Battambang (Cambodia)
Trip Start
Feb 28, 2008
1
2
18
Trip End
Jul 06, 2008
Battambang,
Cambodia
Thursday, March 6, 2008
I was up a 6am today to pack my last few bits before getting the minibus to the Cambodian border. I met a nice Korean couple on there, Andy and Alyssa (their English names) and a couple of Germans who didn't speak a lot of English. It took about 7 hours to get to the border, contrary to the 4 hours they told me at the travel office. We stopped at various shops and restaurants along the way that I guess they must get some kind of commission for doing so. It took another hour at least to get through the Thai departures and immigration. To get to Battambang, my first port of call, I had to get a taxi with 3 random Cambodians, a woman, a man, and an old lady with a baby. Cambodia so far has been very surreal. It is very apparent that it is a 3rd world country. It is very dusty and the roads are terrible. It is a bit like the wild west but with the horses being replaced by mopeds! I am staying at the Royal Hotel. It was $18 a night but I was too tired to find anywhere else. I have a very nice room with air-con and a satellite tv.
6th March
WHAT A DAY!!! Today was the highlight of my trip so far. I left the hotel at 9am to get a breakfast burrito, consisting of cut up egg, bacon and hash browns in a tortilla wrap. After that I went for a walk along the riverside. Everyone in Cambodia is soooooo friendly. If you smile and say hello they will do the same. On my walk I was approached by a local who spoke very good English. He offered to be my guide for the day for $10. I sat on the back of his moped and he drove me everywhere. He told me loads of facts about the surrounding areas on our trip. The first stop was Phnom Sampeu, where I paid a local boy $1 to guide me to the top of the hill. He took me to various temples and buddah statues on the steep slope. At the top he showed me a deep cave where 10,000 people had been thrown to their deaths by the Khmer Rouge. In one of the caves was a glass case contain skulls and bones of the dead - pretty grim. It was bloody hot work going up the slope then back down the hundreds of stairs. After a 15 minute recovery we were ready to head on to Wat Banan, a temple at the top of a 70m high hill. After a few hundred steps I was at the top with a fantastic view of the surrounding countryside. Only 5 towers of the temple remain but it was still a great sight. After that I was taken to the 'bamboo train' - which consisted of 2 sets of wheels, a motor, and 5 foot by 9 foot base made of bamboo. The whole thing was put together when I was there.. These makeshift trains run along the only train line in Cambodia and travel suprisingly fast for a couple of stick attached to some wheels. We had to stop and disassemble the 'train' for another coming straight towards us - a train carrying 3 dead cows, 2 mopeds and about 10 people! When we returned to the starting point the driver took me to his own house to eat a late lunch with him and eat of his male family and friends. One of the guys, Dyna, spoke good English and the rest knew a few words. We ate chicken, fish and rice and drank palm juice, made from the juice of palm trees. Apparently it gets you pissed if you drink a couple of glasses! One of the guys was pretty drunk, before jumping on a moped with his wife and kid and driving off! It was really nice to be sitting with some local Cambodians and they made me feel very welcome. We sat for about 3 hours before my guide took me to the school that he opened and I taught an English lesson!!! I had around 20 7 year old kids and they were all sooooo cute. I did an hour on the letter L. I had quite a big audience by the door and the windows as well. Apparently a sweaty, bumbling Englishman is quite a sight in these parts!
There is a pleasant breeze in Cambodia, unlike Thailand, which is quite deceiving, hence my sunburn today!!!
Anyway, off to Siem Reap in the morning. I will update you all in a few days.
Miss you all.
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