Battambang - Bamboo Train

3/22/2012 6:20 PM

So another relaxing day spent in Siem Reap; not quite on purpose, but relaxing nonetheless. I was supposed to be taking a boat to Battambang today, however, my alarm failed to go off and I missed it. Not to worry, I’ve got another 10 days in Cambodia and I have taking a bit of a liking to Siem Reap. I will get the boat tomorrow and be in Battambang by the afternoon. 

Not much else to report on about today. I didn’t do all that much. However, I did get to shoot an M-16 automatic rifle. Figured I might as well give it a shot (no pun intended) given that I needed something else to do than see temples….

All for now

3/25/2012 8:53 AM

Kids on the way to School

So I arrived in Battambang a couple of days ago. I was met at the boat jetty by the hotel’s driver, who some friends had sent to pick me up. Long story short, we were all supposed to be on the same boat on the 22^nd, however, my alarm didn’t go off and I missed it. They arrived a day earlier than I did. 

Floating Village - We get our fist Bike - they get their first boat

The boat ride itself was interesting to say the least. It was a tiny boat, nothing like the one I took in Burma that was supposed to hold about 20 people, however, I think there was about thirty of us packed into it. I opted for a space on the roof. And I mean space, not a seat; it was like sitting on the top of a car. It was pretty fun… at least for the first few hours. So the ride took about 9 or 10 hours and I arrived at my hotel, the Chhaya Hotel, in the early evening.

 I grabbed a quick shower and then headed out with some friends to see the Killing Caves and bat caves. Now the killing caves are a number of caves, however, they get their name from one individual. I may be wrong in this, but this is the story our guide told us. One of the caves has a hole in its roof about 100 ft above the floor. Story has it that they used to push people into that hole, while alive… hence the term killing caves. 

There other attraction at this site is the bat caves. This was very similar to what I saw in Borneo just scaled down… a lot. There is an exodus, but nowhere near the numbers I got to witness in Mulu. Was cool nonetheless, and of course the Welsh were impressed. So after that we headed back into town, had dinner and a few drinks and called it an early night. I was exhausted after my boat ride.

Yesterday, we had a late start, Mat stayed in bed most of the day as he wasn’t feeling that great, however, Charlotte, Amber and I had breakfast and went to visit the Bamboo train. This was cool. However, it is no longer really used by the locals and in the next few years there are major plans to replace all the tracks with a proper rail line to Phnom Pen. The current track actually does go all the way to PP, but I doubt it is passable. 

Amber, Me, Charlotte on our Bamboo Train

So the train itself is pretty much two axils, a bamboo platform and a lawnmower engine. They get up to about 35 km/h, but given how bumpy the track is, it’s not all that comfortable to be going fast. About mid journey, it started to pour rain; it must have been one of the first monsoon rains on the year, because everyone was celebrating. So the train itself goes to a brick factory where there a few makeshift shops, covered in tarps selling cold drinks and snacks. We hung around up there for about 2 hours waiting for the rain to stop then headed back. It was quite the experience. It does get somewhat tiring having the take the cart of the track every time you meet another train coming from the opposite direction.

Me helping take the train of the track

The afternoon we hung around in the hotel’s common room as it was still pouring rain at this point. Around 11 PM Charlotte, Amber and Matt had their overnight bus to Southern Cambodia, so I saw them off and went to bed. 

Today, will be another relaxing day…. I keep having “relaxing days” simply because there is not a lot to do here that I haven’t already done or that does not involve temples…. I’m so sick of seeing temples…. Even mention the word temple and I start to get bored. Anyways, this morning, I’ve got some stuff to do online for school and whatnot so I’ll probably hang around this morning. This afternoon I am heading to some damn and a giant reservoir where you can apparently swim…. We’ll see how that goes. 

All for now!