Battambang – Old & Lost

17 March 2018 – Travel Day – Battambang to Phnom Penh, Cambodia – Day 1

Published on March 17, 2021April 23, 2021 by Old&LostLeave a comment

We had to get up early at 0700 to catch our bus (actually 11-passenger van) to Phnom Penh at 0830. No need for a taxi or should I say a Tuk-Tuk to take us to the bus station as it was just around the corner and down the street from our hotel. We had picked up a couple of extra donuts and a slice of a rolled cake for this morning’s breakfast and had them with some water. Didn’t really want coffee as the buses didn’t seem to have washrooms on them and you never knew if or when the bus would actually stop for a bathroom break. As we left Battambang I snapped a few pictures.

The trip took 5 hours with only one 20-minute rest stop break. The bus finally stopped for the break after approximately 3 hours of travel. I have to say that the rest stop could have used a little sprucing up in the washroom department.

As we got closer to Phnom Penh we noticed more and more police ‘directing’ traffic. Not sure how effective they are standing on the sides like this.

After checking into the Silver River Hotel we were extremely happy to find that this hotel finally had an elevator. Of course I took some pictures of the room and ‘admired’ our view. Room was quite nice, but the ‘view’ left a bit to be desired. This is what you get when you book the cheapest room in a hotel on Expedia. What more could you want for $46.00 a nights, taxes and fees in?

Since we hadn’t eaten since breakfast we headed out in search of food and to see the surrounding area. Came across a restaurant, Angkor Mithona on the corner of our street and there were people in here eating and enjoying a beverage. Our indicator that the restaurant might be okay. It was Happy Hour. Turns out there is lots of happy hours in Phnom Penh. So we headed in and selected a table beside the road. After all we need to enjoy our view. Ordered a couple of COLD draft beers and a pepperoni pizza. Both were pretty good and once again I can’t believe I don’t have any pictures. I’m starting to think my iCloud is loosing some of my picture.

After our bellies were full we continued to tour around and headed over to what seemed to be the main street down by the river. Came across a travel agent and booked our next “bus” for 20 March to Sihanoukville, Cambodia in the country’s south-west on the Gulf of Thailand.

On the way to the travel agent we had passed by a couple of bakeries, so on our way back the temptation got the better of us and I guess we weren’t as full as we had thought we were. We decided to stop at a pastry shop and enjoyed desserts and yes you guessed it, iced vanilla lattes. Desserts were okay but definitely not good enough to go back again.

We headed across the street to walk around the riverfront park. There were many of these beautiful trees along the path.

There were so many people begging for money. Some seemed to be in real rough shape and many others were missing limbs. We gave money to a couple of legless street people but had to stop as there were just so many of them. We actually crossed the street and out of this area as it was a very uncomfortable feeling there were that many. Further along the street we crossed back over to take a few pictures of the flags that lined the pathway.

We are not sure if there was some special event going on or whether it was just an ordinary Saturday night down by the river and the Royal Palace but there were hundreds of people and venders setting up. Saw this little guy on the right playing in the water naked as could be.

Also many people lined up for this building. I’m guessing it was for some religious event they participate in as they all seemed to be coming out with bouquets of the same flowers and stopping to do something .

Since the sun would be setting soon we or should I say I decided to wait around to photo the Royal Palace at sunset.

Stopped at a Circle K mini-mart, similar to a 7 Eleven (which are now popping up back home in Ottawa) to buy water and Gatorade. We love Circle K as they usually have the snacks we enjoy…..Pringles, Oreos and Ritz crackers…..LOL This is often where I get my random snack of the day to photograph.

We were ready to head back to the hotel as we had hand laundry to do (when don’t we?) and wanted to work on the blog if the wifi and internet were strong enough.

While relaxing we managed to eat a whole can of Pringles and drank the Gatorade and liters of water to replace electrolytes (especially sodium and potassium) that our bodies lost in this wretched heat. Today had been one of the hottest days we have encountered so far and as we all know everyday has been HOT!

