Bamboo Train - Battambang

It is hard to write about some tourist attractions without going into a little bit of the history about why they actually exist. This is the case with the Bamboo train of Battambang. So you will have to bear with me as I go over the history of the railway service in Cambodia before getting around the star of this blog.

One of the things the French actually did in Cambodia when it was part of French Indo China was to build a Railway. Other great legacies include roads, though most are in a poor state of repair, baguettes and of course coffee! There are many fine examples of railway stations around Cambodia that hark back to an era when this service was actually a thing. These are impressive buildings with surprising architecture and a common theme of being totally disused and covered in dirt and the signs of neglect.

What happened to the rail service? In short, WAR! The Khmer Rouge did a fine job of destroying this system during their reign in the mid 70's, though fighting continued on into the 90's in some parts of Cambodia. Actually, some of the reasons why the bamboo train was brought into existence hark back to these times. The trains of the time were headed by flat trolley like carriages which effectively acted as mine sweepers on the tracks. To ride on the front carriage was free! The second carriage was half price. What are bargain, the only downside being something like not being alive at the end of your journey.

But with the railways being bombed, mined, shelled and not maintained the rail system soon fell into disuse. But small sections of track were still serviceable and light weight vehicles could be constructed to ferry freight and passengers to villages for little cost. After all, the operators were not paying for line maintenance and other inconveniences like that. The light weight bed of the cart could be woven out of bamboo and dropped on to the top of some make shift railway wheels set for the meter gauge that is used here and you are in business! The originals of these carts were hand powered, but it is bloody hot here and they were soon converted to small gasoline engines. But even these modest engines could push the little carts along at up to 50 km/r, or 31 MPH if you are from one of THOSE countries. It was a successful system. But all railways need to be maintained and there is many problem like warped and uneven track on the journey.

Fast forward several years and in 2008 the Asia development bank, AusAID and Toll thought it would be a splendid idea to refurbish the rail system in Cambodia and immediately opened the money faucet. It was due for completion in 2009. So far it is still not completed in 2014. There are different rumours of completion dates with the whole rail system linking Singapore completely through to Kunming, Yaunan Province in China in 2015. I am optimistic about the completion time from Phnom Penh through to Ho Chi Minh. This is being undertaken by a Chinese company and they want steel from Cambodia, so there is a hidden agenda there. But the other completion dates, only Buddha knows!

Anyway, back to the main subject. The Bamboo train. Going from Battambang city you head toward the Dambong Statue. After going through the roundabout on the road to Phnom Penh take one of the roads to the right. Look lost and there will plenty of people pointing your way, or alternately, stop and say "Norr EE". Norry or Nori being an adopted word into the Khmer language from the French word for lorry. The easiest possible way is to catch a tuk tuk and say take me to the Bamboo Train.

The station is overseen by the local tourist police and there is no fixed schedule. Just turn up, pay your $5 per person ticket fee and there will be a train to take you out to the brick factory. The train station at the other end is full of vendors trying to sell you everything from Coke, tourist t-shirts and various carvings. A pretty standard tourist money extraction place.

As stated before, the nori consists of a bamboo flat truck with makeshift wheels and a small gasoline engine. The top is covered with a mat which adds zero comfort to the ride. Tearing down the track, there is plenty of opportunity for photographs and video of Khmer rural countryside. But the seating position and general discomfort of the vehicle make you grateful for the shortness of the ride. If you meet another nori coming the other way then one must be disassembled, removed from the track and then reassembled after the other vehicle has past. Thankfully this is a pretty easy procedure. I am not sure which nori gives way though. Possibly it is like many of the road rules in Cambodia where the heavier of the 2 vehicles has right of way, no matter what the actual law says about the matter.

Zipping down the tracks at about 50 km/r you will notice that the nori does not have some of the refinements in life. Like suspension, a windscreen, or even brakes. But think that it is far from the hair raising ride that some tourist purport it to be. Just go for the fun and buy the t-shirt!

It is a great little tourist outing for a couple of hours. While you are over that part of town you can check out Pshar Thmey, one of the biggest markets in town. Stop for soup, rice and a great ice coffee for maybe a little over a buck. 

