Battambang pictures uploaded

I have uploaded some pictures of Battambang in Cambodia.

Did you stay at Okay Guesthouse? (The return of the camera lens)

So I was on a dive boat chatting to another punter I had met hours earlier as we boarded the boat, our home for two days. I was being asked which camera and lenses I have....

'well I've got a 28-135mm, 70-300mm and I have a 10-22mm but I couldn't find it yesterday when I was looking in my bag for something. I was leaving the room in Sihanoukville and was bitching to Udai when I couldn't find it. I'm not so sure this item will turn up like the others but I'm convinced it's not in my bags and I've no idea where I could have lost it or had it stolen. Last time I used it was the temples at Seam Reap. Really weird.'

'Were you staying at the Okay Guest House in Phnom Penh?'

'Yeh.'
'I was there and found a lens under the bed in my...'
'No way, that's where I put my laptop when I went out, room 212?'
'...room, and I handed it into reception. They seemed to think you were coming back after Sihanoukville. Yeh room 212.'
'Jeeez, I can't believe that, I hope they still have it, man I could kiss you, I didn't think I'd have left it sitting behind in the temples, I just couldn't work it out.'

'Phew, that was lucky - how much was that worth - a couple of hundred dollars?'
'Erm, kinda. More like $1100. Man I love you, thanks for being so honest!!!!'

'I've got a Nikon, not Canon. They seemed good in there I'm sure they'll have it.' (I kinda used my poetic licence on this line)

After a day out of reception, I called them up on my return to land. I'm now back at the Okay Guest House. They didn't reserve a room like I asked. They couldn't find the lens, but asked me to ask the other guy when I got up for the bus.

I left for dinner.

'Sir - room 212 wasn't it. Is this it?'

What a frickin' coincidence. You always bump into folk on this typical tourist trail, but to be on a dive boat with someone who moved into your room, in another town, who found your camera lens.....

Thanks Robin! I love you!

Diving Liveaboard - Yeeeeh!

Sihanoukville beach, Cambodia :


Had a great laugh on Friday in Sihanoukville, after having a bit too heavy a welcoming session on the Thursday night with the guys I met on the bus from Phnom Penh. Once the hangover cleared after a sleep on the beach, I spent a few hours with the kids selling braclets and stuff on the beach.

Others may call them hawkers, but they're a great laugh if you just take it as part of the experience. I had a few bracelets made in front of me as he listened to Black Eyed Peas "My Humps" (his request) about 15 times, laughing and singing along to it. His mate was listening to my MP3 as well and looked quite a dude with my reflective Oakleys and headphones in.

Kid making a bracelet for me :


Kids mate with my shades, listening to my tunes :


My Cambodia flag bracelet completed (the Scottish one was too hard for him - he tried for an hour - poor bugger) :



I then decided to scrap a motorbike trip and blow a couple of hundred dollars with Dive Cambodia
doing an overnight liveaboard to the local islands. While the diving wasn't quite up to Sipadan standards it was 5 nice dives with a night dive as well. The last three (including my night one) were the most relaxed dives I've had - bouyancy, control, etc spot on, being able to hover and look into any spot I wanted.

Man, it's a hard life :



It was a great bunch on the boat as well so one of them is splitting my room costs and we're all meeting up in an hour for beers with the instructors. Half the group were doing their PADI Open Water - on a liveaboard!!!

Some of the more photogenic dive crowd :



Tomorrow I head back to Phnom Penh reluctantly, and will have no time to explore there before I head to Ho Chi Minh the following morning.

Sunset from the boat, 4 hours from the mainland :

Bike trip around Battambang

Shortly after my morning cooking class today I headed off on a moto to see Phnom Sampeu (Sahm-Bpoh). Phnom Sampeu is a temple on a hilltop 12kms from Battambang with killer views of the endless flat paddy field landscape as far as the eye can see. Unfortunately the Khmer Rouge also thought it was a killer place, albeit in a much more tragic manner as they used to drop people into the caves hoping they'd die on impact to save a bullet (but they hardly ever did), or starve them there. There are remnants of skulls and bones which is tragic and reminded me of my interesting but gruesome trips to Auschwitz. This trip is also detailed in my Adventure Cambodia book. More of this to come in Phnom Penh I guess.

