Battambang 16-19th June

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Following our 3 slightly harrowing days in Phnom Penh we booked a couple of bus tickets for a 6 hour journey to Battambang, "an attractive colonial town with riverside views". Lonely Planet writerrs must get paid to make places sound attractive, I assure you that nowhere in their pages will you find the words that escaped my lips after an hour of walking round Battambang. I should know better of course, this very same publication described Dalat in Vietnam as "little Paris" when it is anything but. I haven't checked, but it wouldn't surprise me if they also describe Bradford as "a Jewel in the crown of Northern England". So, first impressions of Battambang were a little disapointing. Yes there is a river, and yes there are buildings along the riverfront that could, at a stretch, be described as "colonial" - they have balconies. But, for a place that is apparently Cambodia's second city it feels awfully small, run down and somewhat forgotten. I hate to make light of a serious matter, but it is almost as if nobody put the word out that the Khmer Rouge had been overturned in the 80s and that people could return to the cities. The whole town felt like it was permanently stuck at 5pm on a lazy sunday afternoon. The odd dog sauntered past, followed 15 or 20 minutes later by a bloke on a motorbike, and maybe the odd Tuk-Tuk, but otherwise it was quiet. Really quiet. Still, we had an amazing time believe it or not. And if you don't believe me, read on. If you do believe me, you can either make a cuppa and read on anyway, or go do something more interesting. But whatever it is won't involve crocodiles, will it?!

After we had spent an hour or two wandering the deserted streets, visiting a couple of temples and eating a strange kind of barbequed banana wrapped in rice, we bumped into a man on a motorbike who asked if we fancied going to a local village school. Initially I admit I was a bit sceptical, but he spoke fluent English, produced a leaflet about the school and promised to bring us back into town afterwards and not charge us a penny. So, we jumped on his moped and off we wobbled. The man introduced himself properly when we arrived at his home, his name is Narath and he is the headteacher of a village school which has free english lessons in the afternoon. Narath learnt his English from Buddhist monks, and speaks with barely a trace of an accent. He explained to us that the kids in the village go to school either in the morning for 4 hours or in the afternoon, as there aren't enough teachers or classrooms to house them all at once. Every day from 4-6pm he runs free classes for anyone who wants to attend, with the help of a small volunteer staff. The kids range from about 6 to 12 years old. Most days Narath goes to Battambang to see if any tourists would like to come to the school to speak to the children, and also let the children hear English accents.

We spent two hours asking and answering questions, reading out loud to the children and generally helping whenever prompted by Narath, whose enthusiasm is endless. The school is a simple wooden structure with bamboo walls and a coconut leaf roof, but the children all turn up in uniform with their exercise books and pens at the ready. Although staffed by volunteers the school requires funding for teaching materials, books and also to try to pay the volunteers a token salary for their time. So, first things first, if there is anything you would like to donate go to www.brick-for-cambodia.net and have a look, it is a worthy cause.
Secondly, for those of you who are teachers (that's you Beth, Alicia, Paul, Julien....!) how about sending over some of your students artwork for them to put on their walls, or a photo of your school or anything you can think of to give them a link to a school in Europe, or maybe you can establish a more permanent link with Narath? All the contact details you need are on the website, or get in touch with me directly if you prefer.

We loved every second of our time there, and would have stayed longer if we could. We will definitely be trying to help them in the future, and I am sure they will appreciate any help you can give. Also, if you are thinking of going to Cambodia at all, go to Battambang and get in touch with Narath, it was a great experience.

After an inauspicious start, Battambang was looking better by the minute. We finished day one at a riverside bar that Narath had recommended (and driven us to), which was a simple wooden building on stilts, with a large open veranda and comfy chairs. We watched the sky change from blue to orange to black and worked our way through a 2$ pitcher of beer before heading back to our hotel for an early night, as we had planned an early start for day 2.

