The final chapter - Dolphins and Turtles

We headed east to Kratie, on the Mekong river, hoping to see the endangered Irrawaddy dolphin.

The first photo is not mine, but ut shows the dolphin.

We went on a day tour, part of which was a boat trip to see the dolphins.  

And yes, they do exist.

And yes, they are almost impossible to photograph.

But look closely at the picture below, and you will see one on the right hand side.

The Mekong is very wide, up towards the Lao border.

We also visited a turtle sanctuary, where they are hand rearing turtles and releasing them back into the wild (mekong river).  We only saw babies.

100 pillar pagoda

Steps to temple on a hill

Hope you have been good.

We are staying in a guesthouse that is a training organisation.  Very pleasant here.

The holiday is coming to an end.  We have had a great time in Cambodia.

A week in Battambang

We have just spent a week in Battambang.  This is a town filled with charities from all over the world, which aim to improve the outcomes for Cambodian  families.  We have even seen the Jolie-Pitt foundation, but haven't  seen Angelina or Brad.  World Vision  had a meeting at our hotel for 2 days.  Every school seems to have sponsors names on it.   This enables free education for the students.

We have been volunteering at a school on the southern edge of Battambang.   We are team teaching English lessons with a local teacher.  We attend school from 1 to 5.  The school is Khmer New Generation Organization.

The school is well organised.  Volunteers sign a code of conduct, which includes no photographs.  It is hot and tiring, very noisy, but fun.

At 1pm we get very young students learning to write the alphabet.  As the day progresses, the students get bigger and their studies more advanced.   You can see that they are learning some English.   Pronunciation is a big problem, that's where the foreigners help.

Last night we went to the circus  Phare Ponlou Selpak. ( they tour overseas)

This is a school supported by overseas funds.  The acrobats were amazing.

Riding the Bamboo Train

Monday 9th November.  Independence  Day in Cambodia. 

Today we went for a ride on the Bamboo Train.

There is a section of railway from Battambang ( I believe to the Thai border)  which is in very poor state of repair, and a single track.  You can now ride the Bamboo Train.

"ALL ABOARD THE BAMBOO TRAIN

 Battambang’s  bamboo train (1hr ride for 2-plus passengers US$5 per person, for 1 passenger US$10;  7am-dusk) is one of the world’s all-time classic rail journeys. From O Dambong, on the East Bank 3.7km south of Battambang’s old French bridge (Wat Kor Bridge), the train bumps 7km southeast to O Sra Lav along warped, misaligned rails and vertiginous bridges left by the French.

Each bamboo train – known in Khmer as a norry – consists of a 3m long wooden frame, covered lengthwise with slats made of ultralight bamboo, that rests on two barbell-like bogies, the aft one connected by fan belts to a 6HP gasoline engine. Pile on 10 or 15 people or up to three tonnes of rice, crank it up and you can cruise along at about 15km/h"

It is a single track, so what to do when 2 trains meet?

Simple, take one off the track.

let the other one pass, then put the train back together again

What a fun trip!!!

The boat to Battambang

We set off early in the morning for our boat trip from Siem Reap to Battambang.  We had our tickets, and we ready at 6.30 for our pickup between 6.30 and 7.  Just after 7 we were picked up by tuk tuk and taken to the starting point.  The tuk tuk then got more people and the crowd at the starting point increased.  They kept checking their lists and counting us until we had the right number.  And they had gathered us all (about 40) by the starting time of 7.30.

Then, we needed to get to the boat.  A minivan appeared and took about 8 people.   Phonecalls started happening, and some people were loaded into tuk tuks.  Finally a bus arrived with just enough seats for the remaining people.  We then were driven through the backstreets to a house where we exchanged our ticket from the travel agent for a ticket for the boat.  Finally we headed out quite a way to a canal where the boat was.   Finally, about 9am we were all loaded into the boat, with all our accompanying baggage.