I managed to get clear views of the hill by Pailin on the Thai border, although the picture below is following the main road back to Battambang.
I also got chased down the steps by a Long Tailed Macaque Monkey. Almost four months in Borneo and the closest I got to Macaques were across the river, here I could touch out and reach them (also some some near Angkor Wat).

A Macaque scratching his nuts. Or something. :

Rural Cambodia starts within kilometres of town as you immediately hit dirt roads that form the main highways - yet again I was wishing I was riding a Honda Baja myself. Again, everyone was super friendly, waving at you before you even caught sight of them, kids shouting hello and goodbye. I could have spent all day stopping to take photos.

On the way we managed to catch a local cock fight where the winner got the share of $8 bet by the locals. We left before it even came close to a winner which is probably quite as well as apparently they cut the head and suck the blood. This one wasn't as viscious as I've heard about though as they sometimes have razors attached to the cock's feet.


I made a young girl cry again though. There was a killer picture of a girl holding up her younger sister, it was ok for me to take a picture, but as soon as I got closer with my camera the younger one balled her eyes out, and I forgot my balloon trick. They're not used to seeing many (if any) foreigners here.

We then headed to the bamboo train on an extremely twisty railtrack, and caught a superb sunset over the lush green paddy fields while being taken back 12km to Battambang

I was a bit frustrated with the camera here as I know I couldn't do the picture justice. I now know why it takes over 11 hours to get to Phnom Penh on the train, and similar from Phnom Penh (which takes 4 hours on the bus). Locals utilise the track with makeshift 'carriages' that can be disassembled within a minute when you approach an oncoming carriage.

I've booked my bus to Phnom Penh in the morning, so it's time for a new destination.

Sunset over rice paddies :

Wee boy, with a shot that doesn't give the sunset justice :

Money for old cocks

Me at The Smokin' Pot Cooking School, Battambang :




Battambang has been saved! I had a nice relaxing evening eating at the hotel and watching Crash in my room (great film). Although it probably sounds a bit sad if you read this sitting at home, but it was a great comfort as it's only the second film I've watched since June, and the first one was at Raleigh fieldbase, and was crap.

I went cooking this morning and out with a moto guide this afternoon. I had a great cooking class today - it was similar to a Thai class last year, but this time I went to the market, which was a real eye opener. All kinds of things were for sale - insects, bettle nuts, the staple ingredients, frogs, live fish, snake type fish, live (and cooked) turtles, a cow's cock (described to us as a "cow's snake, if you know what I mean") and an extremely varied selection of fruit. The guy from The Smokin' Pot restaurant was great at explaining stuff, even the fruit which weren't part of the course. We took quite a while going through the market as it was a larger than usual class.

The market should be visited on the first day of training for a Health and Safety Executive graduate trainee. Fish were being cut up in front of you, they were jumping out their bowls, fish heads were all over the place, and there was a lot of marinated meat 'that was good for up to 7 months'. A couple in the group even saw a skinned frog, still gasping on for its last breaths. When the market seller saw their surprise, she apparently gave it a good thud over the head.

Fish anyone?

Who could refuse buying someone from this guy?

We started off with a traditional Khmer Chicken Amok Curry, then a beef stir fry, and a sweet fish soup. Some of the group then tried their first Durian fruit, and I got stuck into a 'custard apple' and 'milk fruit' (see picture below, left and right respectively).
Market trading :

A "Cow's Snake" ;-> :


Shortly after I headed off on a moto to see Phnom Sampeu (Sahm-Bpoh) but I'll stick that in another post with pictures.

Phnom Penh

I arrived in Phnom Penh today after another unexpected evening.

