When we were trying to figure out where to go after Phnom Pehn, Cambodia, we considered the beaches of the south, and the mountains of the east. But we’d been lucky enough to already see some spectacular beaches, and we figured we’d see a lot of mountain life later on in Laos; what we really wanted to see was some more everyday, Cambodian life. The town of Battambang, the 4th largest city in Cambodia, sounded like it had some interesting cultural things to see, so off we went! Here’s a quick recap of our time there…
We spent our first day there touring the outskirts with our tuk tuk guide, Happy:
Wait, who’s Happy again? 🙂
With Happy, our first stop was the gigantic statue of a man who used to live in Battambang, after whom’s story the town is named.
Then we made our way to the bamboo train, which Steph already covered in greater detail in another post. After that, Happy took us through some rural villages for a glimpse of Cambodian life on the Mekong River:
Fish smoking over coals under a corrugated tin “lid”:
Rickety suspension bridge!
Finally, we sped off to the countryside to see our first Angkor-era ruins at Bannon Temple!
Sadly, many areas at Bannon Temple were cordoned off due to the danger of mines that still dot the hillside:
This climb was not for the weak of heart…
getting closer…
Alas! Our first pre-Angkor ruins…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12339764@N00/6493396721/in/set-72157628373672571
Many of the buildings were in a state of disrepair, which landed a creepy Indiana-Jones-esque quality to the whole experience.
That’s it for our time in Battambang (much of the rest of our time there was just spent working from internet cafes and plotting our next move— tough life!!)! Up next: a few days living and volunteering in rural Battambang…
Snackettes 