16 March 2018 – Battambang, Cambodia – Day 3 – Busy Day

Published on March 16, 2021April 23, 2021 by Old&LostLeave a comment

We arranged with Peter to take us around again today. He was picking us up at 9:00 am. No sleeping in for us as we had a full day planned. We headed back to the bakery and Café Amazon for breakfast. Didn’t have a lot of time so I brought my iced vanilla latte back with me. Here are a few pictures I took as we rode along.

Our first stop was at the local village Farmer’s Market. Peter explained to us what many of the fruits, vegetables and herbs were. So many items we had never seen before. Lots of fresh seafood too.

From here we went to another little village, where we stopped to see a small family run village bakery. It was quite something to see. Not something we would have ever seen on our own or if we did, we would not have known what it was. They were in the process of making coconut cakes and egg noodles. The first lady cracks open all the eggs and then separates the yolks from the whites. Most of the yolks go to the egg noodles and the whites are for the coconut cake. They use the whole coconut including the shells and husks for one thing or another. Not all in the baking. Some parts are used for the fire to cook the items.

We sampled the egg noodles and they had a great texture but were sort of sweet. Sweetened from the coconut milk I guess. They only took seconds to cook as it was very hot oil and a very thin stream of batter which was poured into it. The end result looked liked Mr Noodle’s noodles, but not even close in taste.

We had asked Peter earlier on what happened to someone when they died here as we had seen no cemeteries. Cemeteries aren’t a common sight in Asia, but we have seen some. He explained to us that the body is cremated and stored in an urn which is sometimes placed in a stupa if the family has enough money for one in a temple compound. He had mentioned something about the Chinese not wanting the locals in the same areas as them and the result of that, but we can’t remember what it was.

Next up we headed to Wat Samrong Knong (Killing Fields). This is a really depressing place. They were referred to as killing wells but are actually small lakes now.

The torture room still stands and is a small museum now. The history is depicted in many carved and painted graphic pictures.

From here we headed to the Crocodile farm where we both got to hold a baby crocodile. After this we wandered around the ‘farm’ for a few minutes to view the adult crocs in the pits. That’s all it took. Plus the place was smelly.

Next up was the rice wine ‘factory’. A shack on the side of the road where they made assorted rice wines. They explained to us how they make the wine. There was a regular rice wine, a silkworm wine and a snake rice wine. Doug sampled them all, including the cobra wine. I tried none of them. Our next road side stop was a Rice paper factory (wooden shack) where Peter explained to us the process of making rice papers. Now I know why they have the pattern on them that they do. It’s from the drying racks. While I was ordering a fresh and a fried spring roll, Doug was chatting with a couple who were sitting at the same table as we were. Next thing I know he’s standing there with a piece of BBQ’d rat in his hand. He ATE IT!

They sell a lot of BBQ’d rat along the road side out in the country here. I guess they eat what they can. The next morning Doug’s stomach wasn’t feeling 100%. Wonder why not? Maybe the weird wines or the rat? He recovered quickly though, thank goodness.

We had seen all of this and it was only 12:30 and we were headed back to the hotel. Peter would come back for us at 3:30 to continue our day. After a bit of a rest we headed out to find some food. Guess the rat wasn’t very filling. We wandered through a few markets and decided to search out a place called Fresh Eats Cafe that was recommended in the Lonely Planet book. Not sure if it is no longer there or was just closed up tightly, but we could not find it at the address maps.me was giving us. We decided upon a hostel that had a small restaurant.

We got back to our hotel just in time for our 3:30 Tuk-Tuk pickup to go to Phnom Sampov Killing caves and Bat caves. It was about 12 km, but a great ride. We just love traveling in Tuk-Tuks. Peter parked his Tuk-Tuk, negotiated a price and we transferred to a pickup truck that would take us the rest of the way up the mountain. We were given the option to sit inside the cab or in the open back. Living on the wild side we chose to sit in the back. They had to put out a step stool and help me up into the back. Wasn’t an easy task! This road was very steep and twisty. Really had to hang on. The pickup stopped half way up and out we climbed, as he headed back down to get more people. This guy was doing a great business.

At this level there was a temple and a path to the killing caves. This was originally an area of Buddhist temples.

Peter explained the meaning of all of these statues that were along the path. There were many of them and they are all based on Karma and the people’s beliefs.

These pictures were taken at the steps looking down into one of the caves where the people were pushed to their deaths. I’ve read that there were at least 10,000 people killed here. Peter is pointing to another level even further down.