We woke early and met our tuk tuk driver outside the hotel. We had been given his name by a man at the bus station in Phnom Penh, who was originally from Battambang. This is quite common in Cambodia, and it is not uncommon to arrive somewhere to see your name held up on a board by a tuk tuk driver who has a contact in the previous town you were in. His name was Han Houn, and now for my second piece of advertising today, if you are in the Battambang area and need a Tuk-Tuk/Tour Guide/Historian/Comedian or just someone to spend an hour or two with, get in touch! He can invariably be found by the staff at the Hotel Royal, or email him at [e-mail]

There are a couple of Angkorian era temples in the area around Battambang, and we had arranged to see them with Han Houn, who also promised to show us a few things along the way. Here is a brief summary of what we did, with details to follow:
Rode a bamboo train to a local village
Visited a brick factory
Crossed the two Golden Gate Bridges in little San Francisco (old and new)
Saw two trees full of giant fruit bats
Visited Wat Banang (Temple #1)
Ate lunch in a hammock
Visited a village where they make the rice paper for spring rolls
Visited a fish paste market
Visited a monument to victims of the Khmer Rouge
Visited Wat Ek Phnom (Temple #2)
Visited a Crocodile Farm

We left at 7.30 am and got back at about 6.30pm, the best 20$ we have spent so far without a doubt!
So, in more detail.....
Our first stop was a station where the bamboo train runs to a local village. There are no longer any passenger train services in Cambodia, due in part to the shocking state of the tracks following the war. There are, however, still a few remaining "bamboo trains" in operation, mainly for tourists I should add. Basically, a bamboo train is a wooden platform made of bamboo, mounted on wheels, powered by a motorbike engine, and "driven" by a local. At first is was quite a sedate trip and I was beginning to question the wisdom of parting with 5$ to sit on a bit of wood and roll down an ill aligned train track. Then we started to speed up, and for about 15 minutes hurtled through the landscape at about 30 miles an hour. It doesn't sound a lot from the comfort of your lounge or office or wherever you are reading this, but trust me, with nothing but some bamboo for protection it is more than fast enough. If you dont believe me, watch the video! (see youtube link below). We stopped for about half an hour to wander around a small village, which is dominated by a brick factory. We saw how the bricks are made, where they are fired, and how they are transported, then jumped back on our rickety bamboo carriage and headed back. A good start to the day.

From there we took the scenic route to Wat Banang, a temple on top of a small hill about 25km south of Battambang. On the way we drove through lots of small villages, crossed a rusty suspension bridge or two which were built to help link the villages and at one point we stopped to take a few photos (and let Han Houn have a cigarette break) and were immediately mobbed by half a dozen local children. 20 minutes and 20 photographs later, we were back on the road. The scenery throughout was stunning, the river meandering through the rice and peanut fields, the road at times barely the width of a small car. The villages we passed through also showed the poverty that is more evident here than in Vietnam, many houses are cobbled together from sheets of corrugated iron and some bamboo, and people get by selling whatever they can grow on their land. Most of the farmers in the country are just above the subsistence line, but only just. We also stopped to stare at a tree. Well, that is what I thought at first, then Han Houn ran across the road and started to hit another tree with a stick. At this point I thought he had lost it and I comtemplated stealing the Tuk Tuk to make sure we got home safely. Then I looked up again, as a dozen or so fruit bats, huge black swooping fruit bats, left the tree that Han Houn was attacking and flew across the road to the one we were standing underneath. A couple of minutes later Han Houn ambled back across the road with a huge smile, "shalll we carry on?!"


We arrived at the temple just before lunch time, and were greeted with the small hill Han Houn had told us about. 25 sweaty minutes later we arrived at the top to find a deserted temple complex, comprising 5 separate towers, all stone built, and all in relatively good condition given their age – 800-1000 years old. The locals claim that these towers were the inspiration for Angkor Wat, which may or may not be true, but were it not for the more famous Temples at Angkor, Wat Banang would be a popular tourist destination in its own right. As it is, we were the only people there, which was fine with us.


