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From our little hotel in the Thai wine region, we had a short van ride to the local bus station / convenience store, a short wait in the flies with canned iced coffees, and a 2 hour ride in a mini bus to the next major bus station. From here, we were hustled onto the next bus out to the Cambodian border with very cramped, smelly standing room only.

Ahh, the things you don’t mine when you’re excited to be somewhere . . .

A short 3-4 hours later (ha!), we were at the Cambodian border. From here, we snagged transport on a canvas covered farm truck with board seats to the drop off point where we waited for entry visas to be granted. Then, it was another brief walk to the custmos checkpoint where we waited for over two hours with every other backpacker and local that day, waiting to cross. After that mission was accomplished, we hopped on another farm truck / tuk-tuk / whatever and made our way through Poi Pet to the main bus station there, in order to catch a direct bus to Siem Reap.

However, this was not to be. We had arrived in Cambodia at the start of Chinese New Year. All bus service had stopped early, alternative taxi and motorcycle prices had spiked, and there was no way were going anywhere until the next day. We ran into a Swiss girl and two girls from Korea who were stranded as well. So we all found a reasonably safe place to stay (Poi Pet is a real cesspool), followed by a bar (card table and chairs in the dust with a plug-in cooler), and proceeded to do literally the only thing we could do. Drink beer. Lots of beer.

The next day, we were up and at the bus station by 5:45. Although we were all ready to head to Siem Reap as promised the night before, we were apparently misinformed. While there were boatloads of buses leaving, the only ones going in the direction we all wanted were not leaving until 4:00 that afternoon. So our options were to spend another day drinking beer in the dust or take a bus to SOMEWHERE  and then eventually get to where we wanted to go from there. With that in mind, we were off to Battambang!

If you’ve ever read anything about transportation in Cambodia, you know it’s two most popular adjectives: bumpy and dusty/muddy (depending on the season). Even with the windows rolled up, many of us had to endure the bus ride with scarves and filters tied around our faces, and our eyes stinging. (Our bruised backsides of course, go without saying.)

But the funniest thing I remember about the entire trip that day were the chickens. Those of you who have traveled in the third and developing world know that the inclusion of live poultry and other animals on public transport is common place. That day most of the live poultry was packed in boxes. But there was one rooster that day wedged without any protection into the luggage compartment between our backpacks. When they opened the door to pull out our bags, the luggage was covered in so much dust that not only could we not tell where one piece ended and the other began, I actually thought the rooster must have gotten out somehow. . . until I saw his little rooster eye open and his head lift up a bit, blinking in the sunlight. There he was, still wedged between my backpack and David’s, where he’d been, unable to move, since approximately 6:00 that morning. It was now nearly lunch time.

Battambang is an old French colonial town and much of that architecture still remains. There are a fair number of NGO’s operating there, and although there aren’t a ton of sites to see, it is connected to Siem Reap by waterway and road, and there are a few monuments and minor temples in the area. We spent a day or two there, renting out motorcycle drivers to take us to the sites and into villages for some candid photo opportunities. Several of the sites were war-related and we learned first hand just how horrible things had gotten  there during the reign of the Khmer Rouge. In fact, all three of our drivers had been child soldiers during the war, hauled out of schools and monasteries at the ages of 7, 9 and 11. They were basically given knives and guns, wished good luck and pointed in the right direction of the jungle. A rather steep learning curve, if you ask me.

From Battambang, we decided to make our way by water up the river and through Ton Le Sap, to Siem Reap. During the rainy season, this simply means heading down to the river in the town, hopping on a boat and getting there three hours later. We however, were there during the dry season, the season of Cambodian snowstorms. This is what the locals call the huge clouds of dust stirred up when vehicles travel along the roads during this period of low rainfall. Trust me, when you’re on the back of a pick-up truck that comes to a halt and 1/2 - 3/4 of an inch of dirt drops out of the air to coat you even more from head to toe than you already were, you’ll agree with the fact that they call it Cambodian snow. Seeing a group of ethnically diverse people instantly transform into what looked like a collection of light gray ice sculptures from The Chronicles of Narnia was a sight to behold. We all looked like we were 80 plus years old. But I digress.

In order to take the boat to and across Ton Le Sap during the dry season, we had to make our way with about 16 other people (the other trucks had more) on the back of a pick-up truck with everyone’s luggage, through a dusty, deep rut-filled road for about 2 hours until we reached the spot in the river where it was still deep enough to float a boat. This is known as Cambodian first class, and involves several stops where you hop off the back into the dirt and enjoy a relaxing 90 second - 30 minute break while your truck driver tries to navigate 4-6 foot ruts without getting the vehicle stuck or broken.

Then, you get on the boat and spend the next 8 or so hours instead of 2-3 heading to Siem Reap. The water level difference between the two seasons makes for a lengthier journey. All that being said however, this river trip day was amazing. David and I consider it a major highlight of our entire visit to Cambodia. To see how rustically the local river people live and work was mesmerizing and remarkable. From houseboats to stilt huts, to floating pontoon houses and churches, the people along the river are completely integrated with their environment.

Upon arriving at the port for Siem Reap, our tuk-tuk driver was already waiting for us. We made our way into the town to find a place to stay, and booked our driver for the next day. Then, it was off to get something to eat (and some margaritas), and plan our agenda for the main purpose of our trip to Cambodia . . . Angkor Wat.

When we purchased our tickets, we opted for the one week pass, thinking we really wanted the extra time to fully explore the main and extended temples. And explore we did. Climbing up giant Buddha-topped statues, jungle temples, elephant terraces, Angkor Wat itself, and many other ruins, we explored each day until we were ready to drop. After which, it was back to the hotel pool and bar for a drink, dip and nap until dinner time. It’s a major world heritage site, and we were not disappointed.

Next, we were on our way to Phnom Penh to see the national museum and bear witness to the horrors of the S-21 detention center. While we enjoyed the museum, it is a bit mind boggling to think how much of the Khmer art the Cambodian people no longer have access to. Between the damage from the war and decades of pilfering and smuggling, much of their precious national heritage is gone. What remains however, is certainly of note. Also in Phnom Penh are many pagodas and temples open to public viewing within the palace grounds.

Before returning to Bangkok we decided to head south to the beach to grab some quiet regeneration time. A week later, we were headed back to one of our favorite cities to spend time catching up on travelers’ errands and make a decision about our net destination . . . India, Burma or Jordan?

While we would eventually be heading to Jordan anyway, we had been hearing amazing things about Myanmar (Burma) and how it was still so unspoiled. We had also considered India one of our definite stops since before we ever embarked on our odyssey. As much as we were enjoying ourselves and this beautiful region, we discussed the fact that since we were making this an “around the world” trip, we should probably diversify our cultural experiences a bit, no matter how tempting it was to spend all our time in one area. That ruled out Burma and left India or Jordan. We were under no illusions. India would be unbelievably intense and chaotic. It would also require several months to tour it adequately.  We wanted to give India its full due, as it has been an important travel destination for both of us for quite some time. So, as surprising as it was to come to this decision, we decided to bypass India, at least for this trip, and head directly to Jordan. It turned out to be the right thing to do.

Posted on May 14th, 2007 by Myscha Theriault
Filed under: Trips and Destinations