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Published: July 21st 2006
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Our friendly motodops
Jerry is on the left. This is just outside Phnom Sampeav. We have a nice little room here in Battambang - power shower, much needed after the Incredible Never-Ending Journey from Siem Reap...we also have the additional luxury of satellite TV, so we can catch up on (depressing - surprise, surprise) world news.
Battambang is Cambodia's second largest city. This doesn't make it particularly big, but the traffic comes as a bit of a surprise ! It has a large collection of beautiful colonial-period buildings (shophouses, mainly), some restored, some crumbling. Regardless of the state of repair they are all very attractive and give the city a very laid-back atmosphere.
Our first full day in Battambang (17 July) was spent mostly watching a variety of satellite TV channels as it poured with rain for most of the day. This was a welcome break from the humidity and heat so we weren't complaining ! There are a variety of sights around Battambang that we wanted to visit, so we crossed our fingers and hoped for better weather the following day.
Which it was. The roads around Battambang are pretty dire (except for the main "motorway" - ha, ha - to Phnom Penh) so the best way of getting about to
Battambang Countryside
From the top of Phnom Sampeav...rice field as far as the horizon. see the various sights is on the back of a motorcycle. These "motodops" or motorcycle taxis are ubiquitous in South-East Asia (
motodop in Cambodia,
ojek in Indonesia,
xe om in Vietnam...) and are a cheap and convenient way to get around. They require a certain amount of trust in the driver (read: just close your eyes and hope for the best !) and above all a lot of caution when dismounting...over here you notice a lot of
farangs with bandages around their right ankles...mind that burning-hot exhaust pipe !
We got our hotel to arrange a couple of drivers for us. Theoretically a motorcycle in Cambodia can carry up to 5 people (we have seen it - quite a sight !) but it's comfier to have one each ! These were waiting for us outside the hotel after we'd finished breakfast. Mine was called "Jerry" (according to him after the mouse in Tom and Jerry) and Alex's "Filay" (no idea on the spelling but sounds like "fillet" as in "fillet mignon" - interesting name ! We didn't ask any questions). They were extremeley friendly and both spoke extremely good English. Over the course of the day we rode through
An impressive location
Angkorian Wat Banan at the top of the hill. This was taken from the little noodle shop where we had lunch. miles and miles of Cambodian countryside, down tiny tracks between paddy fields, through small villages, past temples. It was a wonderful experience, and we got an excellent impression of what life is like for rural Cambodians. As always, children went berserk whenever we passed, running into the road (much swerving required), waving frantically and shouting "bye ! bye !"(which I must say is a nice change from "Hello ! Hello !").
On our little jaunt through the lush green countryside of Battambang province, we stopped at a few places of interest. First was Phnom Sampeav, a large cliff-like hill some 25km south or so of Battambang. This hill was an important strategic location during the many wars that have swept through this part of the world in the last 25 years, as it allowed the countryside for miles around to be surveyed from on high. We left the bikes at the bottom and trudged up a very steep path (even steeper in the heat and humidity !) to the top. There were indeed excellent views over the otherwise flat-as-a-pancake countryside. As the top were a couple of old field guns (one German, one Russian) used by the pre-1975 government
Wat Banan
Locals say that Wat Banan was the inspiration for Angkor Wat. Chronologically possible, but the experts say this is wishful thinking. to keep the Khmer Rouge advance at bay (it didn't work). But the hill also has an even more sinister history. Phnom Sampeav is also the site of a Khmer Rouge "killing cave", where so-called "enemies of the Revolution" (more or less anybody) were executed - a cave near the top of the formation has a natural skylight. It would be a wonderful sight if it weren't for the fact that the Khmer Rouge would line up victims at the top of the skylight, bludgeon them to death with a ox-cart handle (bullets were far too precious to be wasted by the Khmer Rouge...) and push them through the hole into the cave below. The bones of many hundreds of people were found after the Khmer Rouge were defeated, and are now kept in boxes at the bottom of the cave. As we looked around, several Cambodian visitors were there too. It was hard to guess what they were thinking as they looked at the many skulls and bones - I doubt it is possible to even begin to imagine what life would have been like in this country between 1975 and 1979...