Once down to that level I took these pictures. This man sits here making and selling bracelets to help maintain the site. We were told that he will also explain about the caves if asked. There are also many skull and bone remains.

We headed back to the area where the pickup had dropped us off and back it came for us. Dropped off another load of people and we climbed into the back and continued on to the top of the mountain to tour the Pagoda. I was really starting to regret the decision to sit in the back. Really had to hang on as the road was steep. Once up top we got out to climb the rest of the way.

There were so MANY monkeys here that it was almost scary.

We continued past the monkeys and up the next set of stairs. The view from up here was spectacular as was the pagoda.

Once again the pickup came back for us while dropping off a new load of people. Back down to the bottom of the mountain where we were steered towards an outdoor café with overhead fans, tables and chairs. They just happened to serve food and beer. We would now wait for the Bats to fly out of the mountain. Peter disappeared and so we ordered a beer and waited. While we were waiting we saw a middle-aged Asian woman (dressed with a coat on) climb the steps up to the unfinished Buddha. The Buddha is in the upper right quarter of the first photo below. Peter had told us a little bit about it. The man who had been carving the Buddha fell to his death while working on it. No one has ever finished it since. I think that is partly because there is no money to pay someone to finish it. The steps may not look too steep but they were VERY steep. The Buddha is also very high. Out of all the hundreds of people there, no one else attempted to climb up. The woman climbed down the stairs backwards holding onto the rungs as she descended down. A very brave woman in my opinion and I don’t think this was her first time doing something like this.

What a site when the bats started coming out. There were hundreds of thousands of bats. They actually say there are millions of bats. It probably lasted a good 10 to 15 minutes. As fast as it started it stopped. It was definitely something to see.

This is the entrance / exit to the cave.

Peter reappeared and asked if we wanted to go see a dragon snake. We weren’t sure what he meant by that, but went for it. Turns out, if you are fast enough you can get to the area where the bats are flying and it appears like a dragon or snake in the sky. Unfortunately tonight they had gone in a different direction and we didn’t see the snake. The good thing was we beat the traffic jam of all the Tuk-Tuks leaving the cave site. It would have been Tuk-Tuk rush hour.

When we got back to town we treated our Tuk-Tuk driver, Peter to dinner at the Nary Kitchen. He picked this restaurant and he really recommended it. Funny thing was we had looked at it this afternoon for lunch but thought it was a cooking school. Turns out it is both. Doug had fried rice, vegetables and chicken. Peter and I both ordered the noodles with vegetables and chicken. Food was good. I also ordered a Long Island Iced Tea. Can’t say that drinks were their specialty.

Over the last few days we had talked quite a bit with Peter. Of course we asked him if he had a girlfriend as he’s a pretty good looking guy. His reply was “no money, no honey”. He went on to tell us that a lot of the local girls go for the white men. The larger the man, the more money they think he has, as he is able to eat plenty. It is kind of sad the number of young local girls that we saw with old white guys. Peter said the girls have no interest in him as his skin is darker and they relate that to a farm worker and no money. Our guide the other day had explained to us that it is up to the youngest male in the family to support the parents in their senior years. He had mentioned that in some cases couples end up divorced because of their obligations to care for their parents. This can happen when both are the youngest in their families and there is no male in the woman’s family to look after her parents. At least I think I have that right. If not, it was close to that.

Peter asked if we had been happy with the service provided and would we give a review of him and his company on Trip Advisor. Of course we would. We enjoyed our two days touring with him so much that we actually gave him $50 US instead of the $20 US it was supposed to cost us. These tours in North America would have easily been double that per person. The total of $75 that we paid for the two days would pay his half of the rent for two months. He shares a one room apartment with a friend and had to buy all his meals as they have no kitchen. He also isn’t able to get work every day due to the fact that there are so many Tuk-Tuk drivers and only so many tourists requiring their services.

15 March 2018 – Battambang, Cambodia – Day 2 – Bamboo Train

Published on April 17, 2018March 24, 2021 by Old&LostLeave a comment

Got up this morning and had plans to visit the Bamboo Train and Banyon Hill Temple, but first we had to find some breakfast. This hotel did not include breakfast although you could purchase breakfast. We got dressed and headed down the stairs…..all 67 of them.

