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We could've saved some money and had breakfast at our hotel which was included in our nights stay but we read online that its gross so we went down to Centre Cafe. We bought our bus tickets to Phnom Penh and hired a tuk tuk for the day.
First stop was the Bamboo Norrie Ride. The Norrie is an assembly of a bamboo and wooden platform, with wooden struts resting on the axles of salvaged railway rolling stock wheels, the engine sits at the back with a fan belt attached to a flywheel on the axel. The Norrie was built in the early 1980's after the Khmer Rouge had ended. Roads were in really bad conditions so there were few means of transport and building the Norrie just made sense. With it being built, Cambodians now could haul products, produce and people at a minimal cost. Cattle and pigs could be taken to the market, vegetables and rice could be delivered, people in the villages could get to clinics etc. To begin with, the Norries were muscle powered using poles in much the same way a gondola, small petrol engines were introduced a few years later. Back in the day
more then 1000 Norries would operate at the same time on the 600 kilometre track.
We took the Norrie from Battambang to O'Dambang village. Once we arrived at the Battambang station we were met by a smiling Tourist Police who collects te $5 per person charge. We climbed on and it didn't take long to build up speed. The noise from the metal wheels rolling along the uneven rails is very loud and made it hard to make conversation.
Since it is a single rail track if anything is coming the other way, one Norrie has to disembark. Both Norries stop and the two drivers lift the platform from the Norrie, remove the axles from the tracks and put it to the side while the other Norrie continues on.
The tourist police told me that the Norrie will most likely be shut down in a few months due to a new railway being built.
At the village we were allowed to walk around but there wasn't much to see. We ended up sitting at a little store before having to get back on the Norrie for the return trip. A 13 yr old girl came over and
started speaking with me. She studies English on the weekends and was having fun practising. She asked me lots of questions, and could answer all my questions to her almost perfectly. She was very bright and will go far if she continues learning! I made sure to mention that to her too. The younger girls kept making Tris and I rings out of grass and used straws.
The Norrie ride was the highlight of our time in Battambang.
After the Norrie we went to the Killing Caves. This is where bodies were thrown after bludgeoning during the Khmer Rouge. The guide told us there were three spots. One was for pregnant women, one was for women and their babies, and the third spot was for everyone else (we think). There wasn't much to see here as we didn't want to hire a guide. We already paid $2 each to get in, and then another $2 for a motorcycle ride up. We didn't feel like climbing 50 billion stairs in the blistering hot heat. We did walk down though! There were some skulls and bones inside a cage, and at the very top there was a beautiful look out
over Battambang city.
We read online that you can go check out the old abandoned Pepsi factory. The Pepsi factory was abandoned during the Khmer Rouge era. When we were there we didn't really see much. All the doors are locked with padlocks, and the windows are covered with paper or sheets of metal. We could see some bottles.. but thats about it. There were some squatters in the back as well. After, we met our tuk tuk driver across the street. The lady that owned the little shop said she used to work for the Pepsi plant. She said that there is still one employee, a security guard.
Next we headed to Ek Phnom. On route we stopped and watched rice paper be made (the things you wrap spring rolls in). The ladies weren't to inviting so we watched from afar. The steam is created by the heat from the rice chaff. The lady takes the 'dough' and puts it onto a hot flat surface, once done she scrapes it off and another lady lays it out to dry. Right now is high season for fruit. A lot of people own mango trees and create a fruit
leather type food that they dry in the sun. We saw a lot of mango and bananas being dried.
We drove down to Ek Phnom after but decided not to go in. Its another ruined temple and we both felt that we've seen enough of them, plus they wanted $2 each! I don't think our tuk tuk driver was happy that we made him drive out there and we didn't go in, but oh well!
We got dropped at the shopping mall.. if you can even call it one. We had lunch and then took a moto back to our hotel.
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klasauw
non-member comment
Ride
That is so cool! looks like a lot of fun.