We ate lunch at the foot of the temple in little wooden huts with three hammocks slung from the roof to sit in. Han Houn told us a bit about his life, the history of Cambodia, his experiences under the Khmer Rouge regime - he was 17 when they took Phonm Penh in 1975 and was sent to work in the rice fields like everyone else. His 4 brothers and his parents were all killed. He then told us a story or two about local legends and folklore, each ending with a punchline that Billy Connolly would be proud of. Then we jumped back in the Tuk Tuk and set off to the other temple on the agenda, Wat Ek Phnom. On the way we saw how spring roll paper is made, we visited a fish paste market (the smell......), visited a memorial to the victims of the Khmer Rouge, and then arrived around 3pm at the second temple. Stylistically it was a little different, and in greater disrepair, but nonetheless impressive. I will safe the temple decriptions for the blog on Siem Reap that is coming soon!

At this point Han Houn suggested a stop at a crocodile farm on the way back, and given that everything else he had suggested had been great we said yes. Good decision. Although you, and I, might not necessarily agree with the idea of "farming" crocodiles, it was a fascinatiing experience. First we saw a couple of 3 week old baby crocs that seemed almost cute. Then we were let up a few stone steps to the main pits, where we were told there were upwards of 500 crocodiles. Not even those words can prepare you adequately for the sight of hundreds of these giants, all bathing statuesque in the sunlight, seemingly motionless but a mere two metres below your very own feet. I believe I may have even uttered a naughty word or two when I got to the top of the steps. They were everywhere, in the water, on the concrete, laying on top of each other, but for the most part, completely still. Then all of a sudden a crocodile would decide to take a plunge and spring into action with surprising speed. It was quite an eerie experience to be so close yet safe from attack.

After a while we wandered back to terra secura to see where the farming took place. It really was like real farming. Apparently once the eggs have been laid my mummy-dile, they are quickly taken away and buried in the soil, much like what would happen in the wild. Except there is someting rather comical about seeing what looks like a bed of soil ready for potatoes with little flags in rows. The flags have a date on, as generally the eggs hatch at around the 65 day mark. To check that they are ready one of the workers takes a stethoscope (curioser and curiouser!) to listen for movement. Then the eggs are dug up and placed in a bucket. They are then cracked and peeled by hand, to allow the baby-dile to pop out. The reason we know all this is because we were lucky enough to see it all happen before our very eyes.

There is a video on Youtube that was too big to upload here, so here is the link - http://www.youtube.com/user/tdjclayton

We then returned, exhausted, to our hotel but not before arranging another meeting with Han Houn for the following afternoon to go up a mountain and see some more bats.

The following morning we wandered around town again, just checking in case it had had a facelift overnight, and then met with our now legendary (in our eyes anyway) tuk tuk driver. We drove for about 40 minutes to Phnom Sampeau, a hill with a temple at the top, fantastic views but quite honestly not much else to offer. We went up and came back down again fairly quickly, then tested out our teaching skills again at another temple at the bottom of the hill, where the monks were giving lessons. The students were older this time, but it was the monks who asked most of the questions. They were intrigued by England, the geography, the amount of people, whether we had a communist regime, where I came from, whether we spoke English so far north and so on for about an hour, before we were whisked away to stand at the foot of the mountain and stare at a cave. Han Houn had told us that there were a million bats in the cave and everyday just before sunset they leave to go hunting for food. Now, I can´t say for definite that there were exactly 1,000,000 fruit bats, for I lost count somewhere in the mid 600,000s, but for more than half an hour they streamed out of the cave in a continuous arc that after 10 minutes or so looked like someone had drawn a cartoonish line across the horizon. It was deafeningly loud too, and another item to add to the list of great things we had done in Battambang. (again check my youtube page at the above link, I will upload a video soon!)

We said our fairwells to Han Houn back at the hotel as we were leaving for Siem Reap on the boat the following morning. Before leaving he asked if he could ring a friend in Siem Reap and pass on our details, and we willingly agreed. So, at 7am the following morning we boarded what some might generously describe as a boat and set off in the direction of Cambodia’s number 1 tourist destination. That may be the case, but I don’t think many people get there quite as slowly as we did, but that, as the saying goes, is another story!

p.s if some of the videos aren't on the youtube page when you read this, please try again later. Upload speeds here are slooooooooooow!

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Photos

Me and the kids
Amazingly they weren't scared by the 2 weeks of ginger beard!