I went out around 10pm to try and find some decent food after some internet time. About 11.30pm two dutch guys asked if I wanted to join them as they sauntered in a bit boozy. I had planned on a very quiet one but instead ended up having a few beers with them, then it dwindled to two of us as one headed back. There was a screech of cars coming round the bend, which skidded to a halt across the road. Everyone fell over themselves to open the door, included the local down and out lookalike who just asked us for cigarettes and a squaff of beer. We then spent the next half out wondering who these guys were, but were left with the mystery. We thought it may be a high up military guy or politician or mafia, but the Dutch had ended up drinking with a military dude the night before and taken to a karaoke bar (he even pulled out the guys cellphone and address which was some military arms unit). I was offered a potential lift to Phnom Penh with them and the dude but they were unsure whether to accept it or not yet. We headed back to the hotel to find his mate participating in his own personal holiday adventure of eating as many of the weird local 'delicacies' as he could - he was chomping on a 'pregnant egg' (cooked egg with bits of chick inside). I refused. I also refused the roasted ant on offer.

Anyway, I ended up on the bus and was chatting to a local getting some good insight into the country. After a few hours though I needed a rest from informing people again that yes, Scottish people spoke English, trying to explain the UK, and my own worst enemy I even tried to explain the role of the Scottish Parliament to him... I also ran out of listing of price of property, oranges, potatoes, rice, cars, cigarettes, alcohol etc to demonstrate to him that yes, we had a good quality of life, but not necessarily any happier than them, and n, we weren't all millionaires despite our holidays. I pretended to go to sleep.

My Phnom Penh reception was as expected. Being one of only two westerners on the bus, the enslaught of local hotel touts and tuk tuk drivers even started knocking on my window before I even considered picking up my water bottle. As I embarked the bus I felt like what I imagined a fed up rock star would, pushing my way through them all to get to my bag on the bus. From the crowd I heard a lone voice, slightly clearer than the rest, despite him also holding up the compulsory laminated A4 hotel card :

"Sir, I can see you want to go somewhere specific. How about I take you on my tuk-tuk for $1 wherever you want to go, and you can have a look at your book once you get a seat?".

I had a quick flashback to my old travelling buddy Jenny's excellent advice : "When we used to arrive somewhere, we usually went for a beer before we looked for accommodation so we could chill out a bit", but there was no contest.

"I'll be there in a second."

Within 90 minutes I was checked in to a pretty naff room (but I can never be arsed looking around as really you're hardly ever in it), and on my way to S-21, the old Khmer Rouge prison. To be honest you could never describe these as good must see sights, however it wasn't nearly as haunting as Auschwitz, but there were several chilling stories there too. I struggled to keep awake during the documentary as my lack of sleep and the overheated room with overstrained air-con made me loose another two litres in sweat.

Tomorrow I'm off to the Killing Fields, market, and to fight my guilty conscience of a strong desire to help out some corrupt soldiers and shooting a big gun on a firing range....

"You know if you start buying from me, you'll get a girlfriend". Sieam Reap

No-one told me Siem Reap was beautiful. No-one told me Siem Reap was clean,landscaped, with a lovely river lined with trees and benches. No-one told me the Cambodians are as friendly as the Laotions (I think that's how they are referred). No-one told me Cambodian food was tasty.

I'm sure all that's written down somewhere, and some people have told me these things, but it never stuck in my mind.

Siem Reap street scene :




Siem Reap, at least in the centre, is chock full of french style colonian shophouses, it's well paved, I felt safe walking around at night, and everyone is friendly. Yes, you get 'hassled' a bit more to buy knock off books, bracelets and postcards, but it's all done in such a friendly way. There's clearly been a lot of cash pumped in as plush hotels litter the roadside. Maybe the capital isn't as friendly but I'll hang on to this for a bit longer.

We 'did' the temples in a day, maybe not giving them justice, but doing it in such a manner we felt satisfied and not templed out.

