Blogs from Battambang, North, Cambodia, Asia
April 10th 2012
So a lot has happened since my last blog. We managed to cross the border successfully although i couldnt quite believe the amount of people that attempted to lead us off on random paths and charge us large amounts for visas (im not even sure if many of them would have been the correct visas). We found our way across after walking around and finding the correct border department. The poverty in cambodia was more obvious as soon as we crossed the bored although there were a lot of casinos,strange contrast. We made our way to Siem Reap in a taxi (works out just as cheap as a bus) with two Greeks guys. The taxi was an experience in itself as its a case of weaving in and out of oncoming traffic. Our stay in Siem ... read more
March 30th 2012
Battambong is a small town in the North of Cambodia. It is probably most famous for the bamboo train which, as the names says, is a train made of bamboo. It's more like a raft with a small engine that travels on railway tracks. It used to be a form of transport for the locals and ran on an active railway line. Nowadays it seems more like a tourist attraction but it's still good fun. You pay $5 for a return journey of about 14km. The last stop is at some shops where you can get a drink, talk to the locals, visit a rice factory and kids make you some bamboo jewellery. There are plans to re-open the railway line which means that the government will stop the bamboo train. After the train we continued ... read more
March 15th 2012
7th December 2011 A four hour bus ride to Battambang (town in North West of Cambodia) today. I was feeling worse again and toilet trips were becoming extremely frequent. We spent the afternoon roaming around the rather derelict town. We had pasta for the first time since we'd been away (apart from weird pasta breakfast at Hoi An hotel!) 8th December 2011 Following a recommendation from some fellow travellers we contacted Mr Blue a tuk-tuk driver who did tours of the countryside surrounding Battambang. Mr Blue arrived this morning on a tuk tuk painted black with Batman signs and "The Batmobile" written on it. Mr Blue was also wearing a black eye mask. "I am Mr Blue/Batman" he told us! Brilliant!! We knew it was going to be an entertaining day! First stop was the infamous ... read more
How Do You Fit An Elephant In A Refrigerator?
Published: February 22nd 2012Asia » Cambodia » North » Battambang
February 22nd 2012
AFTER SIEM REAP WE MADE OUR WAY to Cambodia’s second largest city, Battambang. We decided to visit Battambang because we wanted to visit a more traditional Cambodian town and we had heard the surrounding countryside was beautiful. We could feel the difference immediately upon arrival – the pace of life was slower, the streets a bit dingier, and the scenery not as picturesque. At first sight it was a little disappointing but after walking around it became clear that this was a much more authentic version of Cambodia and I was happy for it. Since there are no large monuments or attractions in Battambang it doesn’t see many tourists, which means it has a very local, almost provincial feel. A frothy brown river runs through the center of town with small, open face storefronts on ... read more
January 29th 2012
So, it’s been a while since I’ve written anything, so I’ll try to get you guys up to speed on my life here in Battambang! We last spoke before my first full weekend here in Battambang, and I wanted to do some touring of the local area. First off, I’ve attached a few pictures of my place, from outside the gate, and outside my room, the pictures of the inside were in my last blog. My first Saturday in Battambang I took it a bit easy, Mr. Kun, the owner of the guest house took me for a drive around Battambang, to show me some places of interest and to a coffee shop where we spent a couple hours talking about culture, people in Cambodia, relationships in life, among many other great topics. I must say ... read more
January 27th 2012
Once again, I have decided technology is against me. About three hours ago, I sat down and once again typed up a 1100 word blog, that was humorous, interesting and entertaining. The internet was not working, so I thought I’d be clever and ‘select all’ and ‘copy’, so it would be forever stored in clipboard. I then proceeded to restart the computer, open up the TravelBlog webpage, and smiling quietly to myself, hit the paste button and stared at a blank screen. Oh My God… clipboard deletes itself every time you turn off the computer. I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO FRUSTRATED IN MY ENTIRE LIFE! So, after going out for dinner and getting changed into my pyjamas, I am going to give this another go! Thursday morning, we grabbed a quick breakfast, then went to an ... read more
January 17th 2012
The last entry was endless, I know. Don't worry though this one won't be as there is not much to say about Battambang. The alarm woke us up at 5.45 as we were meant to get picked up at 6.40 and we wanted to have some breakfast. We got picked up at 7.45 eventually and at 8.20 the big bus to Battambang left Siem Reap. We arrived there around midday and got dragged to several hotels of which one was worse than the other. After a while we found one and at 1.45 pm we were in the room, had a shower and went for a nap. At 5ish we had a walk around and sat at the river for a while after we had dinner. As Ryan wasn't very well we went back to the ... read more
January 6th 2012
Greetings from Battambang, Cambodia! I have now been in Battambang for 6 nights, each day and night filled with new adventures of exploration and discovery. The first 10 days of my trip was spent with the guys in Thailand, being a tourist, so I’ll let the Facebook photos and stories serve as a summary of that, but this is the experience I have been gearing up for since the summer! I tore down my old life in Canada, and am attempting to build a new one here in Cambodia. One of the themes of this trip is to build something out of nothing, starting with only a backpack (and some savings), and building a life and a sense of belonging in a completely new place, culture, and life. This adventure starts in Battambang because I was ... read more
Battambang Cake and Angkor Wat (only one Dollar!)
Published: November 11th 2011Asia » Cambodia » North » Battambang
November 11th 2011
K - So after a lovely week in Phnom Penh we pushed north to the sleepy town of Battambang. Things did not start well as we boarded the bus at the start of the 5 hour journey – not only was this the most disgusting bus in Cambodia© but some locals had decided to sit in our seats. I was not amused and held my own ignoring their waving for us to sit at the back of the bus, apart from each other and on completely broken seats. Women obviously do not do such things in Cambodia so when the men eventually moved I received beaming smiles for the women around us for the rest of the journey! Battambang was an OK place to spend a few days – relaxed and relatively tourist free. It was ... read more
