We left our guest house in Siam Reap and were collected in a mini bus. Now, coming from South Africa, I have seen how many people can fit into a minibus, but even I was impressed with the number of people that the cambodians managed to cram into our bus. We just kept stopping for more and more people..... luckily it wasn't a very long drive to the dock.
Again... I am going to use Nick's typing.
"We took a boat to Battambang described by lonely planet as 'not up to international safety standards'. I lost count the number of times we nearly took on water, but the journey across Cambodia's central lake was stunning. We passed those cool villages on stilts, delivering and taking letters and performing other such services to the locals. More a service to the outside world than a boat."
Thanks Nick
The boat was heavily overloaded with people and their baggage. The first part of the crossing was over fairly rough water and we did wonder if the boat was going to hold up to the challenge of a 9 hour trip . More entertaining was the traffic we encountered along the narrow waterways between the foliage and trees. We hit a couple of other boats along the way and were continuously ducking away from the branches that were hitting our backs us as we moved along. It was very hot and we were all slightly dehydrated by the time we arrived at Battambang. A large percentage of the people on our boat was going to the same hotel and again, many were crammed into the mini bus though this time for a 300m drive.
I paired up and shared a room with a lovely Australian Kate (travelling patriotically with a tube of veggiemite). She was really good fun and we had plenty of giggles. We showered, grabbed some food and then headed off to explore Battambang. We walked through the market and were heading towards the large statue of Battambang but it was getting dark... so we decided to stop for a drink and head back there another day. Kate - I did go back for photos.
Dinner was at Smokin Pot and we each had a typical cambodian style meal. I had chicken amok and it was really good. I decided to join Kate, Rachel and Dave at the half day cookery course run by the restaurant.
The cooking course started at 9:30am and started with shopping at the market for all the ingredients we needed. The chef made it quite interesting and pointed out many different types of herbs and spices - even those we weren't using. However, then we went to get the fish for the amok. We used catfish, so once our fish had been chosen, they were battered over the head, skinned and wrapped in banana leaves. You don't get fresher than that and I made sure I ate my fish otherwise they would have died in vain. I was just very grateful that the chicken we bought was already dead and skinned. I had a great time cooking with Kate, Dave and Rachel.
We cooked fish amok, spicy beef and basil and a hot and sour chicken soup. I used the least chillis in all my cooking but it was still hot. The meals were very easy to make and I should be able to do it again.... we were given the recipe book.
We jumped onto the back of motorbikes in the afternoon to go and catch the bamboo train. Dave joined Kate and I. Lauren and Nick had headed off earlier to a nearby temple. Our first stop was a bridge over the river. Kind of like a chain bridge so it wobbled when you were walking over it.... however, this didn't stop the number of motorbikes driving along it and passing each other.
Next stop was a pineapple farm where they were harvesting pineapples. Dave and I each bought a pineapple.... an interesting idea when you are on the back of a bike. Luckily, our drivers helped us out. After the farm, we headed to the bamboo train. My driver took offence when Nick's tried to overtake him and suddenly sped up. I enjoyed the speed though....and mom, no helmets again.
The bamboo train was a very interesting experience. The train consisted of two sets of wheels, a flat sheet of bamboo and a small motor. Traffic on the one track line is no problem as you just hop off, lift up the bamboo and then the wheels, wait for the other bamboo train to pass and put yours back. Although this is becoming a tourist attraction, the locals still use it in their everyday life.
Anyway, the five of us, two drivers and two motors bikes were on the train and we headed towards a bridge to wait for the sunset. It wasn't the most comfortable ride in the front, the tracks aren't joined properly so it was a little bumpy and we went quite fast. The sunset was really lovely and I have far too many photos of it.
Dinner was at the Riverside Restaurant that Angelina Jolie went to when she was in Cambodia.
I took a slower start to the next day and eventually made my way down to the hotel restaurant where they cut up my pineapple for me. Dave and Rachel joined me a little later, Dave also with his pineapple.
I then had 25mins before we had to catch our bus so I jumped onto the back of a motor bike to go and get the photos of the infamous Battambang statue. One marriage proposal later and about 10 photos..... I headed back to the hotel.
The bus we landed up taking to Bangkok was a bus used by the locals. Nick, Lauren and I were the only westerners on the very delapidated bus. However, most of the cambodians got off the bus by the time we reached the cambodian border.
