Bound for Phnom Penh on a bus with S&N. Up twice during the night for the toilet. Have eaten nothing since dinner yesterday except a slice of bread and two crackers. Hoping to starve whatever's making me ill. In danger of dehydration also. Didn't take any Immodium. Two hours into a six hour journey. Will see how it goes.
Hung out at the pool after the war museum. Hostel for dinner and drinks (after the night market). Very friendly place - I'm not sure how much of the native spirit of a town or country is reflected in those who settle there, but SR was full of smiles and hellos. It's one of the downsides of travelling through places so rapidly, we never really get to meet the locals. All Khmer that we meet are in the tourist/service trade. Even the children we met and played with yesterday are involved in making a 'sale'. Only meeting people in this regard reinforces the face that I am a privileged Westerner. Which of course I am.
Even Det, our regular, reliable and cheerful tuk-tuk driver. I wonder if he will ever leave SR. All the tuk-tuk drivers are young - do they head to PP when they get older? They sit around most of the day, waiting for a fare, whiling their time away. What do they graduate to? Do they own their tuk-tuks?
I should've found these things out, but there's never enough time.
On arrival in Battambang. a tuk-tuk driver - Pau - offered to take us to a couple of sights out of town for $5 each. We bumped into an Aussie we recognised from SR, and he accompanied us - holding on to our tuk-tuk while he rode alongside us on his bike, all the while a cigarette dangling from his lips.
Pau took us first to the bamboo train, a lightweight rail system. 1m gauge, carriages were just open platforms of bamboo, and the engine was a little motor, with the belt wrapped around the rear axle. We clipped along at a fair pace though, such a simple joy, wind blowing through my hair. Had to slow down for cows, and we met two carriages coming the other way. So we stopped, the platform was lifted off the tracks, and then the axles, and then everything reassembled once the opposing carriages had moved on! Slightly inefficient, but simple and effective.
The train took us to a small village, where local children demonstrated how to make rings, bracelets, rosettes and even model crickets from grass blades. We sat and talked and played with them for about an hour, I think. We lost track of time, and completely missed the brick factory - allegedly the star attraction of the train ride! The kids were super cute though - good English, even some French. They were part of the 'sell' I guess, but fun nonetheless.
As we left, the rain started again. Our next destination was a mountain-top temple - a dreary prospect in the wet. It was enlivened by some monkeys, and on the way down the mount, we visited one of the 'killing caves', site of Khmer Rouge massacres. A sombre place, now consecrated, the one we visited had what I can only describe as a cupboard, full of bones, including a skull. Everywhere in Cambodia seems to have been tainted by killing and war.
On the way back, Nicci spotted something strange in the air. At first we thought it was swarms of bees, but Seb was correct in spotting them as bats. Pau says the cave nearby holds 200 million of them, so there was quite a steady stream of them.
Ate out at the Gecko café, just some simple pasta, but still stomach didn't settle. Urgh.
Bus today lasted just under seven hours. Driver was a jolly sort, always laughing and joking it seemed. Motorists here will overtake at any opportunity, thought they are mostly safe. A tap of the horn is always given to warn cyclists or mopeds that the car is close. Unfortunately, with the number of scooters about, the driver must be rather horn-happy.
It seems approaching a junction, 4+ wheels takes priority, and then the loudest horn. Crossing the road is done in a steady and sure manner, so your path is a predictable one, and bikes can go around you. Any hesitation causes confusion.
***
Hung out at the pool after the war museum. Hostel for dinner and drinks (after the night market). Very friendly place - I'm not sure how much of the native spirit of a town or country is reflected in those who settle there, but SR was full of smiles and hellos. It's one of the downsides of travelling through places so rapidly, we never really get to meet the locals. All Khmer that we meet are in the tourist/service trade. Even the children we met and played with yesterday are involved in making a 'sale'. Only meeting people in this regard reinforces the face that I am a privileged Westerner. Which of course I am.
Even Det, our regular, reliable and cheerful tuk-tuk driver. I wonder if he will ever leave SR. All the tuk-tuk drivers are young - do they head to PP when they get older? They sit around most of the day, waiting for a fare, whiling their time away. What do they graduate to? Do they own their tuk-tuks?
I should've found these things out, but there's never enough time.
***
On arrival in Battambang. a tuk-tuk driver - Pau - offered to take us to a couple of sights out of town for $5 each. We bumped into an Aussie we recognised from SR, and he accompanied us - holding on to our tuk-tuk while he rode alongside us on his bike, all the while a cigarette dangling from his lips.
Pau took us first to the bamboo train, a lightweight rail system. 1m gauge, carriages were just open platforms of bamboo, and the engine was a little motor, with the belt wrapped around the rear axle. We clipped along at a fair pace though, such a simple joy, wind blowing through my hair. Had to slow down for cows, and we met two carriages coming the other way. So we stopped, the platform was lifted off the tracks, and then the axles, and then everything reassembled once the opposing carriages had moved on! Slightly inefficient, but simple and effective.
The train took us to a small village, where local children demonstrated how to make rings, bracelets, rosettes and even model crickets from grass blades. We sat and talked and played with them for about an hour, I think. We lost track of time, and completely missed the brick factory - allegedly the star attraction of the train ride! The kids were super cute though - good English, even some French. They were part of the 'sell' I guess, but fun nonetheless.
As we left, the rain started again. Our next destination was a mountain-top temple - a dreary prospect in the wet. It was enlivened by some monkeys, and on the way down the mount, we visited one of the 'killing caves', site of Khmer Rouge massacres. A sombre place, now consecrated, the one we visited had what I can only describe as a cupboard, full of bones, including a skull. Everywhere in Cambodia seems to have been tainted by killing and war.
On the way back, Nicci spotted something strange in the air. At first we thought it was swarms of bees, but Seb was correct in spotting them as bats. Pau says the cave nearby holds 200 million of them, so there was quite a steady stream of them.
Ate out at the Gecko café, just some simple pasta, but still stomach didn't settle. Urgh.
***
Bus today lasted just under seven hours. Driver was a jolly sort, always laughing and joking it seemed. Motorists here will overtake at any opportunity, thought they are mostly safe. A tap of the horn is always given to warn cyclists or mopeds that the car is close. Unfortunately, with the number of scooters about, the driver must be rather horn-happy.
It seems approaching a junction, 4+ wheels takes priority, and then the loudest horn. Crossing the road is done in a steady and sure manner, so your path is a predictable one, and bikes can go around you. Any hesitation causes confusion.
1 comment:
fantastic and accurate description of the overtaking system Brian!!
Post a Comment