Battambang II - What's There?

It has been months after my first post on Battambang and I have

almost forgot that I have left it incomplete. Right, I should pick where I left it and anyways; it should have be completed before I move on to blog about my next destination. So, as a friend asked; what is there in Battambang?

I don't know. I made it part of my trip because it was en route to Siem Reap. I guess the highlight of this place was the malnutrition white cows and the muddy river.



Okay, bad joke.
Anyways, honestly, I went because it was en route.
Though, they have a so-called famous plaything there: Bamboo train.

It is a bamboo platform propelled by an engine and it costs 10 dollar per ride. Long time back, that was The transportation for the locals to carry their goods to and fro the market. Now, it was a side-income for them. The speed is good for a joyride and something to try for tourists. This toy brings you along the way, passes fields and stops at a place with shops where you can buy drinks and food. Then, they will take you back to the station from there. It's cute in a way when they utilize the track to the maximum, operating several trips at the same time. Thus, when there's an on coming cart, they will stop either one of the carts and take them off the track for the next one to move on.





Those are not really what I fancy BUT the coffee! Friends once told me that Vietnam has got the best coffee in Southeast Asia or probably, to his tastebuds, the best in the world. I will judge that for myself when I visit Hanoi in April this year; so for this moment, I could say I love that coffee that I tried at the local coffee shop. Milk and coffee...and the aroma of it is truly one of its kind!

This is not too bad itself too. We had it at Gecko Cafe, the place where we escape from the heat. It's very near Chhya GH. We bought some fresh cakes from the opposite bakery and retreat to this cafe. It has got cute gecko paintings too :)

There are many shops around but we chose White Rose due to the much recommendations online. It's not really that great but it's good. I mean, you can't go wrong with bread and eggs for breakfast. LOL...we had curry for dinner (if I remember correctly) and it was spicy!













And yea, I find the pic of these locals amusing. Uhm..The amusing part...was the expression...hehee...













The places to visit in this little town are Wat Banam and the Phnom Sampeou. Over here in Cambodia, I can't help but to be amazed by all their stone sculptures.
To get around is pretty easy because we are able to arrange trips at the Guesthouse itself and the market is only a walk away. The night market is not anything similar to that in Malaysia as I discovered that they sell mostly grilled meat like...chicken...and maybe others too but I'm not sure. I didn't take any fancy in them. I guess they look slightly too burnt to me:)p



Walking around during the daytime is sure fun if you are one who enjoy capturing 'moments' and buildings. Seriously those buildings in both Phnom Penh and Battambang mimics those old quarters in Hong Kong and of course, the villages in Malaysia (same colonial artisans I supposed...don't ask me which, my history is bad. LOL). They have that similar air-ventilation outlets; I have no idea what term are those air vents being called though.

We ventured during the night time and come to think of it, it's pretty adventurous of us. We used Lonely Planet as our guide and we tried to look for some outlets for late dinner -- successfully failed the mission. The street is sure there but the restaurant was not. Some of the streets was rather dark as there was no street lamps. An experience nonetheless!

By the way, that's my favourite flower, Jasmine. It has this fresh floral fragrant that made you think of the green grass after the rain! The Cambodians made an art out of it and sell them at USD1. Nice :)) Just love it!

Next: Siem Reap (that's the cream of the crop...the highlight of the trip...after that disastrous boat trip!!)