New Adventures In Backpacking

Whilst most tourists head straight to Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor Wat, ever the trendsetters, myself and Vince decided to go a different route to avoid yet another scam and had our first Cambodian adventure in the town of Battambang.

It was the ideal place to start, a stylish little riverside city with few tourists and plenty of tell tale signs that let me know I was not in Thailand anymore! I can see how people doing the reverse journey to me and using this as their last stop would have fallen in love with its tranquil atmosphere and easygoing culture. Allegedly it’s Cambodia’s second biggest city but I saw no signs of a bustling city. It’s remarkably compact with most of the bars, cafés and hotels located in the riverfront. It also provided me and Vince to do what we do best, chase pavement.

No matter where we were having a drink, we were always convinced there was something better going on elsewhere. So we’d spend our entire night walking the streets of our chosen location, looking for the mother of all parties, but instead we’d normally end up cold, tired and locked out at closing time. Battambang’s Holy Grail was the Riverside Balcony Bar, which sounded amazing, and after about 45 minutes of pavement chasing we found it, and it was quite delightful. It was just a shame there were no other people there! A brief stop-off at Smoking Pot Bar also proved to be a disappointment; they should be charged with an offence under the Trade Description Act, that’s all I am saying.

Battambang’s real tourist attraction is not really the town itself. It’s the boat journey between Siem Reap and Battambang that draws people. The journey takes around eight hours by the slow boat down the Stung Sangker River and starts at a very early 7 am, but I could not think of a better way to spend the first part of my day, than to sit and watch Cambodia’s most scenic stretch of water pass by. As well as a variety of wildlife to spot it was incredible to see so many people living in floating villages. I even saw a floating town hall and a floating school. It made me really wonder what life was like for these people living out on the river and how different their lives are to most Cambodians, never mind mine. By the delight on their faces and the over-enthusiastic waves we received from the local children as we sailed past I am guessing life out on the river cannot be the most exciting existence. Having an affair with your next-door neighbor would prove hard to be discreet about too.

Sitting on the boat’s roof in the early afternoon, reading my book, enjoying this amazing experience and having had a rather enjoyable lunch in one of the river houses I made the uncharacteristic mistake of taking my shirt off and even worse allowing myself to drift off sleep for the good part of an hour. The result? The most ridiculous vest top tan you will ever see. Scottish people and sun do not mix. One the plus side it will give women something else to laugh about when I take my clothes off.

After eight gloriously relaxing hours the boat arrived at our destination. I got a little surprise from our tuk tuk driver who was waiting to collect us. Our previous night’s hotel had arranged it for us and something tells me they were less than happy with the tip I didn’t leave them!

I’ve been called worse.