Over the potholes and through the floating village to Battambang we go

(Oct 30th)

We were picked up at our hotel in Phnom Penh by Heng, our guide, and a driver in, what else, a Toyota Camry LE.

The drive to Battambang takes about 5 hrs from Phnom Penh even though it is 185 miles away because the roads leave a bit to be desired. The main road in Cambodia (their national highway equivalent) is one lane each way with frequent potholes and washouts that necessitate a lot of swerving and driving on the wrong side of the road. The road is also shared with lots of motorbikes, bicycles, trucks, and some horse drawn carts and the occasional herd of water buffalo or cows.

The number of shops along the way is amazing. Nearly the whole route is lined with small family shops selling everything from pillows to appliances to diesel pumps.

Along the way we stopped at a town that is known for silver work and saw a family making silver jewelry and other items. Even the toddler was practicing.

We made one more stop at a family that makes clay pottery grills. This was not a "tour" in any sense, we literally just dropped in on them at work and it was fascinating to see the different steps that go into making these clay grills. Throughout the rest of our time in Cambodia we enjoyed spotting these clay grills in use in floating and land-based homes, and food carts/stands.

We also visited Kompong Luong, a floating village with 10,000 inhabitants. After driving down a dirt road for a couple km we hopped in a local boat for a tour around the town. All of the children in the village would wave and yell "hello" as we passed. The village was a full town with a school, church, wedding hall, gas station, stores, and restaurants, all constructed on floating platforms supported by rafts of bamboo.

Washing dishes

bringing home supplies

Floating gas station

Kids in front of a shop

Busy "street" and Post Office/Police Station with flag at half staff

Typical transportation and dress

Kid rowing

Battery charging store

Kids waving

We saw one group replacing the old, soggy bamboo with new bamboo, which basically involved sliding the old "foundation" out from under the house and sliding the new "foundation" in.

The level of lake Tonle Sap varies drastically in the wet and dry seasons, so the village will have to move farther out into the lake as the water recedes. Rafts of bamboo had been left attached to anchors farther out to save the places for the dry season - very similar to "winter sticks" used on moorings in harbors in New England.

Cambodian "winter stick" for low-water mooring

Toilets in the village seem to be little huts suspended over the water from the side of the house with a hole in the floor. More pleasant to use than a land-based squat toilet but not so good when you see that everyone bathes and washes dishes in the water too.

We arrived in Battambang around 3:30 and were dropped at our hotel, Au Cabaret Vert. We usually spend a lot of time picking our hotel based on tripadvisor reviews and location. This is the first time we have booked a tour that included a hotel so we had no input at all in the hotel choice. We were a little skeptical when we pulled up to the hotel since it is a bit outside of town and there were construction tarps on the second story. It turned out to be a great little place with 6 bungalows, run by a French/Cambodian couple. We ended up eating dinner at the hotel one night and hanging out at the bar, and it really had a great atmosphere and everyone was treated like family. And it was an easy $2 tuk-tuk ride into the old town.

The bartender at our hotel was amazing - he was an incredibly friendly Cambodian guy from a nearby village named Sarin who did not have much education but had learned English and worked his way up from farmer, to Thai/Cambodian border guard, to tuk-tuk driver, to hotel security guard, to bartender.  He loves to practice his English so that he can speak English with his kids to make sure they learn English and can get good jobs.  He has also started a lending library for his local village school out of his front yard, and participates in "couch surfing" as a host.  If you ever need a place to stay in Battambang Cambodia, look this guy up!