Battambong, Bangers and Beaches

21.06.2003 29 °C

I had dreaded the day when I had to make a journey on a pick-up truck.... I'd seen the locals cram together in the back of a ute - up to 20 of them sitting on top of sacks, buckets, boxes etc. and riding along dusty, pot-holed red tracks, holding on for their life should they happen to go over an extra big bump and be thrown violently to the ground below. All the time, swallowing the dust from the vehicles in front of them.

So when I asked the guesthouse manager how I could get to the docks to get the speedboat to Battambong, he said, maybe minibus, maybe pick-up - it depended on the condition of the road. Travelling in the monsoon season has many benefits - one being the extreme lushness of the jungle and the full-to-the-brim moats around Angkor Wat; another being the relatively low crowds. After a few nights with heavy rains, it turned out the ride to the dock was gonna be a long, bumpy one along the dusty red trails.

If you've never ridden on the back of a pick-up truck, Cambodia probably isn't the best place to start. It's uncomfortable, dusty and a tad dangerous. And riding on the roof (holding on to a bar) is certainly not recommended. You do get a great view of the branches hanging down from the trees though - and a few scratches that come complimentarily. It was pretty fun though and you definitely don't suffocate when you're bouncing around on the roof, though you do inhale a lot of dirt!

Anyway, so when we arrived at the docks, they bundled those of us going to Battambong onto one boat, and those going to Phnom Penh onto another. Then there was the ubiquitous baggage handling charge - i.e. $1 for passing the bag from the ground to the boat one metre away - cheeky monkeys! And then.....we sat on the boat for about 10 minutes before being told to get off, hop back on the pick-up truck and drive another 10 minutes down the road to the other docks!

The boat we boarded turned out to be the size of a rubber dinghy and 7 of us crammed in for the four and a bit hour trip - a very hairy ride through narrow canals, in shallow waters, and sometimes through fields of lilies which would tangle in the boat. Really not a very comfortable trip and with no safety measures whatsoever, really probably not the safest way to
go...but it was really fun!! And much more interesting than taking a bus! To add to the experience was the 10 minute pit-stop mid-way at a local shop in a floating village. To get to the toilet, you had to walk across a long 3-inch wide plank, then over a caged enclosure of baby crocodiles!! True.....all that was separating you from the crocs was a chicken wire enclosure....one step off the narrow beam and you'd fall into a cage full of crocs!! Don't know how the feel about swimming around in the toilet water either...but what can you do in the middle of the Tonle Sap in a floating village!

Upon approaching Battambong, the boat slowed to a trickle and we got to pass the riverside villages and wave to all the local kids who were swimming/bathing in the muddy river. Some of them ran along the bank following the boat, staring at us, then breaking into cheesy grins when we waved over to them. All it takes is a hearty Jom Reap Suor or Suor sdei and a little smile for them to go hysterical with excitement.

Battambong, was quite a change after Siem Reap. Whilst Siem Reap was swarming with hoardes of tourists, even in the low season, Battambong, was relatively chilled out, with hardly any tourists in sight. It´s perhaps not the most interesting of places, but I enjoyed moto trips about the nearby countryside, and hiking up to a Buddhist temple with the local monks. It was ridiculously hot here though, and I came down a little ill, perhaps from dehydration and was bed-ridden for 24 hours. Fanta to the rescue!! It was in Battambong that I did my first trip side-saddling a motorbike! I had often seen Cambodian women doing it, and was a little daunted by the prospect of it. But if you´re wearing a long skirt, well, it´s the only way to go! Pretty fun, I have to say, but damn, when they go over all the pot-holes...it can be a little dicey...

After 9 hours travel from Battambong via share taxi, tuk-tuk, bus and tuk-tuk, I arrived back in Bangkok to a cooler, rainy afternoon. A nice change from the scorching temps in Cambodia over the past few weeks.

On Wednesday morning I visited the Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute and Snake farm. Hadn't seen any snakes since my brief encounter with one at the Roulous group of temples at Angkor. It was interesting enough initially with them telling you a little bit about the types found in Thailand, but they were a little mean to them - setting the cobras, 3 or 4 at a time, down on the ground and poking them and taunting them so they flare up their necks and start striking at the air, their legs, shoes etc.....crazy guys...but i guess they handle these snakes everyday and know what their limits are. Still, it can't be much fun for the snakes.

After this I strolled through Lumphini park, the most popular park in Bangkok. Not the most rivetting place though......Then I hit the World Trade Centre and very 'inappropriately' named Zen department store - mostly for a bit of air-con! Finished up the afternoon at Siam Square, where there are even more shops!!!

After talking to numerous backpackers whilst in Bangkok and in Cambodia, I decided a week on the Andaman coast of Southern Thailand might be a nice change from the seering heat of
Cambodia. So, I jumped on a bus for the 16hour, 1000km trip down to Krabi. I'd sworn off long overnight bus trips after the last one I took in Europe with a busload of smelly, men en route to Paris....but it was "cheap cheap", so I went for it.

Finally, I arrived in Krabi, from where I took a boat across to Rai-leh beach. I stayed in a beach hut at a budget resort and didn't do much aside from snorkel, swim and relax on the beach. Hat Tham Phra Nang is perhaps one of the loveliest beaches in the world - simply sublime! At one end is a large cave known as the "Princess Cave". The locals believe it is home to a mythical sea princess and the local fishermen place carved wooden 'phalli' in the cave as offerings to the Holy Princess - part of a fertility ritual.

On Saturday morning I took a boat from Rai-leh East to Ko Phi Phi Island, the second most touristed island on the isthmus (after Phuket). Nice boat trip through transluscent azure waters and past the limestone islets. In the afternoon I took a boat across to Had Yao, where I spent a few hours snorkelling with some Israelis, Eyal and Ofa. This is the nicest place to snorkel around Ko Phi Phi Don (there is also 'Leh') though so much of the reef has been destroyed. Still some cool fish though, and colourful sea anemones, the odd bit of blue coral etc....Tomorrow I'm taking a trip out to Ko Phi Phi Leh, around Monkey Island, Bamboo island, Shark Point and to Viking Cave, where they collect birds' nests for the Chinese delicacy of birds´nest soup.

From there, I´m heading to (the dreaded)Phuket to hang out with my Eyal and Ofa for the day, before jetting off to Ireland, where I´ll be for the next 6 months or so.

Cheers

Belinda x