This is a boat similar to the one we were on, but with about 1/4 of the number of people.  We had people on the roof as well.  And not a life jacket in sight.

Some boats near our departure point

Floating villages

Fisherman

A particularly choice part of the waterway- about a km of packed rubbish, dead pigs, old TVs etc.

We spent about an hour churning through mud and rubbish.

Then the river cleared up a lot, but the whole way was strewn with rubbish, and they continued  to dump everything  in the river

The trip ended about 4pm.  It was a long uncomfortable day.   We saw some extremely  poor people living in filthy conditions.  It made us appreciate how fortunate we are.  

I really recommend the trip as insight into the real Cambodia. 

This was our boat at the lunch break.  At the start of the day it had no plastic curtains.  Then it poured with rain and we all got wet.  We stopped at a floating  shop and bought plastic, and stapled it on.

Preah Vihear temple outing

We left our week of luxury in the Sofitels ( our Luxury Escapes treat) and headed off on an expedition north, to the temple of Preah Vihear.  This is on the border of Cambodia and Thailand, in disputed territory, but it currently belongs to Cambodia.  

We hired a car and driver from a small travel agency.  On the day, the man who did our booking arrived to come along for the ride, and help out with English.  His English was limited, the drivers was worse.

We had difficulty the day before convincing them we wanted a 2 day trip, rather than a very long one day trip.  But, we persevered and finally got the message through.  We also said we would like to visit some interesting  things along the way.

Our first stop was at Ta Mok's house in Anlong Veng.  Definitely a sight to be missed.

"Pol Pot’s military enforcer, Ta Mok, was responsible for thousands of deaths in successive purges during the terrible years of Democratic Kampuchea. Widely known as ‘the Butcher’, he was arrested in 1999 and died in July 2006 in a Phnom Penh hospital, awaiting trial for genocide and crimes against humanity.

Ta Mok’s house is a spartan structure with a bunker in the basement and childish wall murals. It lies east of town on swampy Ta Mok’s Lake, festooned with the skeletons of dead trees – a fitting monument to the devastation he and his movement left behind. In the middle of the lake, due east from the house, is a small brick structure, an outhouse and all that remains of Pol Pot’s residence in Anlong Veng."

I didnt bother to take any photos.

After lunch we took a "shortcut" to Preah Vihear temple.  How 50km of dirt road after heavy rain was a shortcut compared to 80km of bitumen, we are not sure.  At the base of the hill, we paid $10 each to visit the temple, and $25 for a short ride up a very steep hill, and arrived at the temple.  

The temple is aligned north south on the escarpment with views over Cambodia and Thailand.  You get a ride most of the way, then start with views over Thailand and head slowly uphill to the final building with views over Cambodia

The first building

Path leading down to Thailand

Path leading uphill

At the top

We had a wonderful  visit to the Preah Vihear temple.  

We stayed overnight in a motel in the middle of nowhere, and had surprisingly  good meals, even though most of the time we had 3 girls standing about a metre from the table watching us eat.

On the way home (on the bitumen this time) we visited Koh Ker, a Hindu temple.  It was very impressive.

It is now safe to visit because they have cleared the landmines nearby, but stay on the marked pathways.

Although quite overgrown, it was great.

Our final stop was at Beng Melea, which is very very overgrown.  I think the jungle has won there

An excellent 2 days

More temples

After a day of rest, which included a temporary filling for Pam, and a walk around town, lazing by the pool and a massage, we headed out templing again.

The first day we saw the main temples, Angkor Wat,  Ta Prom and Bayon temple in Angkor Thom.

The second day we went to some of the smaller temples, just with a tuk tuk.

First stop was Pre Rup

The temple of Ta Som

Neak Peam

Preah Khan

This morning we took a tethered balloon ride to see Angkor Wat, but should have gone in the afternoon  when the light would be much better

Temples

A few photos for you to enjoy.  Travelled by tuk tuk with English speaking guide.  Most of the photos are on the good camera, not on my phone