Blogs from Battambang, North, Cambodia, Asia - page 16

Photos from 2009 of a 7 hour boat trip from Battambang to Siem Reap. A very memorable trip and I highly recommend it to anyone heading this way.... read more

Siem Reap’teki son gecemizi de yine pub street’te kendimize ziyafet çekerek geçirdikten sonra ertesi gün sabahın köründe kalkıp, daha önce biletlerini otelden aldığımız Tonle Sap nehri üzerinden Battambang yolculuğu için otelden bizi alan minibüse bindik ve yol boyu Siem Reap’ın kenar mahalleleri içinden ilerleyip hala inşaat halinde olan iskeleye ulaştık. Tekneyi görünce biraz şaşırdım, oturaklar lisedeki tahta sıralar gibiydi ve tekne oldukça basitti. Biraz bekledikten sonra yola çıktık. Bir çeşit bitki var, adını bilmiyorum ama çalı gibi fakat yaprakları kocaman, Bangkok’taki nehrin üzeri de bu bitkiyle kaplıydı. İlk geçtiğimiz yerlerde yoğun olarak bu bitki ve yarısı suyun altında kalmış ağaçlar vardı. Daha sonra ucu bucağı görünmeyen çamur sarısı suyun tüm görüş mesafenizi kapladığı bir açıklığa geldik. Burada dalgalar büyümüştü ve arada tekneyi benim heyecanlanmama neden olacak ... read more

I can't write about everything in this blog, so I'm picking just a few experiences to write about in more detail....I hope it's more interesting that way. After a few hours touring the countryside on the back of motorbikes with an Italian guy I met at the morning cooking class (fun, complete with purchasing our ingredients including still flapping fish at the local market), we arrived at a railway crossing. An old guy who proudly told me he was 68 (and looked 102!) offered us and our two 'moto' drivers a beer while the locals assembled our train. Yes, they literally put it together in front of us. Two sets of wheels, looking like gym barbells, a flat crate-like platform made of bamboo and wood, and a motorbike engine attached to the back like an outboard ... read more

Greeting all, I just wanted to say hello to everyone. I know that the holiday season is coming to a close. I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas tree’s and New Years fireworks. Although I had a markedly different holiday, it was amazing nonetheless. I spend my Christmas break at the smaller temples of Bantray and West Mabon complex. Christmas in Siem Reap was like a little gift, I went with one new friend (Rashmi - India) and one old friend (Juho - Finland), we all commented on a how a place that is marketed as the Kho Samui of Cambodia could be so quiet and relaxing. The tourist crowds were nowhere to be found. The shops were open and venders eager to share their wares on the slow days. Prices were good and haggling kept to ... read more

Wednesday 7th Early start, breakfast at 6:30am ready for 7:00am pick up. The pick up by tuk-tuk from the hotel is always included in the very reasonable price of the bus ticket (e.g. Siem Reap to Battambang $6) so you have to be ready at your hotel half an hour before the scheduled bus departure time. The bus normally departs from a dusty depot on the edge of town and each bus company seems to have its own depot. On this occasion the tuk-tuk took us to the bus company office just 500 yards away. Here they indicated for us to get on a local bus to take us out to the depot. They indicated that we should take our rucksacks on board, so heavily laden we mounted the busy bus and had to make our ... read more