Despite everything that the people of Cambodia have gone through in recent times they are such a happy smiling bunch of people. Everyone we have met so far have gone out of their way for us. The kids are always waving and coming over to say hi and granted, they are taught to say hello in English and put their hand out for money before they can walk, but they are so damn cute it is actually okay with me. It’s almost enough to tempt me to find a handsome Cambodian circus performer to be able to have one of my own! Totally get the Brad and Ange thing now. Jess would rather steal all the local stray puppies but she agrees with me on this too. Sorry Jon.
We left Siem Reap early morning to catch a boat which would take us up river to Battambang in roughly 5 hours. It was slightly more expensive than the bus but was said to be a beautiful sail through the Cambodian countryside and would be a nice escape from the crazy roads. We got on to find not the most comfortable plastic seats but beautiful views along the way, as promised, especially of the floating villages which in themselves would have been a reason to do the boat trip. Unbelievable that these people live their entire lives without ever really stepping ashore. They sleep, they fish and they raise their children all on these floating pontoons on the lake and along the shore of the river. Was a bit worrying to see the people both drinking from and peeing in the river but obviously their bellies can take it!?
5 hours turned into 7 but eventually we made it to Battambang, after much attention from the local children who were swimming in the river along the final stretch, completely starkers at all times. The kids here really do have an aversion to clothes…it’s a bit odd but what can we foreigners say on the subject? Well for a start we can not take pictures of them like one guy on our boat did…creepy! Our hotel had sent a tuk tuk driver for us, which was a massive relief because as soon as our boat docked at a rickety set of metal steps on the bank about a dozen other tuk tuk drivers boarded us through the windows, over the roof and bombarded us with offers of rides to our accommodations. We had to laugh but if we hadn’t seen the guy with my name on a sign it would have been a bit intimidating! Got to love the sell sell sell spirit though.
Battambang is a pretty average town with a very un touristy vibe. The people mostly just go about their business ignorant of our presence, which is actually quite a nice thing to witness. It used to be a French outpost so very colonial architecture in the centre but our place was a bit further out. Massive bonus in the end as we got a free upgrade to the best room due to it being low season! Lovely place, Phka Villa Hotel, couldn’t recommend it enough. Mostly due to the staff but also had a nice pool, good food and two awesome tuk tuk drivers on retainer at our beck and call. Nothing really of note can be said about the town itself but there are a few really cool things you can do here when you’re tired of chilling round the pool with an Angkor beer.
One afternoon we did a 3 hour Khmer cooking course through “Nary kitchen” led by the brilliant Toot and his wife Nary. We first made a trip to the local market to get the ingredients and Toot explained a lot about how the ingredients can be told apart and how much they should cost. He said see it, smell it then cook it and you will always remember it. After we got back to his small kitchen (behind their functioning restaurant) the 5 of us set to work on our 3 course delight made up of pork spring rolls, beef lok lak and the national dish of Cambodia – snake fish amok. Toot was very cute and gentle with his teaching, letting us follow along with his demonstration and talking a little about his life and family along the way. The food came out brilliantly and for just $10 and including a free meal, the afternoon was amazingly good value. The food in Cambodia is slightly too sweet for our tastes but when I try out everything at home again I’ll is it cut out the additional sugar that Toot seemed to love putting in everything.
The other two highlights of Battambang were a trip to the bamboo railway and to Phnom Sampov. The bamboo railways is literally just a bamboo platform placed on top of two free standing axels which powers along the straight but warped and mangled section of disused train track at a scary speed of 15mph. Doesn’t sound much but when you realise that the train is deconstructed every time you meet one coming the other way it feels a lot less sturdy and safe. It was great fun but a bit of a sad reminder also, as the reason the train line has been decommissioned is because of the high likelihood of land mines along it (obvs the bit we were on had been properly cleared, don’t think the Cambodian government want any decapitated tourists to deal with on top of the 80,000 Cambodians that have either died or lost limbs since the Khmer rouge regimen put all the mines down in the 80s). It was an hour round trip and had a stop off at a village half way where we had a drink and got a grass weaving lesson from little local boy. Very fun and even with the various tips you’re expected to give on top, the $5 price tag is well worth it.
Finally we visited Phnom Sampov, which had so much to do in such a small area! We trekked up the craggy hill instead of getting the moto up, which most other tourists went for, leading to plenty or gasping for air and yet more sweaty monstrosities for everyone to stare at with repulsion, definitely not fit for photos! At the top it became clear it had definitely been worth the climb, as the views of the eerily flat surrounding Cambodian countryside were gorgeous. There was also a pretty standard temple up there but more interestingly there were a set of caves that cut into the cliff face called “the killing caves”, another sad story in Cambodian history. 10,000 people were basically herded up into the hills and just pushed down a deep hole to their deaths 😦 pretty nasty place but it is important to remember and acknowledge this stuff. I just can’t believe it all happened so recently! From there we went to a much nicer cave for dusk – a bat cave! There are 3 million bats that come out to hunt within an hour and a half around nightfall and it was amazing seeing them swarm around like swallows over the rice padis. Definitely perked us back up again after he more somber part of the afternoon.
So we’ve just arrived in the capital Phnom Penh after a very bumpy 4 or so hour drive. Lots planned here but first things first, $2 cocktails at the bar as it just so happens to be HAPPY HOUR!
Bitten by the Travel Bug 