Cambodia – Boat to Battambang
Saturday, July 29th, 2006
One thing every tourist must do while in Cambodia is take a 6-8 hour boatride from Siem Reap to Battambang. The timeframe can’t even be specified because it is based on the water conditions in effect at the time. Our boat passed through many houseboat villages, and riverside villages where all the homes are built on stilts. The majority of Cambodians do live in this way – it has not been set up as a tourist attraction. Our boat went through many tributaries, choked full of jungle and lotus flowers, as well as the infamous Tonle Sap Lake. We almost ran aground several times – at one point I thought we were all going to have to get out and push! The route is quite tough for the boatmen who have to try to steer the boat with long paddles. It is hard to manoeuvre, so quite often they have to jump ashore to help the boat make it around the sharp bends in the tributaries. In fact, I noticed that each boat picks up a local guide as the route is not always clear (the jungle and lotus is always on the move, often obliterating the entrance to some of the tributaries). As you can see, the scenery was really quite spectacular!
I was lucky to meet Ruth, from Austria, on the early bus to the boat docks that morning. Turns out that she was travelling alone as well. We decided to hook up together to find hotel rooms in Battambang and to have dinner together. Both of us were tired of eating alone! We wound up finding great rooms at the Royal Hotel in downtown Battambang for only USD 8 (including balcony and tv!) – pure luxury! And, it has a roof-top restaurant/bar! (I realized later that we would be using it a lot!). That evening, I ran into a French couple who I had seen at the Green Gecko in Siem Reap. He is a photographer, currently in Cambodia on a photo assignment to take pictures of children at various NGO’s (Non-Government Organizations). Green Gecko wasn’t on their list, but they heard about it from their hotel and fell in love with the kids there. They said they went back several times before leaving Siem Reap for Battambang.
carolh452003
