Days 129 – 130: Battambang

Photos: http://princeton.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2059207&l=fad49&id=1101094

I set off the following morning on a boat for Battambang, which, at population 158,000, is somehow the second largest city in Cambodia. The boat first motored down the Stung Siem Reap (Siem Reap River), then across the Tonle Sap, Asia’s largest lake, and finally up the Stung Sangker (Sangker River), on the banks of which Battambang sits.

I had taken the boat (as opposed to the bus) for two reasons: the road from Siem Reap to Battambang was notoriously bad, and the boat ride was supposed to take in some of the finest scenery in all of Cambodia. Sure enough, the scenery did not disappoint; we wound through green countryside, palm trees, and villages of bamboo houses, many of which were floating on the water. In every village we passed, children ran out to the riverbank to wave at us and then splashed into the river to play in the waves of the boat’s wake. I was struck by how friendly and happy everyone seemed, despite that fact that most of the villages we passed were dirt poor.

The one thing that no one had mentioned about the boat trip was that in the dry season, when water levels are low, the boat can hardly fit up the Stung Sangker. As the bends in the river became sharper and sharper, the boat began sticking in the mud every few minutes; at one point, the engine even stopped from sucking in too much mud. In the end, the six hour trip to Battambang became a ten hour marathon.

That night in Battambang I ate dinner at a local ex-pat hangout called the Riverside Balcony Bar. Though I usually stay away from such places, the food at this one was supposed to be excellent, and besides, after Siem Reap package tourists Battambang ex-pats would be a pleasure. Over burgers, fries, and apples crepes, I talked with two Canadian couples who worked for agricultural NGOs in and around Battambang. They had lived in Cambodia for nearly four years, and seemed more than ready to leave. Their main claim to fame was that Angelina Jolie’s NGO was just down the road.

The following day I rented a motorbike and explored the countryside around Battambang. Everywhere I went I was the subject of stares and shouts of “Barang, Barang!” (Westerner). I visited two temples, one of which, Wat Banan, was built in the 12^th Century, a century before Angkor Wat, and looks like a mini version of the famous temple. The locals tried to tell me that it served as the model for Angkor, though that may be a stretch.

The other temple was at the top of a mountain called Phnom Sampeau. On the way up the mountain, I passed two guns that were used in the Vietnam War, one German and one Russian, as well as a cave used by the Khmer Rouge. The temple itself, at the peak of the hill, was once used by the Khmer Rouge as a prison.

On the way back to Battambang, I took a ride on the bamboo train, which is really just a small bamboo platform on wheels that is powered by a tiny motor. It runs on the main rail line, which is all but abandoned now (only one train per week traverses the line), and locals use it to get from their villages into Battambang.

Back in town, I had a quiet dinner at a local cooking school that has an attached restaurant. Sitting there on the patio, I decided that I really liked this town, though for a while I couldn’t put my finger on why. In the end I think it’s a combination of the pace of life, which is a welcome slowdown from the constant buzz of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, and, as one of the few tourists around, the feeling that I was actually experiencing the real Cambodia that makes the place so appealing. In some ways the town reminds me of Chiang Mai, Thailand, though far less discovered.