Bangkok to Battambang and beyond

We got back to Bangers, met up with our kiwi mates, ended up with a 'Changover', and then relaxed for a couple more days around town. Then it was time to leave Bangkok. Two months in Thailand was enough for now, so we packed up and dragged ourselves to the station, where we caught the train to the thai-cambodian border. Turns out that Cambodian border officials are all crooks, and tried to charge us 1000 Baht for the US$20 visa we needed (thats a lot more). We kicked up a stink and ended up paying 20 US and 200 Baht, and I reckon it's a safe bet that the guy I dealt with isn't expecting a christmas card this year.

Anyway, we were in Cambodia! wow! excellent! We were in Poipet, the cambodian border town. and what a pleasant tidy little town this place was.... not. I have never been in such a hole in my life. unsealed roads that look like a scale model of the grand canyon, kids begging at every step, people telling you pure lies about everything from exchange rates to how much taxis are to where you need to go to buy a ticket to get out of this god-forsaken-rash-on-the-backside-of-hell town. Cambodia gets no points for welcoming tourists from Thailand. After a two hour search of the town, we realised that every man and his flea ridden dog was just waiting to rip us off for a taxi fare, so we ended up paying 22 US for a taxi to Battambang, which is a little town about 30 or so kms east. We actually shared the cab, which was just a little toyota, with SIX OTHER PEOPLE. there were two people in the freaking driver's seat for goodness sake! Why are there no photos of this little border town oasis? because I didn't want to give anyone there any more reasons to mug me, and was too busy deciding who to argue with next about the price of a taxi.

Welcome to Battambang. hope you have travel insurance to replace the hips you broke on the way here, thanks to the unforgiving roads coupled with the Evil Knievel driver and the pouring rain. So we found a nice guesthouse (actually, it was very nice, all clean and comfy for only 5 bucks), and headed into town. Turns out that the town was the SECOND biggest hole on earth, hot on the heels of Poipet, with all the same roads, people with a hobby of ripping off tourists, poor exchange rates and bad food. At least our gueshouse was nice. If you only get one week off this year, make sure you go to Battambang. You will hate it so much that you won't be able to wait to get back to your boring job in the city. Everything closes at about 730pm in battambang. Dont blame them, since there are no street lights, and gangs of kids roam the streets at night for reasons i didn't want to know.

We stayed in town for a total of 3 nights, so that we had a chance to do a day trip to the Killing Caves, 18 painful kms out of town. the caves themselves were OK, but the temple on the same mountain along with the views of the countryside were great. man this country is flat. flat country as far as the eye can see, only occasionally interrupted by a big jagged mountain.

We left Battambang by boat, to get to Siam Reap, the next town on our cambodian agenda. The boat ride was long but beautiful, taking us past a bunch of river villages where the houses are all on rafts. There is a lot of poverty here, and the recent flooding in this country, combined with the relatively flat landscape, has meant that a lot of the poorer homes have been washed away or sunk completely.

We got to the pier near siam reap and shared a tuk tuk to town with EIGHT other people. by the way, a tuk tuk is only intended to hold 2 or MAYBE 4 people with a squeeze... Anyway, siam reap is a nice town. reminds us a bit of malaysia with the way the locals prepare food and other things. A lot nicer than anything else we have seen so far in Cambodia, and from here we can explore the temples of Angkor, like Angkor Wat (wiki it if you dont know it, it is pretty cool). Once we leave here we will do a bit of a write up about the temples and anything else that we find interesting along the way.

Cambodia is looking up!

//Brendan