6/12 and 6/13: Battambang

7/13 morning reflection: There are all of these Roberts inside of me. Some have become more dominant while traveling, more necessary for "travel mode" - the patient Robert, the flexible Robert. As I sat on my balcony this morning, overlooking Battambang, the other Roberts spoke to me. "We are not gone. We are still here. Love us too." Once again I am thankful for the lessons, and the blessings in my life.

Back to 7/12: I spent 7 1/2 hours on a very small, crowded boat slowly making its way through the very shallow river from Siem Reap to Battambang. It was a fantastic day.

We first travel along a small river southwest towards the northwest tip of Tonle Sap lake.

Tonle Sap, also referred to as "Great lake," is the largest fresh water lake in Southeast Asia. It is unusual for two reasons: 1) the water flow changes directions twice a year, during the wet and dry seasons, and 2) Tonle Sap changes size dramatically, from 2,700 square kilometers and only one meter deep during the dry season, to 16,000 square kilometers during monsoon season.

Floating village on Tonle Sap

After crossing Tonle Sap, we follow a river west for another 5 hours.

Battambang: From the late 18th century to the early 20th century, the province of Battambang was ruled by Thailand. Due to the French Siamese treaty of 1907, Thailand was obliged to return Battambang to Cambodia.

On the boat I met Justin, a math professor from the University of Maryland, and Christoph, a German, now living now in Switzerland getting his PhD is something very esoteric. As we hungrily walked around Battambang, I introduced Christoph to mangosteens, and Justin introduced both of us to fried crickets.

They were very delicious, fried with chilies and garlic

Some odd but tasty snack we came across along the way

French colonial architecture (supposedly Battambang is the most "French " of all the Cambodian towns)

Wat Kamphaeng

7/13: The three of us hired a tuk-tuk for an all day tour. First we road the bamboo train 8 kilometers to the next village.

Justin, Christoph and I

The trains travel around 15 kilometers an hour (9 miles an hour). The bamboo trains consist of three parts (two sets of wheels on axles, and the bamboo platform). When two trains meet, one is disassembled in seconds and lifted off the track.

Naked boy on a bamboo train

Laundry drying on a wood pile in the village the bamboo train stopped at

Our second stop was Banan, a 10th century Angkorian temple, 25 kilometers south of Battambang.

View from the hill of Banan

Our last stop was Phnom Sampeou mountain, site of a beautiful wat and a number of caves, one of which was the site where Khmer Rouge dumped the bodies of its victims, bludgeoned to death then thrown over the edge.

It is now both a memorial to the victims of the Khmer Rouge, and a Buddhist cave temple

Wat atop the mountain

Another cave

View of another wat below, as we walked down the mountain.

Christoph and Justin

Great dinner of fresh rolls, spring rolls, Cambodian vegetables, and seafood with cashews.