Yesterday I had to laugh. Two young girls approached me trying to offload some postcards and books :
1st girl : "Hello sir, you buy postcard from me?"
"No thank you I don't want any postcards"
2nd girl : "Hello sir, you buy bracelet from me?"
"No thank you I don't want a bracelet"
"Sir, you buy bracelet for wife"
"I don't have a wife"
"Sir, you buy bracelet for girlfriend"
"I don't have a girlfriend" (I thought saying that would stop them!)
"Sir, you know why you don't have a girlfriend, you don't buy ladies anything. You buy from me you get girlfriend"

You have to laugh, but 'hassled'? I think not.

If you don't that, you get something like this :

"Sir, where you from?"
"Scotland"
"I live Edinburgh. Edinburgh is capital of Scotland. Scotland has five million people. Scotland next to England, all part of UK. England has 65 million people. Capital of UK is London. UK is in Europe. You speak French? Bonjour. Cava?"
"Tres Bien, et vous" (ecxuse my poor French!)
"Moi Aussie, Tres Bien. You speak any other languages Sir. Paris is capital of France......"

Quality.

I've also got more used to the haggling thing as well,to the point where yesterday we got a tuk-tuk. "How much to Green Town Guest House?"
"Two dollar"
"No way, Two dollar? How about 2000 Riel?" (about 50 cents)
"Yes, ok, get in".

Same for knock off books.

Siem Reap is a great place. A lot of culture on your doorstep, and I sat in a beer garden surrounded by butterflies while typing emails on my laptop.

"You buy from me I give you peace and quiet". Welcome to Cambodia

Yesterday I reluctantly left Laos after almost 4 weeks (seems like much longer thank God!) and flew to Siem Reap in Cambodia. I met an English girl called Jenny on the flight and kinda decided to hang out for a couple of days..largely based on the fact that none of us were that arsed about seeing Angkor Wat and the temples, and kindof felt we had it on our agenda because it was one of those things that you had to do. I had semi-joked to people last week that I could (in my mind) go to Cambodia and not 'do' Angkor Wat.




Angkor Wat :


Anyway, what's all the fuss about Cambodia, or maybe it hasn't hit us yet. People here are so friendly, yes you get the odd bit of 'hassle' for stuff, but jeez, it's talked up from what we've seen so far. We got moto guys into town yesterday, whizzed around a few guesthouses and got settled at a place a wee bit (10 mins walk) out of town. We then bumped into a British guy during this and went with him on the hot air balloon overlooking the temples ($15, ten minutes, not worth it) and the sunset over Siem Reap.

I decided last night I liked Siem Reap - it's like a pubbed up version of Luang Prabang, obviously with a lot of cash being pumped into keeping the place historic, tidy and attractive to well heeled tourists. And for Asia, I haven't even smelled one open sewer yet!

Pleasantly, we went to a few of the temples today, and had a great day. Initially we buzzed 30km out of town on the moto's, then came in and did the normal ones, hoping we'd cover them in a day. As it turns out we were both pleasantly surprised that we quite enjoyed our day on the bikes. I could probably do another day but would probably feel templed out by then so I think I'll leave it at a single day's visit. Unfortunately I left it too late to speak to the guys at hiddencambodia.com about a dirt bike tour, so think I'll be missing that out. :-( The main reason I did my bike test!

I had great fun practising my bargaining today while waiting for lunch outside one of the temples. A girl tried to punt bracelets did actually say "You buy from me I give you peace and quiet". I then bought one for a third of the price, and a book for less than a third.

"Peace and Quiet" book bracelet seller :


Anyway, wasn't planning on doing this tonight, so more tomorrow maybe, and maybe with some pics. A lazy day planned tomorrow hitting some fresh tunes on my MP3 player from Boom Boom 'records' in town, and 'planning' my time in Cambodia...or at least when I'll leave here. Jenny leaves Monday for Phnom Penh, and I leave then too but for Battambang.

Me stepping down in Angkor Wat :


Me in Ta Prohm (the Tomb Raider one) :


Jenny took this, I wish I did - a cracker :


Beng Thom :



A sheep for the Aberdeen readers :