We checked out the hotels breakfast menu and decided to look elsewhere. We were lucky to find a bakery on the next corner and then a Cafe Amazon a block away from the bakery. Enjoyed a nutritious breakfast.

Headed back to the hotel as we wanted to contact the Tuk-Tuk driver that we had yesterday hoping he would be available for the day. He had given us his card so the hotel phoned him. He would be there shortly. To our surprise someone else showed up saying his friend was busy and had sent him. Wasn’t too sure about it, but the hotel confirmed his story. Turned out that there are three Tuk-Tuk drivers who operate a little company called Battambang Handicraft Tours. Odd name, but if you’re ever in Battambang, Cambodia, contact them as they are terrific as we found out. Our driver’s name was Peter and he would drive us for the day. It would cost us $20US. Sounded great to us. As we left, Peter asked if we minded if we stopped by his apartment as he had forgotten his sunglasses. No problem. Turned out he only lived a few streets away. Then he asked if we would like to see more of the country side on our way to the Bamboo Train instead of just going on the highway. That sounded great to us. He drove through a village to a bridge that they refer to as The Golden Gate Bridge. From the side it was a similar shape, but definitely not similar materials.

While standing on the bridge, Peter explained to us some of the ways they catch fish there. They have some very ingenious methods.

Then it was time for us to move aside as a motor scooter wanted to cross and the bridge was pretty narrow.

We continued on the country roads until we came to a small farm where we stopped again.

Peter guided us through the farm, about an acre and a half and explained to us their methods and what this particular farmer was growing. I can’t remember what this first vegetable was, but the grassy stuff was lemongrass. He told us how when he was younger he would have to get up early and help out on their farm before going to school.

We continued along the back country roads along a river until we had to stop. The road was closed off. Turned out this little village was having a wedding today and had closed the road down for their reception area. We had to go back and get on the highway after all.

It was still a great ride along the highway and we saw a portion that was lined on both sides with these beautiful yellow flowering’s trees. Just looked gorgeous.

A little further along the school children were heading home for their 2-hour lunch break. Some had motor scooters, some bicycles. and many had to walk. They go to school in the mornings from 7:00 to 11:00. Then many go to a different school in the afternoons such as Chinese school.

Can’t say I have ever seen a traffic sign with a Tuk-Tuk on it before.

We soon came to the Bamboo Train. Apparently they have moved it since our son rode it in 2017. They said that it had become unsafe and therefore relocated it. It is still a work in progress. We rode through the countryside for about 20 minutes then got off while they turned our cart around. While it only took seconds to turn the cart, they had us hang around about 15 minutes. I’m guessing in hope that we would purchase something from the stalls. There was an Australian couple and a British woman on the cart in front of us and we stood around and chatted for the break.

From here we headed to Banon Hill Temple. Going there we weren’t sure we would be able to climb the steps, but wanted to see. We have been surprised a few times and have been able to. This temple had 358 steps.

We got there and thought it might not be too bad and started up.

After about 20 steps we realized there was no way we would be able to do it. They were all different heights and depths. Makes it that much harder so took a selfie instead. There was also a photo shoot going on. Not sure if it was a wedding or not.

It was so hot here and there was a stand that had smoothies. That sounded so good that we decided to get some. We offered to buy our driver, Peter, one, but he opted for a large bottle of water. Smart move on his part as all your water has to be bought here.

We headed back to our hotel to rest up before our night, as we were going to the Circus. Peter would be back for us at 6:00 pm.

The circus is put on by underprivileged kids. Paden had told us about it and just raved about it, so we wanted to make sure we didn’t miss it. They told a story with their circus acts. Let me say…..it was AMAZING! These kids have so much talent. Hope they make it far in life.

As we were sitting waiting for the show to start we see the Australian couple and British woman from this afternoon arrive and sit in the next section beside us. They still had their guide with them. They all saw us and we all waved.

Peter, our driver was back at 8:30 pm to pick us up. Since we hadn’t eaten dinner we had Peter drop us off at the same restaurant we had eaten at yesterday, the White Rose. As we’re walking in to sit down, who do we see, but the Aussies and the Brit again with their guide. So just who’s following who now?

