There is a well damaged route through Kingdom of Cambodia for many travelers. The overwhelming majority build a bee-line across the country, striking solely Phnom Penh, the capital, and Siem Reap, base for visiting the Angkor temples, on the approach. Those with a little longer on their hands would possibly drop into Sihanoukville, the business capital of the coast. people who square measure deliciously made in time would possibly like better to highly to|favor to|opt to} visit more unnoticed destinations, like Battambang.
Though Battambang might seem as a sleepy-eyed city to guests, it's really Cambodia’s second largest town with over 250,000 residents. The travelers that do build the five hour journey from Siem Reap to go to return for the well preserved french design, the ordered back ambience, and also the city’s claim to fame, riding the questionable bamboo train. We too, were drawn by this thus known as norry train, and set to create a 2 night stop in Battambang between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh.
The Battambang Circus
The Battambang Circus
Our 1st stop once dropping our luggage at an inexpensive and clean $7 an evening building was to form our thanks to Battambang’s second most known attraction, the circus atPhare Ponle Selpak. PPS is a corporation dedicated to victimisation art to assist kids with each their physical and emotional wants. one in every of their main fundraisers could be a circus placed on by program leaders and students. The $8 admission price for the circus goes straight to supporting the center’s many colleges, programs and services. Having solely detected concerning the circus via spoken, we tend to had no plan what to expect.
We arrived when dark to what gave the impression of a rural camp, with the exception of an enormous prime tent within the middle of a field. we have a tendency to peeked at a number of the center’s alternative exhibitions showing off student art, however quickly shuffled into the tent to induce a seat. Good thing, too, as a result of shortly the bleachers were stuffed with excited native youngsters and families, and some alternative foreign tourists.
We arrived when dark to what gave the impression of a rural camp, with the exception of an enormous prime tent within the middle of a field. we have a tendency to peeked at a number of the center’s alternative exhibitions showing off student art, however quickly shuffled into the tent to induce a seat. Good thing, too, as a result of shortly the bleachers were stuffed with excited native youngsters and families, and some alternative foreign tourists.
The show started off with a concert featuring the usual suspects: guitar, drums, etc. but also a row of local instruments I had never seen nor heard before. After the concert the real show began, featuring juggling, drama, and acrobatics. The best part was hearing the local kids go wild in the audience.
The Bamboo Train
The next day, we tend to employed a neighborhood guide and tuk tuk driver, Mr. Han Houn, to bring US around Battambang. Our initial stop was the far-famed bamboo train. For years, in-the-know travelers are urging alternative to “go whereas you continue to can” as native authorities threaten to prevent foreigners from riding the tracks.
However, when we arrived it seemed the police were running the show as they handled all the money from our $5 entry to the tracks and even happily snapped a photo for us.
However, when we arrived it seemed the police were running the show as they handled all the money from our $5 entry to the tracks and even happily snapped a photo for us.
The bamboo train is ultra light and constructed from bamboo, steel, and a tiny generator that provided power, directed by our driver. It barrels down the tracks at a whopping 25 mph.
Years ago, there was a train network built by the French that stretched across the entire country, from the Thai border to Vietnam. Then, the Khmer Rouge happened. Trains were ambushed and tracks were heavily mined and still today, the government can’t guarantee that certain parts of the track are even cleared of UXO. What is left are the norries. Though now mainly a tourist attraction, the tracks are also used by locals for long distance journeys and cargo transit.
The train rattles and rocks on the tracks as it steams past. The most white-knuckled bit, however, is when another train approaches. The rules of the track state that whichever train has the lightest load must hop off the train and disassemble. The drivers are ninjas at this process and can go from moving full speed to disassembled at the side of the tracks in 5 minutes flat.
This is the perfect opportunity to have a countryside photo shoot with your girlfriends. Perhaps I should submit to Vogue?
Other cars weren’t the only things on the track. Local people walked along the tracks, and livestock was often found grazing there as well.
At the end of the line, we stopped at a small village. We were expected to buy a soda or a snack, but it was well worth it for the company of the sweet kids and families we sat and shared a drink with.
The kids made us jewelry gifts out of grass blades and played games with us. It was so refreshing to hang out with children not trying to sell us something or ask us for money.
As we left they asked us to sign a cardboard guest book and it was so sweet to read the messages from other travelers. Our message may or may not have made reference to the Venga Bus, which somehow became the unofficial anthem of our trip to Cambodia.
We rode back in silence, contemplating the beauty of the countryside and the unique experience we were having. Already I was glad that we had made the detour to Battambang, and our day wasn’t even half over.
Stay tuned for Part II of our weekend in Battambang…