FOLLOW THE RIDE: Help Le Meridien Angkor as we support the Angkor Hospital For Children and, local girl, Sreihi's open heart surgery with a 460km bike ride.
On Sunday, June 19, Greg braved the traffic and colorful streets of Bangkok once again to go across the city and increase awareness of the Think Yes! cause.
Greg arrived by bicycle to the Starwood Hotels and Resorts' General Managers Conference for Asia Pacific at our sister property, the Royal Orchid Sheraton on the banks of Bangkok's Chao Phraya River. Hotel Manager, Tina Liu, and her team were gracious enough to welcome Greg as he cycled into the hotel's main entrance. With all of the Starwood leadership team gathered in one place, this was the perfect opportunity to continue to raise funds for the Angkor Hospital for Children's Cardiac Unit and for Sreihi's open heart surgery.
Big thanks to everyone who has already donated! If you haven't donated yet, there's still time. Donate TODAY by clicking the banner below. Check out more pictures of Greg's Arrival below:
Greg surprised everyone and arrived into Bangkok last night, June 13th, at 6:30pm after pushing himself through an eleven hour journey totaling 182 kms. A last minute route change resulted in a shorter than expected total journey, which finished at our sister property Four Points by Sheraton, Sukhumvit 15. Despite finishing early, it was not an easy ride:
"On arrival last night to Sa Kaeo, Thailand . I could not use my left hand fingers... it's like they’re numb from a prolonged postion. The next morning... no change.Tonight .. they’re useless." -Gregory Anderson
At around 4:30pm Greg called Le Meridien Angkor to let us know he was 60kms outside of Bangkok, felt good, and would push himself to finish the journey one day earlier than expected. Adrenaline took over at that point, he was ready for the lights, the colors, the buildings, and the traffic of Bangkok. Speaking of the traffic:
"In Bangkok, it was fun ducking and weaveing between cars in traffic. One turn was too close between cars and my shoe was caught, then I fell on to the bonnet of the adjoining car. It was a soft landing and--in the land of smiles--we all smiled. If you were to step back a few meters, the view is of lots of local moto drivers skillfully nagivaging forward through the gridlock traffic, and then ... bang...the farnag hits... LOL. Also when coming down from one of the many high arched bridges in Bangkok… a bump at the end shook me so hard that my hands lost grip of the handle bars… whoa!" -Gregory Anderson
Greg sends his most sincere appreciation and thanks to everyone who has donated to this cause and has followed his journey. There is still time to donate! In the next couple of days we will continue to upload Greg's pictures and more stories from the road.
Check out the route and full GPS statistics and some road pictures below:
We have just received word that Greg will be arriving in Bangkok today, earlier than anticipated. He is due to arrive in bangkok by today, June 13 2011, around 6pm. He has been making good time, feeling well, and eager to complete this journey. Please DONATE TODAY to help Sreihi.
The sound of the traditional Khmer music still echoed as Greg lead a group of roughly 30 bicycles around Le Meridien Angkor's driveway and out the front entrance to begin his journey to Bangkok. Hotel employees joined him for the first 16kms of the ride, cheering him on as they pedaled out of Siem Reap. The obstacles came early and in the form of a flat tire when Greg reached Pouk District, about 40kms outside of town. Nothing some sidewalk mechanic work couldn't fix and he was back on his way to the border, where he arrived at Poi Pet after 4 hours of riding by bright green rice paddies.
Greg made it across the Cambodia/Thailand border after a brief stop. The afternoon was encountered with pouring rain, it is--after all--the beginning of the monsoon season. This also caused Greg's backpack strap to break, yet, this did not slow down his Average Speed of 32km/hr. On this first leg of the trip, Greg reached speeds of up to 61 kms/hr as he reached the town of Mueang Sa Kaeo, Sa Kaeo Province, Thailand, where he spent the night.
Total Distance Cycled: 192.61kms
Total Time Cycled: 6hrs 10 mins
This morning at 7:30am, about 60 hotel associates and guests gathered at Le Meridien Angkor's lobby to see Greg begin his 460km journey to Bangkok. After a traditional Apsara blessing dance, about 30 hotel employees cycled alongside Greg for the first 16kms of the ride.
Greg will be bringing a GPS unit to assist in his journey; but just in case... he will be also carry along the map below as a back after he crosses into Thailand.
