Battambang, Cambodia
Trip Start
Aug 12, 2006
1
4
12
Trip End
Ongoing
Battambang, Cambodia
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
But on a brighter note, we have been to the temples of Angkor Wat and they are truly impressive. We got a three day pass and traipsed around in the scorching weather looking at the ruins... Some are in much better condition than others but all are such that you can imagine their former glory well. Both Candy and I really enjoyed seeing them...
We had hired a guy called Sam to be our tuk tuk driver for three days and it worked out very well. He is a young, spunky boy that has really looked after us. One night he took us to a nightclub that only the locals seem to go to. There were no other tourists there really and it was packed despite the fact it was a week night. I asked Sam about the weeknight thing and he said "Why would it matter what day it is, doesnt everyone just want to have fun all the time". How could I argue with that. So the disco was quite an experience. THe music switched between bad house, western pop and slow dance Cambodian love songs and between every song the crowd would cheer and throw their arms in the air.
Candy, who has been getting huge amounts of attention since we have been here, was a highlight with the locals who were trying to imitate her style of dance and ended up looking a bit MC Hammer. She was a highlight that is until I stole the show when one of the local lads who had been dancing wit us, lunged at me, mouth wide open, and tounge all over the shop and went in for the pash. It was so totally unexpected and I was so unprepared but i managed to move quickly and turn which meant i got his saliva all over my right cheek. Candy couldnt stop laughing and I actually found it quite funny as well until he tried about three more times. THen I had to reprimand him with a wiggle of the finger in his face which quickly put a stop to his behaviour...
So Candy and the attention she gets is something other-worldy... Kids are obsessed by her red hair extentions and run after her tugging at them, the whole country cant get over her nose ring and every time we walk down the street, boys will yell out "Yo yo yo yo DJ"". IN fact I have stopped counting the number of people who have asked if she is a DJ or just pressumed it anyway. THe other night we were at a bar and she was asked to DJ there on a reggae night coming up. I am starting to feel a bit of a wallflower in her shadow and regretting the "ëasy to manage" classic hair cut that I got before I left... nobody thinks I am a DJ!
After Siem reap we took a boat to a place called Battambang. lonely planet promised the most scenic boat ride in all of Cambodia to get there so how could we pass that up. we got to the "pier" nice and early and were quickly pushed onto our refugee people transporter. IN no time the boat was full and sinking precariously first on one side and then on the other and Candy, me and a handfull of others had to ride on the roof. People down below were crammed in and locals had brought crates of baby crocodiles on board as well and the stench was strong and so we were the lucky ones to be in the open air, surely...Lonely planet was right in that the scenery was gorgeous. We passed through flooded forests, stilt houses, floating villages and got to enjoy watching life happen on the river. THen I started to get sunburnt. No amount of 30plus could save me and in no time i was redder than the reddest of currries i have been eating here. and then our water ran out and it was midday and it just got hotter and hotter and we still had four hours to go. gradually everyone on the roof started getting a bit delirious and candy started trading cigarettes for sips of water. then nobody had any water left and i was sure we were going to perish. but obviously we didnt for i am writing this now. we finally arrived, drank 4 litres of water each and then i settled down for the niht with sunstroke and a migrane...
but the next day was better and we hired motorbikes (with drivers) with a couple of germans and drove around the countryside. THe drivers took us trekking up a mountain to a temple and then on to a fruit orchard. when we arrived they asked me what fruit i would like. What do you have said I.. "we have pineapple, oranges, banannas and marijuana"and sure enough the orchard was full of mull plants. we then got taken to the bamboo train... i had heard of the bamboo train and thought we were going to, well, a train made of bamboo. we got there, paid an exhorbitant amount and then got put on what looked like a bamboo dinner table on some makeshift train tracks. every time another 'train'came along we all had to get off, take the dinner table/train off the tracks and then wait for the other train to pass. It was quite an experience...
and now we are in phnomh penh. arrived yesterday and are staying in a gorgeous room on the lake which has cheep beer and a pool table. it is so my kind of place...