Komping Pouy - The lake without a lake

Reading the description of Komping Pouy made it sound delightful. Promises of boating excursions, swimming, impressive countryside and food and drink. What more could one ask for? My colleagues had made it sound wonderful too. Talking of celebrations and outings with friends and families. I was looking forward to the trip. So with the destination set for the day we headed out. This time past Phnom Sampov, then off to the right and into the countryside. It was relatively slow going. Mostly because my motor scooter is in need of being driven on the open road, and more notably because of the built in speed limiter that I have when Marady is on the back. She elbows me when the speed approaches 60 km/h. The fact is that few Khmer are used to travelling quickly, so I acquiesce to this peculiar form of speed restriction.

After about 40 minutes of travel at our snails pace we came to Komping Pouy! Expecting the stunning vista of a large lake we were greeted with a rather over sized mud puddle. I was not sure whether to be amused or disappointed. But good humour gained the day and I accepted that I was going to have to make the best of a bad situation.

Initially I thought this can't be it! We must have to travel further and continued the ride. Suddenly 2 people were running alongside the scooter desperately trying to hand us menus from their restaurants and make us turn in and park. Judging by their eagerness and the speed at which they were running gave me a sense that delivery of service would be excellent. Unfortunately is retrospect these hopes were unfounded, but more on that later.

I made a brief excursion around the dam works and took a few pictures before returning to those eager people in the restaurant. It is an interesting place this Komping Pouy. It was once part of a dam to provide downstream irrigation to farming and agriculture. Battambang is a huge food producer in SE Asia and it is little wonder why wars have been fought over this region for thousands of years. Now it is becoming part of a far greater plan. The Monkol Borey Dam development project. This is another of the funded projects in Cambodia, this time by the good people of Korea. Cambodia is small and poor, with a troubled past. I guess the countries in SE Asia really want a stable Cambodia on the doorstep.

This particular project revolves around expanding and reworking the reservoir of Komping Pouy to feed a the new Ta Haen dam. This new dam will have a height of 13.5 meters and a width of 75.5 meters, but more importantly it will provide 190 kW of electricity for a country that currently imports most of it power from Thailand and Vietnam. Power prices being set at a rate to promote economic growth in Cambodia, but at a rate that doesn't promote too much growth and thus not harm these neighbours. But the dam is also set to provide additional irrigation to farming and agriculture concerns downstream. When it is completed it will be back to situation normal. So really, we being greeted with a mud puddle is a timing issue. The project is set for completion in early 2015. I will have to revisit this area when everything is finished and the reservoir is once more fill. But for now, no water but also no shortage of earth moving machinery and trucks. 

One truck that I found particularly amusing was one emblazoned with the word KILLYOU above the windscreen!

These projects do come with a social cost though. People and businesses will be relocated away from the effected areas. I hope that the people, that do have a strong tie to the land and are proud of the fact that many generations have lived in an area cope with their move.

Sitting down in the restaurant we ordered food and some drinks. For me I felt like a coke to wash away the dust of the journey and then a beer or two for relaxation. These seemed to take forever to arrive and the beer was not cold. Oh well, Khmer style, put some ice in the glass and sup away. Sitting overlooking the lake I was intrigued by the small boats and fisherman hard at work in the water. Busying themselves casting and retrieving nets, cleaning out any fish that this method of fishing yielded. In fact it was a pleasant to sit idly chatting and drinking while watching the world go slowly by. This was indeed the countryside and the air was fresh and clean and beyond the puddle was mountains. I could image with the lake once more returned to it's former state this would be quite beautiful. 

With the relax vibe of the area it wasn't till much later that I realised that our food had not yet come. Maybe they were off catching the chicken or something? Then it dawned on me that the Khmer around us have come here for the day. Food turning up quickly is not what they want. They want a slow supply of food and drinks to pass the time with and that my insistence on the quick arrival of food was not actually what the customer base want. Oh well, you can take the foreigner out of the country ....... One of the many ethnic differences that you learn to live with here. There is much that you would love to change and at the same time stay the same in this unusual country.

