To Battambang on a Bus
Trip Start
Feb 27, 2010
1
9
15
Trip End
Mar 21, 2010
Battambang, Cambodia
Sunday, March 7, 2010
The hotel tells me it opens at 8am so I start of at 7.45am and get there just before 8 to find it opens at 9am! I while away the time in the central market buying some spare undies and a dress! (I'm a little sick of wearing the same clothes every few days!)
I manage to find some even uglier Cambodian shoes (actually made in China) and buy them. I enjoy an ice cream - it's already hot - and (with some great foresight) buy some snacks for the bus to Battambang.
My tuk-tuk driver to the bus station is fantastic and he stays to chat with me while I wait for the bus - surprise it is late! He loves Australia and especially Kangaroos and wants to visit one day. We both know it is unlikely. In the meantime he practices his slang. I teach him two new phrases "Under the thumb" and "She wears the pants." He will use them when he sees a particularly bossy wife he says! He he. His name is CK and you can call him if in Phnom Penh and in need of a good tuk tuk driver on 012870932.
I am the only non-Cambodian on the bus to Battambang. It leaves at about 12.15pm and we drive for ages. Luckily I have the snacks as the only place we stop at doesn't have very appetizing food! On they way I see more Mosques and even some Muslim clerics. Closer to Battambang I see some christian churches including an Assembly of God.
I am forced for the first time to use my IPOD as I just can't take anymore Cambodian soap opera. It is very slapstick with men wearing wigs and falling over and wife with rolling pins (or the local equivalent) - think the Footy Show meets Roseanne! The other option is Cambodian pop music which seems to be about unrequited love and the death of a lover (yes she gets runs over by a car!) I opt for Bon Scott, Bertie Blackman, the Divinyls and all the other bands I know.
At about 5.40pm we stop. I think this is Battambang but no it is just outside of Battambang and we have to change buses. I find a young man who speaks English and he says there is a problem with the oil. I ask why they don't wait until Battambang and he advises me that most people on the bus are going on to Poipet (near the border with Thailand.)
It's like a TV drama as items get moved from one bus to another. One old woman is unhappy with how her parcels are put in and yells. An old man is angry because some of his luggage is apparently missing or so my informant tells me. His "luggage" is about 100 million bags of green shallots. Apparently they find the missing bags in the toilet and everyone laughs! So much for the toilets on board the bus!
Overall I wasn't as happy with this bus as I was with the one from Kampot. It was adverstised as a double decker and all this means is the luggage is below and the seats are up high - and I can't see the cars, bikes and people on the road or the houses and shops. The bus also travels with a slight lean and every now and then wobbles rather alarmingly.
I like my seat mate however. She offers me some mango - very unripe even for me! but still I take a small piece and hope I won't regret it.
I finally arrive in Battambang about 10 minutes after boarding the new bus! To my surprise a motor bike driver is waiting for me with a card with my name on it. He takes me to the Chhaya hotel. For $10 a night I have an inside room (with windows looking out intot he hotel corridor) with a/c. It looks clean so I take it.
In the morning I have arranged for Lim (the motor cycle driver from yesterday) to take me on a tour around Battambang. His English is very good and he takes me first to the Bamboo train explaining many sights on the way. I see many women wearing batik sarongs wrapped around like skirts. Lim tells me these are called sam put. He tells me of his childhood when he would swim in the river for hours on end. His sister is studying at university on a full scholarship and he is very proud of her achievements but not worried that he was "too lazy to study." He tells me he learnt English from the Buddhist monks.
For $7 I ride the bamboo train for about 40 minutes. It is a little platform with the frame made from wood and a top of bamboo. It uses the old railway lines to travel on up to speeds of about 15 km per hour. Local people use it to travel to and from town and carry goods to market.
The train tracks are not straight and the bamboo platform gives so we slide around a bit but it is fun. In a few years the train lines will be repaired and the bamboo trains will be no more.
Lim then takes me to Phnom Banan - a temple perhaps pre-dating Angkor on a hill - up 382 steps. I walk up them all in the heat and nearly collapse at the top but is is worth it for the old structures and the view of the country side.
Lim suggests a cooking class for dinner - only $6 and I get to eat what I cook! I turn up at 4pm and we go to the markets first to buy the ingredients. I make fish amok (a coconut curry) and mango salad. I think I do a pretty good job but I'm now not feeling well from what I ate from lunch so I can't eat much dinner.
On they way from the restaurant to the hotel I see Lim at his house and meet his father and mother. They do not speak any English but seem pleased to say a few words to me via Lim. I find out it is his Uncle who runs the restaurant and cooking class!
I had planned to use the internet after dinner for the grand price of 50 cents an hour but I'm really feeling too ill and I collapse into bed. I hope I'm not getting really sick!
In summary I like Battambang. I'm glad I came as I met Lim who talked a lot about the Khmer people and culture. I also enjoyed the bamboo train. Battambang itself was a very busy industrial town - much like Da Nang in Vietnam but still a worthwhile place to visit.
If you want an excellent moto driver in Battambang who speaks very good English contact Lim on 092772557.
Comments
After you recent GI issues, you should forget the iPod and get the iPood t-shirt.....