Back at the bottom of the
Bats !
Hundreds of fruit bats were perched on this tree in a temple compound. They fly out at dusk to feast on lovely fruit ! They were making a right racket. hill we hopped on the bikes and rode another 20km or so through more beautiful countryside. Many farmers were ploughing their rice fields with the help of two water buffalo...others, better equipped, were using motorised equipment (or "motocows" as the driver explained). We made our way to another steep hill (hurrah!), at the top of which is Wat Banan, a thousand-year-old Angkorian temple which has a wonderful position overlooking the countryside around. The temple is not in excellent condition as it has not benefited from the constant attention that the temples around Siem Reap have, but the 5 towers have some beautiful carved lintels and the atmosphere was very pleasant thanks to the many fragrant frangipani trees surrounding the temple.
After a pause for lunch (a bowl of noodles in a tiny, tiny village with no other visitors) we stopped in the compound of a large temple, famous for a huge tree that houses an immense colony of fruit bats. Strangely enough, neither of us had ever seen bats perching on a tree upside-down in typical bat fashion. It was quite fun to see - and very noisy ! The local farmers cover the fruiting branches of their fruit
There's always room for more...
A lightly-loaded motorcycle by Cambodian standards. This man is loading up greenery to make a frame for growing cucumbers... trees with plastic bags to prevent the bats from eating the lot - they are, apparently, very fond of longans (a bit like lychees but with smooth brown skin). The bats were really quite big and looked quite spooky as they stretched and cleaned their wings.
A treat was in store for the return trip home...! One popular local form of transport in these parts is the "
norry", also rather prosaically known as the "funny bamboo train". This is an informal (and illegal) contraption that runs short distances over ordinary railway tracks. Cambodia has a single remaining train service (between Battambang and Phnom Penh - it takes
fifteen hours, compared to five by bus).
The norry is quite simply a large rectangular bamboo frame (about 2 metres wide and 4 metres long) that is placed on top of two sets of wheels (stolen from old military trains, apparently). A motor (usually used to pump water into paddy fields...you can see this is all very Blue Peter) is plonked on the platform and connected directly to the rear wheels with a rubber belt (a real one this time, not from the driver's trousers). Hey presto ! Your very own
South Coast Mainline
I can't imagine spending 15 hours on a train running along these ! Apparently most passengers sit on the roof... homemade train. It is very popular with locals for getting between otherwise isolated villages - and according to Jerry is very useful for "commuting" into Battambang. We hopped on a dozen kilometres or so from Battambang and had an exhilarating ride back into town. The motorcycles had been loaded onto the platform behind us. The norry really goes quite fast ! The track is in appalling shape ("twisty like a snake" in Filay's words) and has not been maintained in decades, making the trip quite bumpy. But fun ! The
really interesting bit comes when you meet something coming the other way (unlikely to be a train, there's one every two days) - the line is single track. Whenever this happens (frequently, and twice on our little trip) a quick appraisal is made of which norry is less loaded. This one gets quickly taken to bits, is put by the side of the track, and rapidly reassembled once the heavier norry has passed ! Amazing...luckily on both occasions the presence of the 2 motorcycles guaranteed us heavyweight status !
We stopped and got off some 5 kilometres out of Battambang, since the police do not allow norries to go
Assembling the norry
Lifting the platform into place over the wheels. You can see the drive-belt in place already. into the station...surprise, surprise ! It was a wonderful experience, all the more so because the government is planning to upgrade the line between Phnom Penh and Battambang soon, and this will surely be the end for norries !
Back in Battambang we have a lovely dinner and a few beers by the river in a lovely little bar-restaurant with an old wooden balcony, as the sun goes down...We leave tomorrow at 8.30am for Phnom Penh - a 5 or 5 hour bus journey from here. Those will be our last 3 days in Cambodia...Viet Nam beckons !
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Babysitter Helga
non-member comment
Your travels
Alexandra, I`m glued to your blog. William is a brilliant writer, he should publish the travel blog. I sit here hooting with laughter at his quirky lovely English comments. Looking forward to your next installment with great anticipation. Take great care of yourselves. Take care Alex. Love, Helga