roadsides which read: ‘Landmine Cleared Area’, a caption which left no one complacent.

Pailin and lunch covered, it was time to set off for what was to be the most arduous leg of the journey for Sam.  Two trucks and one cyclist headed into the mountain foothills, lush green undulating forest, dotted with wooden tin-roof houses painted in soft hues of pinks, greens, blues and the occasional bright yellow.  Smiling children sprinting out of houses to wave and barking dogs running alongside had Sam simultaneously delighted and swerving out of the way.  The cross-country route taken was muddy, wet and full of deep pit holes.  Though drenched with sweat and mud spray, Sam still managed to give his thoughts to others, asking all of us “How are you?”; astonishing thoughtfulness, from a man under strenuous circumstances.  Watching Sam stand on his peddles, determined to remain on his bike as he climbed steep, muddy, rutted hills, all the rest of us could do was hope that the cool mountain air offered Sam a little relief.

By 7pm, nearly 13 hours on-the-go and with darkness falling, Sam continued pedaling.  Though he had intended to run more, the road was simply too bad.  How does one

man push himself to keep on moving when most would have given up after the first muddy hole?  Sam admitted the route was tough and he needed to draw on inspiration from a variety of sources to stay motivated.  Keeping in mind the students of Sala Bai and knowing that one graduate has joined him in this journey (our chef) helps keep his final destination in sight.

As shadows spread, the air brought with it pungent smells of night, cooking over wood fires, smouldering neem leaves to dispel mosquitoes and damp red earth and we pulled into our campsite.

Donate to support Sam, Sala Bai and the fight against human trafficking.

Watch 'A Step Between', a short documentary film that chronicles Sam's 2012 Cross-Cambodia Journey through the voice of one courageous human trafficking survivor.

And learn how Sala Bai empowers Cambodia's most impoverished young women to obtain employment in Siem Reap's growing hospitality industry in 'Khatna's Journey: A Sala Bai Story'.

- Gaynor Fitzgibbon