A day of repose in Battembang

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Woke up at 2am, wrote then got dressed at 4.45 to go out walking the dark and almost empty streets of Battembang.  At this time in the morning there was a team of women picking up litter only from streets fronting the riverside, but more people appeared as the sky grew lighter, making their way to work on foot or by bicycle..

Sophat left yesterday morning to visit a friend living near the border with Thailand, and I have spent my time deciphering notes and typing them into the BB. I made the most of my opportunity to practice Khmer with the hotel staff, who congregate on the patio for frequents breaks, and at lunchtime they invited me to join them for green papaya salad, served in a large bowl placed center table, and with fewer chillies than they would have liked, in my honour.

Two years ago I explored this region on a small motorbike with a young Swedish couple. I hadn't been back since, but it was the beginning of my love affair with bike travel and the freedom it affords.

Sophat returned from the border earlier than expected, and I'll have to share my room, if not my bed even because the hotel is now full. Arriving at 9am, he'd been on the road since 6 O'clock driving through thick mud from the heavy rains yet to reach Battembang. Conditions at the friends rented house were uncomfortable and damp and no one there had money for an evening of drunken revelry, the primary reason for male socializing here!

We're off to get food now as he hasn't eaten yet today, and I haven't eaten since yesterday's lunch. I hope to find the most fattening food for me, and a healthy, slimming salad for Sophat. That should cheer him up!
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