The Journey to and around Battambang!

Day 83 - 16/08/2010 - 21:50 - Battambang, Cambodia

The last two days have been very interesting to say the least. The boat journey whilst annoyingly long was very strange and then we had today, where we went out of Battamabng in search of temples, hills and downright strange uses for normally an every day transport need!

We were up naturally at 5:30am, despite not having an alarm clock and the hotel wake up call being naturally late (it was 1 hour late the first time we used it, luckily we woke up half an hour after and not an hour!). We had some breakfast at the horrible time of 6am, neither of us ate much and then were picked up at around half past to be taken to the boat station, which it soon became apparent wasn't a station but was a wasteland on the outskirts of Siem Reap, you had to walk down stacked bags of sand onto the boat (jumping pretty much) with our large rucksacks on.

The boat was also VERY small, especially considering how many people were on it. To walk to the "deck" area you had to get on the front end of the boat and walk along a strip of the boat on the side, dangerously close to the water, with your bag. It was a massive shock and it was certainly nothing like you would get in England. In the "cabin" there were benches running along either wall and steps up to the "deck" one one side. When we got on, there were lots of people on the deck so we opted for inside, which was equally full. There was a little bit of space for us and our bags at the end with the steps (also next to the wall with the engine on the other side) so it was cramped, noisy and hot. Great. Nevermind, we left at 7:30am, not 7:00am and we were expecting to be in Battambang anywhere between 11-12. How wrong we were.

The first part of the journey was OK, the boat going quite slowly because of all the floating villages on the way. Once we hit Tong Sap lake we went full pelt and it wasn't very long before we reached the river that goes from the lake to Battambang. The lake was very strange, it was full of plants that looked like bushes, on top of the water. They just were weeds though.

Another part of the journey that was so incredibly strange and surreal was the Cambodian crew. In the cabin there was a big crate which people were sitting on because the boat was so full. One of the men, who was wearing a sailor type hat came in and shooed the guy sitting on the crate off it. He opened it up and got 4 ice cold beers out. At 8am. This continued several times during the journey until around 11am when we stopped. I thought we must be near Battambang. Wrong. Someone at our stop, which by the way, was a floating shop in one of the floating villages, told me that Battambang would be around 2:30pm, much later than I had been told we would arrive by the people that sold me the tickets and my Internet research!

At first I was rather demoralised, I was tired and not looking forward to another 3 and a half hours on the boat. But, I made the most of it. The staff, made the most of the stopover, buying another crate of beers. On the second trip back down to the crate after the stopover, the "sailor" came into the cabin, his eyes looking like that of a vacant soul. I just laughed and he laughed back, in a drunken slur. Nevertheless, he shooed the same poor person off the crate and got 5 beers out, he offered me one. Why not, this could be hours before we reach Battambang, so I greatly accepted an Angkor beer.

The next section of the journey was very narrow meanders of the river, with trees poking out of the water and overgrown bushes hanging into the water. Some of the corners were so tight the boat scraped the bushes, and with all the windows in the cabin open (and nothing but a small platform of wood) the trees made their way into the cabin. People got out of their seats to make way for the temporary greenery - it was crazy. Laura got hit in the head by a stealthy branch. We were really pushing it with the corners, and in some instances, the corners were so tight we had to reverse to get around the corner!! Crazy.

The boat on one occasion tried too close to the corner and got stuck. Great. Forget 2:30pm, I thought. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed watching the drunk crew get to work on dislodging the boat from the tree root (which is what I think it got stuck on). The driver (thankfully the only one that hadn't been drinking) actually went in the water to swim under the boat whilst the drunk crew lifted up the hatch on the deck (shoving everyone out the way) to get into the mechanical part of the boat). People watched with pure fascination, including myself, to see how it would all turn out. 10 minutes later it was fixed, the engine started (everyone cheered the crew) and we were on our way.

In the end, it only added 30 minutes onto our journey, we were certainly being more careful on the meanders and the crew had calmed down a bit, 2 of them falling asleep right next to me and Laura (one on the stairs, everyone going to the toilet had to step over him!!). Nonetheless it was rather funny. I spent the last 40 minutes or so on the front deck (much smaller but less crowded than and the back - it had no real seating) with some of the crew and a couple of fellow passengers. I had a nice chat with a German bloke and his girlfriend.

