Battambang, Cambodia After visiting the temples of Angkor, we embarked on what we thought was a four hour trip by boat to the provincial capital of Battambang.  This is one of the most scenic river journeys in Cambodia beginning on the Tonle Sap Lake and then meandering through the fishing villages located along the Sangker River.  We started the trip in the usual manner, with ten other travellers on a small speedboat with two outboard motors.  About thirty minutes into the journey, one of the engines started bellowing smoke and we stopped so that the driver could investigate the problem.  His conclusion was to continue with one engine until we could reach the nearest floating gas station (on the Tonle Sap, everything floats including houses, schools, post offices and, as we found out, gas stations) and pull in for repairs.  After repeated attempts to fix the engine, the driver's conclusion was to continue with only one engine.

One of the many floating houses on the Tonle Sap Lake.

As we slowly moved on, the driver's assistant tried to fix the broken engine until it finally fell into the water and quickly disappeared into the murky depths of the Tonle Sap Lake.  Eventually, the driver found a local with a larger, supposedly faster boat to finish the journey to Battambang.  Five minutes after transferringto this boat, the propeller got snagged in a fisherman's net.  The new driver's son, a very strong ten year old boy, managed to free us from our entanglement an we thus continued our journey.  We made this trip during February, one of the driest months in Cambodia, therefore the river was at its lowest level causing our new, larger boat to continually get stuck on the river bottom.  Everytime we go stuck, the driver and his son would work the boat back and forth to free us from the river bottom.  On several occasions, we even thought that we would have to get out of the boat, jump in the river and help.  Twelve hours from the start of our trip, we arrived in Battambang.  It truly was one of the most interesting river journeys we have ever taken and all the passengers lightheartedly concluded that we all received a great bargain - we payed for four hours on the river and received an additional eight hours for free.

A very strong ten year old boy helping his father navigate our boat along the Sangkar River.

Battambang is the second largest city in Cambodia boasting 140,000 residents.  During the French colonial period in Cambodia, Battambang was an important outpost for the French and, to this day, the city still contains many fine examples of French colonial architecture.  Battambang is also a great place to explore the countryside and get a good taste of rural Cambodia.  When exploring the rural areas of Cambodia, you must be extremely careful as this was once a stronghold of the Khmer Rouge and a hotly contested area in the subsequent civil wars that followed the overthrow of the Khmer Rouge.  Thus, the landscape is littered with landmines and unexploded ordnance.

Artillery on Phnom Sampeau leftover from the days of civil war in Cambodia.

Example of some of the fine French colonial architecture in Battambang.  although some of the buildings are in a state of neglect, we think that This adds to the charm of Battambang.

We wisely decided to hire two guides, Dara and Ro, to drive us around on their motorcycles.  We visited various temples and sites throughout the Battambang region, one of wich was Wat Ek Phnom.  There are two temples at Wat Ek Phnom, the old temple and the new temple.  The old temple dates from the reign of Suryavarman I in the 11th century while the new temple, as our guide informed us, has a more recent history.  Under the Khmer Rouge regime, religion was abolished and many Buddhist temples were either destroyed or turned into prisons.  As we were discussing the beauty of the new Wat Ek Phnom, Dara nonchalantly informed us that, as a child, he was imprisoned in the temple turned jail on several occassions.  While travelling through Cambodia, a country whose people are so friendly and generous, it is easy to forget the horrible tradgedies that have occurred during the last three decades.  Spending the next few days with our guides, we were often reminded of this brutal history in this gentle land.  Set amongst the many hilltop temples located at Phnom Sampeau, we also saw several artillery guns and the bones of hundreds of people who were killed when the hill was a Khmer Rouge stronghold in the 1970's.

On a foreward looking note, we also visited a school sponsored by UNESCO (United Nations Education Science & Cultural Organization) that was teaching poor street children traditional Khmer arts and crafts that were almost lost during the time of the Khmer Rouge.  It was a lively atmosphere with various activities going on such as cloth weaving of kramas (traditional Khmer scarves), traditional music instruction, literacy classes and the constant clatter of old manual Singer sewing machines.

On a fatter note, we also attempted to learn how to cook traditional Khmer food.  While we are known to indulge ourselves in the final result of the culinary arts, neither one of us are very good cooks so we decided to sign up for a traditional Khmer cooking class at the Smokin' Pot Restaurant.  We arrived first thing in the morning and our teacher complimented us on being good students for showing up on time (apparently most students show up late).  Whereupon we informed him that that is where the good students end because neither one of us know the first thing about cooking, we even have a hard time boiling water.  As the day progressed, he soon came to agree with us.  The course started with a visit to the bustling morning market where we procurred all of the ingredients needed for our gastronomic experiment.  This was also useful in identifying all of the various fruits, vegetables and meats that we had eaten in the past few weeks.  It is common to eat something without knowing exactly what it is, sometimes it's better not to ask.  Arriving back at the kitchen, we rolled up our sleeves, washed our hands and started to cook.  We prepared three Khmer dishes: Lok Lak (a simple stir-fried beef dish with loads of pepper), Fish Amok (stir-fried fish with vegetables and spices) and Chicken Samla (a spicy soup with chicken and vegetables).  After a fun and informative morning in the kitchen, we were pleased to eat our own creations and, although our teacher diplomatically declined to eat, we found the food not all that bad.

Karen scarring the hell out of our teacher by taking over the stove and cooking some fried potatoes.

Khmer woman selling a wide variety of fruits and vegetables (some of which our teacher could not even identify) in the central market of Battambang.

Chicken anyone?

The Smokin' Pot Cooking School and Restaurant in Battambang.

One of our gastronomic delights, Fish Amok, a traditional Khmer dish of fish cooked in a coconut curry sauce.

Although many people would consider Battambang a boring destination because of its lack of major tourist attractions, we felt at home there and found it hard to leave after eight fulfilling days.  This must be attributed to the wonderful spirit of the local people who helped us postpone our leaving day after day after day.

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