Worldwide Wanderers

Battambang offers a slice of the traditional Cambodia….along with some delicious Khmer food, incredibly cheap beer and the friendliest people…we loved it…!

After my Phnom Penh Chinese brothel dodgy booking Pads decided to double check the accommodation I’d booked for Battambang…….a worrying question of “what exactly was the reason for booking this one?” followed and a quick review of comments left by previous guests about cockroaches, rubbish in the pool and rooms only accessible by windows led to a list minute rebooking. I was gutted as I was still arguing that although the brothel wasn’t ideal it was at least cheap and saved us some money, the booking cancellation left me with no argument! Am so glad we did rebook as we stayed in an amazing little gem with a gorgeous pool, wonderful staff and a bath!. Battambang gives you a view into old Cambodia coupled with an interesting art and cafe scene…it’s also by far the cheapest stops we’ve made. The NGO community here is also incredible and there are fantastic community partnerships with lots of the restaurants, hostels and tour operators.

The Bamboo train was ridiculously fun and a little bizarre……you basically sit on some old cushions on some strips of bamboo attached to a motor and rush through the Cambodian countryside at 30mph…if you meet anyone coming the opposite way you need to dismantle your “carriage” and remove it from the tracks to let them pass….kids absolutely loved it!

We’d been advised that we should get out into the countryside as much as possible so booked a half day bike tour with Soskabike, a sustainable eco tourist outfit which takes you a gentle 20km meander through the local villages visiting local families and learning how they are keeping alive traditions.. had a pretty good attempt at rolling out some rice paper, ate some delicious dried banana and avoided the rice wine with the fermented snack. Was a brilliant experience but a Cambodian 20km is definitely not my idea of 20km..5 hours after we started we were still cycling in the burning sun with our local guide keep saying only 1.5km to go which he’d been saying for the last 2 hours! I’m starting to realise that the kids are at an age where they pick up everything you say and have no qualms about repeating it….normally at top volume in the most in appropriate setting…Gabriel was clearly listening to me intently and announced as he sat down in a packed cafe “ s**t my undercrackers….”…must watch what I say…

Phare Ponleu Selpak Circus (Phareps.org) was the most fabulous recommendation, an NGO for disadvantaged youngsters focussing on promoting and keeping alive Cambodia arts and culture which was banned under the Khmer Rouge . It was amazing…Ridiculously talented performers, imaginative production and hilarious content! Gabriel was quick to point out the very impressive tumbler who had “huge muscles” – couldn’t say I noticed although he with lithe, flexible, able to bend in ways you could only imagine, a very rhythmic hip action….I think Pads had picked up my distraction and trying to reclaim some masculinity told me how he used to be very good with a yo-yo…..snapping back out of my daydream I tried to cover my tracks and said I would be very excited to see his “round the world” trick. I’ve already googled and there is another show in Siem Reap….all booked!

Those that know me well will know that I have a massive phobia of anything that flaps….I’m trying to work out how so far this trip I’ve managed to be subjected to duck massages, pigeon feeding and now the bat cave…..nothing like sitting underneath 7 million bats that fly out of a cave every evening at 5pm. Spent a good 45 minutes in a state of fear which the kids found highly amusing especially when I noticed I was covered in bat poo and thought it had started to rain….bat wee…

Siem Reap next…..I offered to take over home schooling for the morning to give Pads a break…needless to say the kids loved Tomb Raider and I got a little bit of sunshine!