Day #2 in Battambang. Time for a little housekeeping. The supply of $US has dwindled, so time to
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| French colonial--- down by the river in Battambang.... |
stock up a little. I have a wallet full of 100 riel notes Cambodian currency--worth 2 1/2 cents each! Have to be careful to use these, as Cambodian currency is non-convertible outside of the country. Basically the $US is used for transactions, with small change being given in riels. After today, I am heading west towards the Thai border, & have discovered that bus links across the border to nearby Thai towns from Cambodia, are almost non-existent The alternative mode of transportation is by shared taxi--so have booked into a vehicle going to the border town of Pruhm at 8.30 am tomorrow. Should get me to the frontier in 3-4 hours, where I will
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| Derelict French era railway station |
overnight & investigate onward transportation opportunities to Thai towns along the coast. My friendly taxi man, promised me that the Toyota Camry will have no more than 6 paying passengers on board along with their luggage. We shall see!
Weather in Battambang today, sunny and scorching hot, as I complete my tasks. Camera in hand as always, I try to capture some of the good selection of the traditional architecture French colonial style go-downs (shop below living quarters)---balconies, shutters/volets. Note on the map that there is a closed down & defunct railway station built by the
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| The cows have moved into the old maintenance sheds.... |
French in town & decide to investigate. There it is--imposing forecourt and clock tower---all trains leave at 8.05am from this station!! (the clock froze at that moment). Tracks over-grown, but the long platform is still walkable. Meet an old French speaking Cambodian guy who, with his family, is preparing for a wedding to be held on the station forecourt---- pots & pans at the ready, plus heaped trays of fresh vegetables being cut up in preparation. Great conversation and lots of laughter with a friendly group of people. Step down off the platform and wade my way across the tracks, through dense weeds to the derelict maintenance sheds, now being used by the local cows for grazing land. Always find it quite sad to see these last remnants of another (colonial) world collapsing in rubble before the eyes. What plans and pride did the builders and architects of these edifices have when they were new construction so many years ago? Did they foresee there handiwork collapsing into ruin with empire?
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| Fresh crab for dinner.... |
Observation: The first thing, or maybe the second after the internet password, that one asks for at a hotel upon arrival, is for a map of the town/city which is frequently supplied as a blurry photocopy. Anyway, that is what you have, in order to orientate yourself in a maze of strange & narrow streets---- I am forgetting of course, that these days most people have GPS equipped cell phones. But for this "old school" traveller, and yes, he even carries an analogue boy scout style compass for guidance in emergency situations (!!) the paper map is essential, along with a hotel business card, if he is ever going to find his way back to his room.
Anyway, the point of my observation is that Cambodians particularly, seem to be just unable to cope with the concept of a flat, two dimensional, old fashioned paper map. They look at them, turn them in all directions and then deny any knowledge of their city. The other day, I was at a 6 point travel circle and for the life of me, could not remember the correct exit route, so I sidled up to a group of four police men seated under a tree, enjoying a chat and their tea break. Immediately, all of them stirred to the vertical out of curiosity and huddled around the rather crinkled map. A solid 5 minute discussion ensued in the Khymer language and the map passed from hand to hand and rotated for alignment in all different directions. During this process, this traveller stood to one side to let the deliberative process unfold and await the verdict on which road he should take. To my amazement, the constabulary, in its joint wisdom, indicated (in best Cambodian) that my hotel street was unknown to them and guidance from them was not possible! Hope that I do not have to rely on this crowd in an emergency. Seems as most local people in this country just cannot relate to the map concept. This observation was supported by the hotel manager in Siem Reap, a French man who has lived in Cambodia for 4 years and who outlined his frustration to me, as he relies heavily on a network of tuk-tuk men to pick-up and deliver western hotel guests to various city locations.
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