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Published: January 19th 2007
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Hitching A Ride
Small boy on his brothers back Cambodia Here We Come!
Our next destination was Cambodia and we decided to make the border crossing a two day affair. Day one we caught the train from Bangkok to the Thai border town of Aranya Prathet and spent the night there. In the morning we crossed the border with no line-ups and just a few delays. To get our visas, the official closed the glass window in our face until we paid an extra fee above the normal visa cost of $20US, which we negotiated down to 150BHT ($4) for both of us. From there we tried to get transportation from Poipet to Battambang via a share jeep. But Poipet is a town where the police are trying to get every dime out of each tourist and we stood by the side of the road with our packs in the scorching heat for at least an hour and a half trying to catch a lift in the back of a truck. The police have it set up so tourists are only aloud to travel out of Poipet via the Toyota Camary Taxi. This Camary ride (3 1/2hrs) will cost anywhere from $35-$80 US depending on your luck and negotiating skills.
Carol In The Pickup
Dusty & Dirty on the way to Battambang If you can manage a share pickup truck it costs about $2.50 US per person.
The police made things difficult for us, pulling up on their motos (motorcycles) while we were discussing the price with the pickup truck driver. Once the police came, the share trucks just took off unwilling to entertain us coming with them. In the end, we had to hop on the back of a moto, bags and all, and head about 5km out of town past the last police checkpoint. We were bombing along the dirt road on the moto, squinting our eyes to shield the dust, all was good until we hit a washboard section of bumps and the back end of the bike drifted slightly sideways. I closed my eyes and just hoped we wouldn't go down. Soon enough the moto pulled over and the pickup truck pulled up beside us to take us the remainder of the way.
Battambang
A Town on the River We arrived in Battambang with windblown hair all stiff and gritty from dirt and dust. We immediately hoped in the shower and watched murky brown water funnel down the drain. Evening was starting to settle in and
we took a stroll down the promenade along the river. Across the way we could see a large group of men and women reaching for the sky, touching their toes, and doing some fancy footwork. We asked a nearby food stall vender what they were doing and he replied "Oh, they are worried about their cholesterol." Cambodian aerobics class. Further along was a park and kids were playing on the slides and swings. Beside the park venders were selling an array of winged insects piled high and some BBQ snakes coiled into a circle. This time we passed on the tempting treats.
Battambang has an interesting mix of foreigners there. It's not the usual backpacker crowd in their 20s, but quite a few middle aged and grey haired people as well. Turns out there is quite a contingent of Christian missionaries and aid workers using Battambang as their home base for visiting the outlying communities. There was a stark contrast between the average Cambodian mode of transportation, three or four bodies on a moto, compared to the western aid workers being taxied around in Lexus SUV's. Somehow I think the vehicle budget could have been put to better useā¦
Moto Tour to the Countryside
The following day we hired two moto drivers for an afternoon tour of the sights around Battambang. We cruised around the countryside of rice fields and homes on stilts and ended up at the base of a hill from where we hiked to the top to find a stunning view and Wat Phnom Sampeau Temple. During the civil war the government protected the Wat and there are leftover field guns aimed down the mountainside. One of the young men at the temple was taking a rest in a hammock while his pet monkey sifted through his hair pruning and plucking. We got chatting to the young man who turned into our guide telling us his story and a bit of Cambodian history. He took us to the nearby "killing caves" where hundreds of locals were confined in another Wat to face starvation and then dumped down a hole into caves below. It was our first taste of the brutalities of the Khmer Rouge and it was chilling to look at the cracked skulls and bones through the filtered sunlight shining down into the caves. From there we climbed yet another steep set of stairs
to hilltop Wat Banan where we got our first taste of Cambodian ruins. The way home on the moto was along more dirt roads through the country and once again we ended the day with grit in our eyes and caked in dirt.
In the evening we again took a stroll down along the river, taking in the cool breeze. It's been hot with bright blue skies here and any breeze is a welcome breeze. Once the sun went down, we stopped in at a local drinking establishment advertising cold beers. We ordered a pint and settled in on red plastic chairs for some classic Cambodian entertainment: Karaoke. There was a line up for the mike as dressed up men and women would stand stiffly and recite songs off by heart. Their songs topped off the atmosphere but after a few beers we were ready to call it a night.
Down River Stung Sanker
The next morning we woke early and headed to the boat launch for transportation down the river to Siem Reap. Waking up early wasn't an issue though. Cambodians are up before sunrise blaring happy music from loud speakers near the market, close to our
guesthouse. I guess they like to get work done before the scorching heat of midday, and thus, the blaring music woke us each day at 5:00am. At the boat launch, we tried to get aboard a small boat (as the LP suggests) but to no avail and ended up on a 40 foot motorboat. The river winds through the country side and past little villages of floating homes and homes on stilts. Men were out on wooden boats tending to their fishing nets and kids were paddling to and from school in their starched white shirts and blue skirts. The woman sat out on the balconies sorting through piles of little silver fish and shrimps. Pigs were in pens off the side of the house just inches off of the water with no solid land in sight. Cats would roam around jumping from thatched rooftops being cautious not to fall in the water. The Cambodian people are truly lovely; they smiled and waved yelling hellos as we passed by, the children definitely being the most energetic wavers of the bunch. It was a stunning 6 hour journey not to be missed. Only next time I would be more insistent on
Typical Street Scene
The condition most roads are in. This one is under construction though. Remember this is Cambodia's second largest city. a small boat. At times it was a bit embarrassing passing by villages as the boat created such a large wake it would send the little boats crashing into the brush along the rivers edge.
First Impressions
Our first impressions of Cambodia are top notch. The people have beautiful smiles and are really excited when you learn a few simple phrases in Khmer. We've impressed them by asking for water, hello, good-bye, thank-you and please. It really doesn't take much. Cambodia reminds me of a dollar store. They have adopted the US dollar as a second currency to their riel, and things seem to cost a dollar here a dollar there. $1US=4000r so riel is often used like coin change. The beggar kids are even cheeky enough to ask for a dollar when their parents in the fields are likely only making just over that in a day. Their recent history with links to the Vietnam War and the Khmer Rouge take over is intriguing, and saddening, and your heart can't help but to go out to such a resilient group of people. I can't wait to see and experience more of it!
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Julie
non-member comment
Thanks for the tip!
So that's why I have such a lice problem... no monkey!