We had told Peter we would walk back to our hotel so he could go home and relax. After dinner we actually decided to take a Tuk-Tuk, so just grabbed one on the street. Not sure which was scarier, the walk the night before or tonight’s Tuk-Tuk ride. First off he had no headlight and then he got lost and didn’t know how to get to our hotel. This made me nervous. Our hotel, was actually only two turns from the restaurant. Thankfully, he found someone and asked them where our hotel was. We got back safe and sound. Time for bed for us as we have another busy day with Peter tomorrow.

14 March 2018 – Travel Day – Siem Reap to Battambang, Cambodia – Day 1

Published on March 31, 2018March 14, 2022 by Old&LostLeave a comment

Today was another travel day. Even though Battambang is spelled ‘Battambang’ it is actually pronounced ‘Battambong’.

After a nice breakfast beside the pool we packed up our stuff and relaxed by the pool for an hour or so.

We had booked a bus to Battambang for 2:00 pm through the hotel. The cost was $7.00 US each. Can’t go wrong with that price. The bus company, Mekong, were to pick us up between 1:00 and 2:00. Cutting it a bit close for a 2:00 departure. The pick up van showed up about 1:45. Had one more pickup after us and then to the bus depot. We were on our way. A mid- size passenger van with 12 people. The trip was only 77 km but would take between 3 and 4 hours depending on traffic and road conditions. There was a lot of construction along the way, mainly off to the side, as it appears they are putting in a new drainage system and expanding the road to 4 lanes.

Areas of Cambodia are spotless. No garbage anywhere and in other places there is so much garbage thrown around. It’s not as bad as Vietnam was but will be if they don’t get a grip on it. It appears that they burn a lot of their garbage as you will see piles on fire here and there. Our tour guide was saying that they don’t have a recycling plan in place so the plastics just pile up. You can see that as you drive around the country. Sad as it’s a beautiful country.

This is the dry season and so many of the cows and horses are skin and bones. Once the rainy season comes the grass grows lush and the livestock fatten up. There is grass around just not lots. Even though it is dry season the trees are full of beautiful flowers as are the plants.

Many of the fields have been plowed just waiting for the rain to come. I think they said it should start in July. They don’t get monsoon type rain, just some rain most days during the rainy season. Saw a few groups of men ‘playing’ in the ponds. Water looked so dirty – you can’t drink the water here.

As we drove along we got to see many homes. A few looked very luxurious but some were just a floor and roof with hammocks hanging on them. Many are built on stilts and they seem to hang out under their homes. The sun is brutal here.

You can see in places that it appears the family now had more money, as they are building new homes beside the old ones. Just can’t imagine what their lives are like. We just have so much compared to these people. I left my flip flops behind that I had bought when we were on our excursion on Koh Phangan. We left them on purpose. Hope whoever was cleaning our room can use them. Washed them all up (they had only been worn once) and left them on the pillow with the money tip.

Passed a large groups of Monks marching for some cause. Didn’t get the reason, but they had the road tied up for a few minutes.

Just saw 5 people on a scooter. 3 adults and 2 kids. We can barely fit that in a car.

Took us a little over 3 hours to get to Battambang. The hotel was only 1/2 km away but we decided to take a Tuk-Tuk as it was only $1 US and there didn’t really appear to be any sidewalks. Tuk-Tuk driver gave us a map with his contact info on it. We will probably call him tomorrow to use for the day.

We got to our hotel, Asia hotel. We were booked on the 3rd floor. It took us a couple of trips to get all our packs up our room. There must have been a thousand steps for each floor. Thanks Paden for recommending this hotel. We got spoiled in our last 2 hotels because they had elevators. There was actually 67 steps…..every time we went up or down.

The sink was the smallest, lowest one I think we have ever seen. So tiny. The room was fine after all we were only paying $20 US a night.

After resting up a bit we headed out go find some dinner. Our hotel was in the middle of what appeared to be mechanicsville. No place around where we could eat. We got the directions to ‘downtown’ and walked. Didn’t feel the safest, but we made it there. There are also plenty of security guards watching either shops or the streets. We couldn’t determine which.