Wanting to see as much of Cambodia as we could we decided to take a boat to our next destination of Battambang. It was all just a bit too easy organizing it all in a way as there were plenty of travel agencies around Siem Reap all offering help to organize trips and we were even told that we would be picked up from our hostel!! Luxury!
We arrived at the port in our minibus and joined the other 50 tourists on the long boat and sat waiting patiently for us to leave. The boat was fairly narrow, just four seats wide and about 15m long with a huge engine on the back which, we had read, broke down regularly!!
Eventually they started up and the deafening noise stopped all conversation and we set off up the river. Boeung Tonle Sap was our first point of interest and is Cambodia’s largest lake. We were luckily only skirting the top section as I don’t think our boat would have coped very well with any rough waters at all. At least there were enough life jackets for just under half of the people on the boat!
As we exited the lake we entered a floating village which was an unbelievable sight. The houses all lined the river side and had been built on loads of 40 gallon barrels. They were anchored to trees, small patches of land and each other and all opened out towards the river. It was quite unlike anything we had ever seen and really looked like an idyllic life, apart from our boat roaring up the water the tranquility would have been amazing.
As we cruised further up the river there were at least a dozen more of these floating villages all complete with shops and schools. We are here during the wet season so the water was high and we noticed seeing the tops of some roofs of houses which had been built on the ground.
It was an incredibly relaxing and wonderful way to travel, just cruising along watching the world go by. We were lucky that the water was so high as it meant that we were able to take a couple of shortcuts which were almost wide enough for our boat. At one point the crew had to lower shade cloths on the side to prevent us being battered by the branches of the trees we were cruising through.
It was a little bit of an anti climax when we arrived at Battambang although it was nice to get away from the deafening hum of the motor. I might be being a bit unfair on the town as we arrived just after it had rained and the sky was still dark so the whole place just looked a little dirty.
It wasn’t difficult for us to find a great place for dinner where we enjoyed two Cambodian staples of Fish lamok and Tam Yam soup. Not as spicy as other counties but full of flavour and afterwards we had a little walk around town. It is always nice walking around somewhere new seeing all the new sights but Battambang really was just a stop off for us on our way to Phnom Penh. T
Not the quietest of engines to be sat next to.
The channel we headed through on our way to the lake.
This guy was living n the outskirts of town. He is actually taking a photo of us with his smartphone!
A few photos of the floating villages we passed through. So much to see and such a unique place.
Our boat served as a lifeline for trade up and down the river. We picked up and dropped off loads of parcels and this guy was posting his mail.
This whole street is floating on barrels or built on stilts.
The channel got a little narrower as we took the shortcuts.
One more box and she might have been considered over laden.
It all looks so idillic.
We passed no bridges just these “ferry” crossings for getting the motorbikes on their way.
As we got closer to Battambang the amount of rubbish lining the banks increased.
A typical shot of Battambang town centre.
Cooked bananas and coconut…delicious.
She was lovely and smiley but I still don’t know what was in that leaf…tasty though.
