Motoadventures2up: From Battambang we say "Goodbye Cambodia"

With just a week left on our visa in Cambodia we left Siem Reap and headed to Battambang, 9 hours on a small river boat that took us across Tolie Sap Lake and up the river which was low in water but still passable (we had to stop once along the way to clean the prop of debris and many times we heard the motor lugging as it dug into the mud on the river bottom). During our trip we were able to see life on the river for these Cambodian people. Life for them is strictly a day to day and hand to mouth, living on what they are able to grow or catch in the water. To us, it was heartbreaking to see the poverty and dirt they live in but at the same time we marveled at the smiles they gave us even if our boats wake was interrupting their fishing. The river is their highway, they use it to boat to school, to sell goods on, and to visit nearby villages that are not connected by roads. Most live in floating houses or in homes directly on the rivers bank.

Once on dry land again in Battambang we found a nice hotel with a pool, a deal at $14 but to tell you the trueth there were lots of rooms for $3-$7 for a fan room and $10 if you wanted aircon. Battambang was not quite what we were expecting, it was a little scruffy and had just a few tourist things to do. We rode the "bamboo train", visited the "Killing Cave", where the Khmer Rouge killed people by throwing them down to the bottom of the rocky cave, witnessed billions (yes billions!) of bats leaving their cave at sunset and went to a circus put on by some very talented kids, two of which have been accepted by the Cirque de Soliet in Canada. Once again, we hired a tuktuk to show us the sights and he was able to tell us a little about his life, growing up in a time of war, escaping to Thailand and living in refugee camps and then coming back to Cambodia to try and build a new life. Now he has a tuktuk for himself, one for his brother and trying to purchase a third for his youngest brother. Our driver spoke English well but he is also trying to teach his brothers because for them English means a better life working with the tourists.

A few days in Battambang was enough, so that meant it was time to travel to Thailand and unfortunately there are no buses going to the Thai border at Pailin so again we rented a shared taxi. Because Ken and I were by ourselves we couldn't hire the whole taxi, we had to share it with some locals, which is o.k. but they are little people and have a different idea about how many people you can fit in a Toyota Camry! We paid $10 a seat in the back which guaranteed there would be no more than 3 in the back seat but in the front (in 2 bucket seats) they managed to fit 3 more people NOT INCLUDING the driver! We made it to the border and actually it was a very pleasant 2 hour trip...Alls well that ends well!

We loved Cambodia, especially the people with their smiling faces!

Over the wake of our river boat you can see the floating houses lining the river.

A fishermans house, when the big boom comes down it lifts the far end on the contraption lifting the net full (hopefully) of fish.

The driver on our boat sat on a not so comfy seat at the back of the boat for the whole trip. Notice that a console of an old car was installed for steering the boat.

Look very carefully. This is the outhouse at the restaurant we stopped at for lunch...yes that is the water in the river that you see below the hole. Just a few hundred meters away people are washing their closes, kids are swimming and a little farther down the river fishermen are checking their nets. F.Y.I. about 60% of people do not have access to a real (western world) toilet.

This house is actually a river boat, maybe in the wet season the water is high enough that this family live on the water.

Some houses are built on stilts so they are not effected by floods or high water in the wet season.

This woman is fixing and cleaning her fishing net. Notice how they always have a scarf over the head to keep off the sun and if you look closer you can see she is wearing pajama bottoms, the women wear pajamas all the time...comfort first, I guess!

Kids swimming in the water, they kept us busy waving all day long.

Life along the river is anything but clean.

Sitting on the bamboo train, ready to go.

When we met a bamboo train coming in the opposite direction we just stopped and dismantled
the train by lifting the platform off the axels which were made from old tanks, then took the axels off the track...pushed the other train by and then again put our train back together and continued on our way. This happened about half a dozen times in our hour trip.

When the U.N. came into Cambodia to help out against the Khmer Rouge they made the stipulation that all guns would be distroyed. They melted may of the guns into this monument, when you look close the hardware is still visible.