Battambang, Cambodia

Hi all, after a very long day on buses and in taxis on Monday we made it from Bangkok to Battambang in Cambodia. The differences with the parts of Thailand we have seen are huge. It is dramatically poorer, the tarmac stops as soon as you cross the border. The border town was definitely something to avoid so we took a taxi directly to Battambang. This is a really nice old colonial city, with the same buildings and boulevards as you would expect in any European city. Its the second city of Cambodia, but is really nothing larger than a small town, centred round the market with cows walking the dirt streets. People have been really friendly, some of them speak very good English, including the kids! They aren't as used to tourists here, so whenever the young kids see you they shout 'Hello!' and grin, its really nice! Noticed this especially today when we hired motorbikes with guide/driver to take us into the countryside. You feel like the queen as the kids in the little wooden houses on stilts shout 'Hello' and wave at you. Literally every other house had kids shouting and waving at us! The guides were really knowledgeable and explained the good, and not so good, history of the country and also how the rural people work on the paddy (rice) fields. We went up a mountain to visit a wat at the top that was used as a prison during the Khmer Rouge times (including a killing cave, see photo). One of the guides had two brothers killed by the Khmer Rouge, every single family lost someone. Its very hard to see the places, after reading about the history from books. Our guides then took us to see a fruit farm (didn't recognise all of the fruits) and drove through paddy fields to reach a bamboo train that is used to transport everything! A really good introduction to the country, the street kids and poverty will take some getting used to.

colonial battambang

Voor mijn oud collega's in Nederland,autisten en mensen hier met psychische problemen gaan het klooster in. De monniken verzorgen en "behandelen".Vandaag een aantal autistische kinderen gezien in een wat (klooster), erg veel structuur: bidden, eten, werken, eten,bidden, bidden en slapen.

killing caves

Going to Pursat on Friday, will make a new entry when we have settled in. 

transportation

view from the wat

wat