Cambodia

Battambang

Many French Colonial buildings remain in Battambang, and we spent the morning walking around looking at some of the best ones. A disused railway, where the time is always 8.02 and some grand houses and shop fronts. The toll for walking alot was two burnt noses, the rudolphs were out in force. The highlight of Battambang was the bamboo train, a bamboo platform attached to steel rollers and powered by a 6hp engine, which runs on a single track out into the countryside. It was quite fast and bumpy which made going over bridges rather worrying. We really enjoyed heading out of the town to see traditional houses.

 The Rail line

 Five tourist trains unload to let a goods train through

Journey to Siem Reap

What the guide book describes as one of the best riverboat trips in the region, turned out to be a literal pain in the ass! A twelve hour boat trip on wooden benches, so long due to the boat being overloaded and the motor breaking several times. The guide book was right for the first 3 maybe 4 hours. Really it wasn't that bad, went through many floating villages which was great to see and the scenery was stunning. Siem Reap came as abit of a surprise, very built up with so many tourists with all amenities built for it. Rick was however thrilled to find beer for only 30p.

The floating houses

Temples of Angkor

Breath taking!!!! The shear size and number of temples is unbelievable. We spent the first of three days visiting Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom by tuk tuk. Not as touristy as we were expecting, which meant walking through wooded areas to find some, was like we were lone explorers. Great places to play hide and seek! We also hung out with the resident group of monkeys at Angkor Wat.

 Angkor Wat

Angkor Thom

The second day we hired bikes and cycled around some of the further afield temples. Truely the best way to see the temples,devoid of too many people. The roads were so quiet!