Some fellow travelers had some heated discussions today about taking a small boat to Battambang instead of a previously planned bus. I am very thankful that those who spoke up insisted on getting the boat as it provided what I would imagine to be a much more adventuresome experience.
I loved just sitting wearing my headphones and watching the world on water go by. The wind felt refreshing against my skin and hitting the various water villages provided much entertainment. We watched fishermen farm, families gather on porches, and kids playing in the water. After probably an hour or so of continual driving we stopped at a ‘gas station’ consisting of a floating shack that sold snacks and various sized bottles of gas. We rested for around 30 minutes and watched other boats come in to refill. I’ll never forget watching the tiniest boy paddle his way alone from one side of the water to our dock. He was no bigger than the tire sitting close to us and had to maneuver this large wooden boat all by himself. His clothes were tattered and he didn’t smile at all, but he was all adorable. It was a little heart-wrenching to realize he was already working and probably hasn’t had the full five-year old experiences I took for granted at that age.
From our break we continued along the Mekong to Battambang. When we started to get closer to the main city we came across lots of families living on the side of the river and perhaps every three minutes or so we would see 5-10 naked kids jumping from trees into the water screaming “HELLO!!!” and waving furiously. It was something you can’t recreate and something totally unexpected. I was so happy watching them all scream and wave at us. It was particularly funny when I was waving at one group of kids and a little boy started grabbing himself and playing around putting it all on show. Poleak and I cracked up laughing.
When we got to Battambang and dropped off all our stuff we were able to relax for a short 10 minutes or so before hopping on the back of a motorbike to take a tour of town. I have decided that a motorbike is the best way to see a new city as long as you can trust the group you go with. On this particular adventure we started off by visiting rice paper business where we learned how the fabulous spring roll paper is made. The family who runs this business makes 2,000 a day for about $20 income. It’s hard, monotonous, physically tiring work too.
Other stops on the tour included a snake farm (where of course I got to eat some), rice business, sticky rice business, and fish paste business. We rounded it all out by taking a long ride on the bamboo train. I’m not quite sure what number I’m at regarding types of transportation taken on this trip so far, but the bamboo train will be another to add to the list. This ‘train’ is really just a bamboo plank put on two metal rolling rods similar to a long dumbbell. The spoken rule to avoid collisions since trains go both ways on the single track says that whichever side has more trains (we had two for our group) has to get up and take apart their train for the others to pass. You also have to give way to a train carrying a good that is particularly difficult to unload and reload. It’s great the locals still use this for transferring food, tools and gadgets, etc. And if the day couldn’t have gotten any better, the bamboo train ride was timed perfectly for a beautiful sunset.
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