Greg has been training for the upcoming ride to Bangkok for some months now. In the last 30 days alone, he has cycled over 730 kilometres for over 30 hours of pedaling in the Cambodian countryside, filled with views of postcard-like rice paddies and smiling faces.
During his training, he has encountered many of the physical obstacle he will see during his solo journey next week, including, water buffaloes crossing the street, numerous potholes to avoid, dogs running alongside his bike (at times too close for comfort), motos swerving in and out of traffic as they carry 4 sacks of rice on the back, among many others.
Over this last stretch of training he has maintained an average speed of 24 km/h on his GIOS bike and burned a total of 18,503 calories.
Great News! About 20 employees from the different departments of Le Meridien Angkor have volunteered to join Greg for the first 10kms of his ride.
Greg is continuing his training in anticipation of his 460km ride to Bangkok in less than a week. The entire Le Meridien Angkor team stands behind him in support and we are all driven to raise as much money as possible for the Angkor Hospital for Children.
THINK YES: LE MERIDIEN ANGKOR SUPPORTS THE ANGKOR HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN'S CARDIAC SURGERY UNIT WITH A HEART PUMPING 460KM BICYCLE RIDE
ABOUT THE PROJECT:
The closest luxury hotel to the ancient temples of Angkor Wat, Le Méridien Angkor aims to increase awareness of The Angkor Hospital for Children’s mission and raise enough funds for the open heart surgery of local 3-year old girl, Di Sreihi. To bring attention to this cause, Gregory Andreson, Le Méridien Angkor’s General Manager, will embark on a 460km bicycle solo journey through the Cambodian countryside beginning on June 12, 2011 and concluding in Bangkok.
ABOUT DI SREIHI:
Di Sreihi was born 40 kilometres away from Cambodia’s most important tourist attraction, Angkor Wat; unfortunately, she has a congenital heart disease called Ventricular Septal Defect; without surgical intervention she is unlikely to survive.Her family makes a living through farming, just like 80 percent of Cambodia’s population, and subsists on less than USD 3-5 per day and is, thus, not able to afford little Sreihi’s surgery. Think Yes!Fortunately, the Angkor Hospital for Children has secured a Singaporean team of surgeons who are ready to assist their Cambodian counterparts with the procedure.As the volunteer surgical teams are generously donating their time and experience, the cost of performing these life enhancing procedures at AHC has been greatly reduced to only the hospital costs of USD 3,500.
ABOUT THE ANGKOR HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN:
The Angkor Hospital for Children (AHC) provides free paediatric healthcare to the children affected by both poverty and disease in Siem Reap Province and Northern Cambodia.In a country with minimum—and at times non-existent—health care, AHC also works to strengthen Cambodia’s Health infrastructure through the training of doctors, nurses and other health professionals, as well as rural government health workers and communities.
ABOUT THE RIDE:
Anderson will begin a heart pumping bike ride commencing at the edge of the Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap, Cambodia, riding west and across the border into Thailand to finish in Bangkok. He will be joined by a number of the hotel’s associates for the first 10 kilometres of the journey. Anderson will embark on this excursion with only his bike, a camera, and a GPS unit, with which he will send updates and images of his whereabouts which will be posted on this blog at lemeridienangkor.com/thinkyes .
The inception of this initiative came about after Anderson visited the local hospital, “Hotels can do more than simply bring tourists to discover the local area, so I had a chat with the executive director, Dr. William Housworth, about different ways in which we could help their work within our community; this is one of multiple initiatives,” said Anderson.Additionally, this project has been respectfully put together in memory of Dr. Eugene Tragus, affectionately known by the local community as Dr. Gene, who had an instrumental role in the development of the hospital and Cambodia’s healthcare infrastructure for the past 15 years.
To donate and discover more please visit lemeridienangkor.com/thinkyes or click on the banner at the top of this page .One hundred percent of the money donated will be go directly to the Angkor Hospital for Children.
Le Méridien Angkor has been recently recognised at the World Travel Awards as Cambodia’s Leading Hotel and Cambodia’s Leading Spa for the fourth year in a row. Named the Oscar’s of the Travel Industry by various publications, The World Travel Awards are held annually and represent the highest standard of excellence within the hospitality industry.
