Hotel Royal Battambang

To be completed ... We decided to catch a boat from Siem Reap to Battambang, instead of the bus. Definitely an experience! Its quite a long way, boarding down river from Siem Reap, crossing the Tonle Sap lake and then a long trip up another river to Battambang. It takes a long time at this time of year because the rivers are very low and the boat has to go slow/gets stuck ... 7 hours, we were warned. Things did not start too brightly as the minibus pick up at our guest house did not arrive .....

Yet another early morning, the 5th in a row. Tonight I must sleep in! by the way, I've really loved reading your comments. I'm not responding on this site, as it takes long enough as is, but have responded to those that asked questions by email. Keep 'em coming! If there is anything you are missing in my commentaries, please let me know (am trying to talk more about food now) Maybe I left Angkor too early, but it is done. I took a traditional, wooden longboat on Lake Ton Sap and the Sangker R...

The bus journey to Battambang (apparently its pronounced Battambong) passed off without a hitch and we arrived to be confronted with the standard procedure of touts everywhere. We went with one who took us to the hotel we were going to anyway, turns out he wasn't getting a commission so no rip off there. His name was Harry and with excellent English he explained that he operates as a moto tour guide, so after a good chat with him we decided he was sound and arranged our tour for the next morn...

Templed out we left Siem Reap for the quiet backwaters of real Cambodia. Battambang is the 2nd City but you wouldn't think so on visiting. It is a small town with no major tourist attractions - though the Tourist Office is trying hard to promote the town especially the local museum which they gushingly describe as containing some "absolutely gorgeous sculptures"! After melting in Angkor we stumbled upon a great outdoor swimming pool by the river which became our second home for the three days...

Today I got a motorbike driver ($10) to take me around. We headed south to Phnom Sampeou which was the site of genocide in the Khmer Rouge era. We parked at the bottom and walked up the hill which would have been fine if I hadn't been sick for the last 2 days (no it's not swine flu). Oh well I'm sure it was good for me. My driver was a great guide he explained about the Khmer Rouge and what they did. He said the cities were empty everyone went back to the farms and there was no food. At Phnom...

Today the same driver picked me up again. This time we are heading north. The main event today is Wat Ek Phnom. So I spent the morning climbing around an ancient temple. It's lovely out there climbing and sitting in the middle of nowhere. The only problem is with rocks everywhere if you kick one in flip flops it hurts. My guide wanted to give me a good day so took me around to see how rice paper was made. This rice paper is used for fresh spring rolls (I'm a big fan of these in Myanmar, they ...

Busy day today as it's my last day here. First cooking class where first we went shopping in the market, then made Fish Amok. Using a pestle and mortar to make the curry paste, this will be the base for the meals today. Mine really should have been cut finer and ground more, but good enough to be used right away. We also had to make coconut milk, which is made by squeezing water through fresh shredded coconut. The next dish was stir fried beef with morning glory. It was very spicy (three chil...

Another long, bouncy and interesting bus journey delivered me to Battanbang (which I still can't help calling Battanburg (sp!)) which the Lonely Planet promised was a laid back, charming town filled with colonial architecture and friendly people. Once again I think they might have a)over-exaggerated b)gone somewhere else and got confused or c)been on drugs. Oh alright, it's not that bad but looks wise it's closer to downtown Kosovo than Luang Prabang. I found out after a few days that I shoul...

The best route to Battambong is under debate, - bus or boat - bus or boat. Boat we heard was quicker/more comfortable, and all apparently in good nick. We'd heard. An early start took us to the jetty for our scenic 'cruise' across Cambodias imposing lakey/river combo. The boat wasn't exactly the stable and sturdy vessel which we'd expected. Ok, we weren't counting on a stylish and nippy speed-boat or a large fancy yacht, but we were expecting a bit more than a rickety wooden long-tail jalopy ...

After bidding a final farewell to Angkor, with another last visit, we made our way back to town. The day before we had secured a boat ticket to take us across Tonle Sap Lake onto Battanbang (or Battenberg!) and got ready to leave the next day with a last bit of shopping for supplies. I'd felt slightly sick at lunchtime and all afternoon was fighting off tiredness and a bit of nausea. When we got back to Babel we went up to our room to get ready for dinner and this is when Cambodia had a sting...