Nov 25, 2005 - School, Temples, Boats and Battambang

Had a change of plan (how unusual!) as we met a crazy Canadian called Marcus who is volunteering at a school for poor children and orphans, who can't afford ordinary school, just outside Siem Reap, so we went along for the morning. It was a great place - the guy who runs it was an orphan himself due to the war and had to flee to Thailand where he was jailed and made to do manual labour although only a child. He now dedicates his time to helping others. The kids were very well behaved, aged from 4 to 18, and entranced by Road Runner who is...

Oct 7, 2005 - Impressions from my crossing into Cambodia

It's always a special feeling, when yo enter a country for the first time of your life - but my first impressions of Cambodia today were indeed extremely special... Very early in the morning, I left my beach and bungalow on Koh Chang to get to the road for the first time of my trip - I admit it, it wasn't with a light heart, as I won't see the ocean again until late January... and I really did enjoy lazing in my hammock between two palmtrees as well as diving... nonetheless, I wanted to start exploring and that desire was stronger! Thus, I...

Aug 6, 2005 - On to Battambang

Having visited Angkor Wat, we decided that enough was enough and it was time to move on. Our next destination was Battambang, a sleepy little town which we had been recommended to visit as there was a restaurant that did a good cookery class. As with massages, it had become one of our missions to do a cookery course in every country that we visited, and so off we went. To get to Battambang we had to take another ferry - walking a narrow gangplank, with a backpack the size of you on your back is not the easiest thing in the world to do, add...

Jul 3, 2005 - Battambang, Cambodia

Die Strasse fuehrt nach Westen, nach Battambang. Ich bleibe zwei Tage und zwei Naechte in Battambang. Battambang soll schoen sein. Battambang liegt auch an einem Fluss und hat Kolonialbauten. Rund um Battambang soll es viele Wats geben. Und Killing Fields. Ich bin tempelmuede. Ich ertrage keine Killing Fields mehr. Und doch... Phnom Penh vergisst man nicht so schnell und garantiert laesst es sich nicht kopieren. Ich merke, dass ich Cambodia ganz verlassen muss. Vielleicht hatte Jello Biafra ja doch recht, als er mit den Dead Kennedys...

Apr 15, 2005 - Battambang

[We've added test to the "Siem Reap (Day 3)" posting in case you'd like to go back and read that, too...] When we booked our trip to Cambodia, the Cambodian agent recommended a side trip to Battambang, the 2nd largest city in Cambodia. Not knowing any different, we said, "OK." Much of the appeal of the trip to Battambang lies in the boat trip across Tonle Sap Lake. The agent did caution us that, since this is the dry season and the lake is at its low point, a somewhat rough road would need to be traversed from the lake edge to Battambang....

Apr 4, 2005 - cambodia-Battanbong......

Hello gente!!! Despues de Sihanoukville y una pequena parada en Phon Pen, la capital, llegamos a Battanbong. La ciudad en si tampoco se merece mas de dos dias... tiene un rio guapo, unos cuantos templos interesantes con su crematorio y todo,y un mercado muy curioso... pero lo q realmente nos marco de esta ciudad es un guia increible q encontramos. Decidimos hacer un tour de un dia en moto para ver algunos puntos interesantes de los alrededores de la ciudad y por casualidad nos encontramos con este guia. Quedamos al dia siguiente y los tres...

Apr 4, 2005 - Bangkok to Battambang

My alarm's set for 5.30am in order to get to Cambodia before dark. It's pissing down with rain (and this is the dry season and in a drought) as I ride the Skytrain, Bangok's elevated 'subway' system, to the bus terminal. An hour out of Bangkok I'm regretting my backpack is in the bus's locker: inside the bus the air-con is set to the usual freezing level and I'd really like to have a sweater on. From Aranya Prathet it's a tuk tuk ride to the border at Poipet, which looks completely disorganised but in fact works pretty smoothly,...

Apr 2, 2005 - Battambang

After Angkor and Siem Reap, we cruised down to Battambang on what was probably the bumpiest rock strewn road ever. Not to worry it only lasted about 6 hours. Needless to say our butts took a beating that day. While there we got to head out on a tour of the country on the back of some moto's, saw how they make rice noodles, tried some rice wine and then take a bamboo train back to town. It was a great little tour, but we were exhausted by the end of it. By they way, rice wine it is not, rice whisky is more like it, potent stuff, fermented...

Mar 16, 2005 - The Cambodian Fast Track

As my train rattled down the bent and buckled rails of steel (I don't think Al Capone was as crooked as these tracks!), I looked down through the bamboo floor to see my world rushing by at an astonishing 50km/h. While our velocity would likely make a Japanese bullet train giggle politely, it put a broad smile on my face. Why? Only a few minutes earlier, my train lay scattered in four pieces along the trackside. Upon my arrival at the 'station', two men had casually rummaged through sets of old axels and wheels before tossing two of them on...

Feb 12, 2005 - Hospitality in Battambang

From Siem Reap we took a bus to Battambang, the second largest city in Cambodia, located in the heart of the agricultural NW of the country. First, a word on busing in Cambodia -beware of the roads. While most of the roads we've traveled here have been decent sealed roads with a varying number of large bus swallowing potholes, the road out of Siem Reap and half way to Battambang gave us a whole new definition of terrible - best compared to an old country road, this highway was complete with mountainous washboards, mile-deep craters and a...

Feb 1, 2005 - I hate Cambodia

For those of you that maybe feel that after my last blast on Thailand, surely there could be no more venom left for another south east asian country. Think again sportsfans. This country has the lowest level of poverty I have ever seen. We hopped on our bus at the hotel and were told we were going to the river to catch a boat up to Battambang. Here's me having lovely visions of a white painted cruiser, laying back on the sun deck reading a book. The first indication should have been the smell. I mean I was nearly throwing up from the...

Jan 18, 2005 - Battambang

took the Express boat from Phnom Krom (11 km south of Siem Reap) at 8 am and arrived 9 hours later in Cambodia's 2nd city. The first part of this journey was on the lake Tonle Sap, one of the world's largest sources of freshwater fish, and then on the Sangker river, close to the Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary - a very delightful smooth trip, passing floating villages and huge bamboo & net constructions for fishing. At noon we stopped for lunch and changed boats - as the Sangker river became pretty small with little water due to the dry season,...