Our food eventually arrived. A fine assortment of roasted chicken with BBQ pork kebabs and quail. People not used to Khmer style chicken will probably note that it is tougher than the average bird that you would get elsewhere, but is plenty flavorful. It was a good spread and after eating our fill, bagging up some bones to take back for Benji, our dog, we were ready to pay the bill and head back home. Oddly enough inside the hut area that was our dining area was the cell phone number you dial when you want more food and drink, or in this case, pay the bill. Don't forget to take your cell phone apparently.

The bill I thought was somewhat expensive for the the type of food we received, but Marady seemed happy enough. So paid and back on the road to Battambang. Quite an interesting day out really. Disappointed that the place was not what I was expecting, but had a nice time anyway. Looking forward to a return visit in Mid 2015 to see what this area normally looks like. I am sure it will be spectacular and will take the Quadcopter next time.

USA International School - Tree planting

Friday was a holiday here. Day off school, but had a duty to do. Go out to the tree planting at Rokar pagoda in Battambang. Apparently this is a 3 monthly occurrence, but this is the first I had attended. We where to meet at TR branch for USA International school and continue on to Rokar via motor scooter and the school's mini vans. Meeting time 7am!
Arrived at the branch to find teachers and the adult education student milling around. No one seemed in a particular hurry to get going, but then that is the way of things here. The adherence to timetables being a foreign concept and is possibly one of the things that people both love and hate about living here. Marady and I were meant to bring food for a picnic that we were meant to be having. I found the teachers I work with in the crowd and chatted briefly to them. The other foreign teachers were there too. These people offer a much more interesting and easy conversation. Marady said she was going to go grab some food to take with us. I passed her the keys to the moto and a small amount of money. I asked her if she knew our destination and she nodded. Poom Rokar (Rokar village) out towards Phnom Sampov.
I grabbed my camera and started snapping shots of the assembled crowd. This was one of my duties for the day. One that I love. Being in charge of DSLR is always good for me! Chat, click, click, chat. Make students and teachers pose. Chat, click, chat, click, click. Then the assembled group started filing into the mini vans and fetching their scooters. Marady was not yet back, so I was a little worried. Needed to follow this group as I had only the vaguest idea where I was going. But Marady had said she knew, so hopefully no problem. Vans and motos started leaving and still no Marady. I gave her a call and said hurry up!
Waiting on the now deserted side of the road, slowly puffing on a cigarette, waiting, wondering. Marady finally arrived and I knew that about 10 minutes had elapsed since the departure of the group. Marady said to me "Don't be mad!"
I quickly went through town and headed toward Phnom Sampov. Watching all the way to see if I could spot the USA school vans. We managed to get out all the way to the mountain and still no vans! Yikes. Grabbed the cell phone and dialed one of the other teachers. "Danny, Danny, please put on one of the Khmer teachers!" and handed the phone to Marady. Then the phone ran out of credit! This was turning out to be a shite day! Spied a phone shop and dashed inside. Brought some credit and phoned again.
Now armed with the vaguest of directions we headed back towards Battambang. Took a left at a service station and headed off in the country side. Marady said to stop at one of the road side stalls because she wanted to ask if this was the road to Poom Rokar. This is a normal way of navigating in Cambodia. One day their love for smart phones might go beyond games and they will discover that most have a GPS built in, and maps and the like. I actually prefer for people to give me co-ordinates. So much easier!
After it was firmly established that we were on the right road we continued the travel. One eye on the gas gauge, one on the road. We are heading into the back of beyond with not alot of petrol. I rued the fact that I had not topped up before I left, and with how luck was running today I was almost certain I would end up on the side of the road with no gasoline in sight.
After what seemed like and eternity of travelling down a dirt road the village loomed large! There was the Pagoda! And better still, the USA School vans! We were in the right place. grabbing the camera I quickly got to work, snapping pictures of the teachers and students planting the trees. Also of the monks that were offering a blessing to the trees. Wonder if now would be the time to mention that I am a minister in the church of eternal light and that I could bless them too. But thought the irony of a atheist doing this would be lost on them.
The USA International school certainly has done a great thing here with it's offering of tree planting, Cambodia leads the world in one thing. Deforestation! So big ups to this school for doing this.
We left after about an hour and a half after chatting with the appropriate people and headed for home. Hoping to find a petrol station in a hurry. But arrived home safe and sound without so much as a drop of rain falling on me. Must of shaken all the bad luck for the day!