Battambang bang baby

After 11 hours on the bus, two five minute bathroom breaks and no lunch, we arrived relieved and cramped to Battambang, Cambodia's second largest city with 140,000 inhabitants. Again the Lonely Planet mentions the best preserved French colonial architecture along the riverside as the draw to this city, however once again, we do not agree. We were far more impressed by some of the sights surrounding the city, the NGO we visited, and the incredibly friendly people we met. As with every city we've visited, we encountered many monks, one of which was extremely talkative and excited to asnwer all of our questions regarding Buddhism and it's culture.

While our musty room had no windows, one week fan, and left us dripping in beads of sweat, we awoke rested with new found mobility after 10 hours of being horizontal. Energized, we took a jog along the river, followed by stairs and sit-ups and biceps/triceps workout. Our exercising drew the close attention of five seven year old street boys. As we are always interested in mingling with locals, we invited them to participate. The seven of us lined the tile wall along the riverside, palms at our waist on the wall to do dips, counting each set of 20 in Khmer in unison. When the boys tired, we encouraged them that the exercises would make them stronger by punching the air, flexing and yelling "Rambo", all of which they repeated! Unfortunately we did not have a camera to capture this precious moment.

We ventured out of the city with our tuktuk driver Sambath (he prefers 'Bath'), to the famous Bamboo Train, known in Khmer as a norry. The trains run on ancient national railroad tracks and supposedly 'know' the actual schedules of trains running to and from Phnom Penh. The train consists of a thin slatted bamboo flat on top of two dumbbells, with a lawnmower motor and a fan belt. Upon arrival we were greeted by the owner of the Bamboo Train operation wearimg a shirt that said 'No Money No Hunny', so we forked over $10USD. Once again, not knowing what we were getting into, we rented a private Bamboo Train equipped with a 16 year old conductor in a hip trucker hat and an unbuttoned pink cowboy shirt. We sat on two pillows and within seconds, were speeding down the rails at upwards of  20km/hour, through a narrow avenue of bushes, passing rice paddies and dodging dragonflies. People, cows and lizards, walking on the tracks, dodged us as we rambled by at high speeds to our spines' discontent. As we tried to yell above the noise, we realized there was no way we would be able to hear real trains approaching in either direction. This is when we prayed to Ganesha for good luck.    

So you might be wondering what happens when two Bamboo Trains going in opposite directions do when they collide?  They both stop and whoever has less passengers have disembark and disassemble the train for the other one to pass. This happened many times, but fortunately bamboo is very light. At the end of the track, our reward was a gaggle of children to play with. We spun them around, gave them high-fives and taught them the joys of a digital camera, all of which invited giggles, smiles and more children.

Bath took us to a mud bath, known in SE Asia as rice planting. We approached an innocent couple planting their rice in a field who had never encountered foreigners in their lives, and asked to help plant. Credulous but appreciative, full of smiles, they welcomed our novice rice planting skills while correcting our technique sothat we wouldn't cause them more work than assistance. Bath joined us in the labor with enthusiasm as chilfren watched with bewilderment, thankful we were completing their chores. Ankle deep in leech and freshwater crab filled mud, after 45 minutes and a newfound appreciation for rice, we thanked the family and bid them good luck with harvesting their crops in December. Before departing ways we Bath we spent 45 minutes at an internet cafe explaining the benefits of gmail and fixing his e-communication problems.

The following day we found another smiling English speaking tuktuk driver to hang out with, named Chea. Chea let us take a shot at driving his manual tuktuk and recieved our assistance with his English homework for impressive level 7 (of 12) coursework. We visited the Prasat Banan temple within the town of Phnom Banan. Locals claim that this temple, built in the 11th century,  was the model for Angkor Wat. A steep staircase led to five ancient towers on a high hilltop, one filled with a puja, for which we lit yellow candles and incense in prayer.

Randomly Chea took us to see 'jumping foxes' which turned out to be giant fruit bats to our enthusiasm. We never understood his humour, but we did have a fabulous time. Chea threw sticks at the two trees, filled with hundreds of sleeping bats, in an attempt to rouse excitement for our enjoyment. He was successful, as we ooed and awed at the brown headed and blacked winged creatures, which he termed 'dracula'. Then Chea repeatedly taunted "Eat your blood, eat your blood".

We made out way to the only winery in Cambodia, Chan Thai Chhoeng, run by an entrepreneurial woman who is known throughout the country by many including the King and Prime Minister for her Reds, Roses and grape brandy. We tasted the three distills while chatting with the owner and listening to her history in wine making. While it wasn't the best wine we've had, we splurged on a bottle of Cab/Shiraz  which we enjoyed later at dinner.

We awoke multiple times between the hours of 2:00 and 7:00am tossing and turning in the 90 degree heat of our stifling room. Exhausted, we met Chea who took us just outside of Battambang to Friends Economic Development Association (FEDA). This local NGO founded and run entirely by Cambodians provides free English courses and the opportunity for students to become involved in income generating projects including: a small store, traditional music and dance, kayak guiding, a rock band and garment creation. The NGO is funded by donations from many organizations including PANGEA which Gabi's father works with. During our visit, students were practicing for a traditional music and dance show and preparing food for a celebration with visiting donors. We visited classrooms and took a motorbike tour through local villages where the students live. The location of the NGO is pertinent because it enables participation from students who cannot access similar opportunities only available in the city.