After the three days spent rushing from one temple to the next, to the next in Siem Reap we headed for the much quieter and less touristy city of Battambang, Cambodia. after having most of our days scheduled out by the hired guide/driver it was quite nice to return to our typical schedule of wandering street markets and shops to pass the time between eating meals. Besides sleeping in and long breakfast we also managed to see some of the more interesting local attractions like the bamboo train.
To work off some of the many accumulated meals we headed to a park one evening after hearing about the local workout scene. Around 5pm everyday several jumpsuit wearing, speaker hauling, aerobic instructors set up shop in the riverside park. For about 25 cents anyone can join in on one of the workout sessions. Graham opted out after seeing each small class was made up entirely of 5 foot tall, middle aged/elderly Cambodian women and was worried he'd be unable to contain his laughter as he towered above them while attempting to "jazzercise". Sue however, being the workout veteran she is, had little reservation in joining in and despite being the only foreigner in any group in the park, she was soon front row center pumping it out. The white girl in workout clothes proved to be something of an attraction and several locals stopped to watch for a bit, eventually a TV camera even appeared for a few moments, though we have no idea what it was about....Meanwhile we got a spectacular (dry) lighting show with huge bolts dancing across the sky as class ended. Sue got her workout and a bit of local culture to boot.
A "norry" operating on the Battambang bamboo railway, which locals claim is the only one world wide. Though it still serves as a primary mode of transporting goods and people to some more remote villages farther up the line, the railway has capitalized on its moderate fame to become a true tourist attraction and private cars are obligatorily hired out rather than riding with the locals :(
The little cart, made of a wooden frame with bamboo slats for flooring, is powered by a small motorcycle engine and bounces down the rickety French-era tracks at about 15-20 MPH.
The true genius of the system is its solution to the problem of single track railways and what to do when two "trains" meet going opposite direction. Due to it's simple and fairly light weight construction, the entire vehicle can be "disassembled" in about 30 seconds and moved off to one side.
The cliff-side temple of Phnom Sampeau sits atop a mountain that was the front lines of the civil war against the Khmer Rouge.
A shrine filled with bones inside the "killing caves" near the temple. Apparently the Khmer Rouge would throw victims to their deaths from a large whole in the caves ceiling.
The view from the temple.If we haven't already mentioned it, Cambodia is a pretty flat place.
We took a side trip Phnom Banan and found part of the lower entrance roped off by landmine warnings. After making an extra wide detour around the area we spotted a mine clearance expert dressed in the full bomb squad gear and armed with a metal detector sweeping path not too far off this main courtyard. Quite the reminder to stay on the path and shows how the problem is still a current one and not yet just part of the history books.
After climbing a very long and steep set of stairs we came upon the 11th century ruins of Phnom Banan. The 5 towers are claimed by locals to be the original inspiration for the design of Angkor Wat. It was a tranquil spot, but slightly less impressive considering the temple bananza we'd been on a few days back.
With our recuperation from Siem Reap complete and having lazily experienced a regular Cambodian town, we map out our escape to the beaches of Thailand.
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