When we got to Battambang (or the dock 10km from it) we were mobbed by all the city hotel's staff with signs ans flyer's of their accommodation. Laura and I were one of the first off the boat (as I knew we had arrived - at the front) before many had realised that the journey was FINALLY over. The "dock" was really non exist ant and there was nothing but ladder steps up a steep river bank to climb with our large rucksacks. We were greeted by some hotel staff including a tuk tuk driver called Sokha (you can see where this is going). He said yesterdays boat didn't arrive until 5:30pm, so I think in hindsight we can call ourselves lucky. I kind of enjoyed it, despite the length and the hassle we would have saved on the bus. The crew were funny, I met some nice people and the scenery was pretty good too - the Cambodian children from the floating villages took great pleasure in waving at us - bless.

Anyway, Sokha told us about his tuk tuk skills on the way to the hotel, we didn't say much as we knew Dara was going to pick us up the following day. Every time he saw us that evening (he was at the hotel) he was incredibly polite to us, remembered our names, it was obvious he was hoping for us to give him a job. He also on the way to the hotel told several bad taste jokes including one about how he wasn't fussed if we said yes or no to his services. He said something along the lines of "If you say yes, I am very happy but if you say No I am still happy just my family goes without food" and then burst out laughing. Ha... ha. That evening in Battambang we went to a cafe for tea - before that I had a look around the area and tried to find us tickets to Bangkok direct if we could do it without much success. Turned out in the end the hotel could book them ($15, 7 hours - hopefully!) and we have them in hand for tomorrows 11:30am (LIE IN!) departure to Bangkok. We should be there by 7 at the latest, a similar time to the DIY estimate we had (although that way we were leaving at 7!)

Today we got up and had breakfast at the hotel - although it wasn't included the rate + breakfast ($15+$5) only came to $20 for one night - not bad and we had a pretty decent sized breakfast! When we were leaving the hotel Sokha was in the lobby and he asked if we needed his services. We told him what we told the guy from the hotel in Siem Reap - if our pre-arranged driver turned up we would use him. He seemed disappointed but we didn't want to let Kedi down. I went outside and a guy who was sat on a motorbike came up to me. It was Dara. He was a lot more confrontational than Kedi and got a piece of paper out with a map and his prices. This isn't the norm, I thought. He wanted $25 to go on a motorbike (not even a tuk tuk) to see 4 temples. I got Laura, who didn't want the motorbike. Fair enough, I don't think I would have been happy with 3 adults on a bike! He said he could get a tuk tuk but said it would cost more. We told him to forget it, we weren't in the mood for bartering with him, let alone paying probably twice what we paid his brother for a lot more. We went back inside and approached Sokha. He got out a hotel booklet and said what he could do - 2 main temples, the bamboo train in a tuk tuk for 17$. He also told us (repeated from the bus) about all the places we would stop in between. It was good value and he was a good guide too. I think we made the right choice as today was good.

Our first stop was the bamboo train. Laura wasn't keen on it (I don't think she knew much about it) and we did it because I wanted to more than anything. I only knew the full details because of the conversation with the German bloke yesterday, but I hadn't got round to telling Laura. As soon as Laura saw it she said "I'm glad we're doing this!" I agreed. The bamboo train is essentially a section of railway line (single track) that has fallen into disrepair and is no longer used - it hasn't been looked after at all since the French built it in the 70's. Now it's used by enterprising Cambodians. You take a couple of wheel sets axels and on top of it you place a big bamboo raft. Attached is a motor. 1 driver and whatever cargo you like and you're on your way. On ours there was just me, Laura and the driver. We set off, along the track. You could see how crap the rails were, in places they weren't even parallel!! But it was awesome. We went at such speed, steaming through fields and rice paddys. Incredible. The fun happens though, when someone is coming the other way. One of the two has to get off, take the raft and wheels off the track to let the other pass. The raft isn't heavy and the wheels aren't considering they are pure metal. We got off 4 times in total on the return trip, the weirdest for a group of Cambodians with a dead cow tied to the raft, although the one stacked with timber is also worth a mention!! We did at times stay on whilst others got off too! There was a train behind us too who obviously got off at the same time as us to let others through. On that was an Italian man from Florence and an Australian man with I think, a Cambodian partner, at least she spoke Khmer. Via her, I found out that the staff only get $1.5 dollars per journey which was horrible to think considering we parted with $10 between us (so most of it is going to the boss!) They sometimes only manage two journeys a day. Very sad to think. When we got back to the start we gave our driver (who was only a young lad, our age) a $1 tip. It's not a lot but he was very grateful!

Our second stop was Wat Banan, but on the way we stopped to see a swing bridge over the river and a mushroom farm (they grow them on a farm in Cambodia rather than naturally in soil - was fairly interesting). When we got to the bottom 4 children swarmed me and Laura and subsequently followed us up the 359 steep steps to the wat. We didn't particularly want them to follow us but Sokha said they were off school on holiday and wanted to earn some money. They all had big wicker fans and actually followed us up the steps fanning us to keep us cool. They all spoke pretty good English, 2 followed me and 2 followed Laura. The two kids with me were friends (a little boy and a slightly older girl) whilst Laura's kids were brother and sister. I asked the little boy with me how many times a day he climbs up the steps and he said 5 - I was amazed. The temple at the top was nice, but nothing like those at Angkor. The kids continued to fan us which for me was fairly uncomfortable, not used to people following me everywhere, let alone kids! The girl with me accidentally hit me with the fan at one point and I took it off her, looking like I was going to confiscate it or something, but I just fanned her back. She thought it was funny and bashfully said "Thank You" - bless her. On the way down I asked her whether she got to keep the money or her mother would get it. She replied "yes", after I had said her mum. There is a surprise, just as I thought. Poor kids. I asked why her mother isn't on the steps, fanning me and she laughed again. Nonetheless, we followed custom. We only gave them about 30p each but they were very grateful, I guess their mothers would be proud of them. Ironic.

Our last stop for the day was a mountain (hill really) where there are several things to see. On the way we stopped off at some trees in a village where Sokha showed us the fruit bats (absolutely huge) in the trees. He said that they live in these particular trees because of their proximity to a temple and therefore protection from being killed (and eaten). He subsequently hit a big stick against a deserted piece of furniture and woke a few of them up but at least we saw how big they were. I asked if he had eaten them and he replied yes. He said he liked them too. He said he also has tried crickets and spiders. He liked the former but drew a line on spiders! Fair enough!!

At the mountain there was a temple to see half way up (fairly new) where we stopped and had a rest. We had the option of taking a local guide on a motorbike up there but we didn't fancy it and decided to walk (in hindsight an excellent if not tiring choice!!) A monk came and sat with us at the temple and chatted to us on life in Cambodia. It was very surreal but nice. He was very wise and had some good things to say, particularly about the vicious cycle that even occurs in Cambodia, the poor become poorer and the rich richer. Shame, and sounds familiar. After we then continued up the hill to a cave where the Khmer Rouge took bodies to. There is now a monument inside with skulls in. I went and had a look, Laura stayed outside. There were a couple of monks in the cave. I got "blessed" for a small donation, of course. We then continued to the top of the hill where there was another temple, this time older. It was in very good nick and still in use. A monk told us about it, he wanted to practise his English on us and followed us around for a bit, showing us the more direct route down the mountain (steps) to the village below where Sokha was waiting. He was nice. By the time we got to the bottom I had sweated 50% of my body weight in water and it was time to go back to Battambang - Laura was knackered too!

This evening we unsurprisingly haven't done much, eating a cheap meal in our hotel. I didn't like the place at first but it's grown on me. It's cheap, friendly and the staff are all one big family (literally, it's family run). They are very nice. The wifi is sketchy at best but the Internet downstairs sometimes works! Onto Bangkok tomorrow. I won't expect such an event filled journey as the boat. I hope at least the times are more accurate though (it's only supposed to take 7 hours!!)

On the whole I've enjoyed Cambodia. However, probably not as much as Vietnam on the South East Asia scale. The dollar in particular ruins things - everything is more expensive and in some areas more expensive than back home! I found it very difficult to buy deodorant (as an example) for the same price as in England! As does some (and I stress some) people's ideas that because we are white, we can pay a lot more for absolute rubbish. It's a bit tedious after a while although I think it's important for everyone to feel like they are in a minority - to learn how not to discriminate against people!! I've really enjoyed the relaxed nature of the children here though. Going past villages in the tuk tuk and having kids shout and wave hello as you pass has something refreshingly pleasant about it.