Last days in Battambang

The last days in Battambang went by too quickly. We would have loved to stay more days but our visa was running out.

One day my uncle took us to lake Komping Poy (or so). As soon as we arrived we were surrounded by women and children, wildly gesticulating, pointing here and there. All of them were trying to convince us to visit their restaurants. One of them offered a boat trip on the lake. Since there wasn't much to do here, we went for it. The lake is quite big but full of lotus so that you can't really see where the lake starts and stops. The lake and its environment are lovely. It's a good place to spend some time and relax. We were told that people from Battambang came here for picnic. Despite the beauty of this lake, there is a sad side about it. During the Khmer Rouge regime people were forced to build a dam here. Some of my family members used to work here too. Although people worked hard they didn't get much food. So many people died - or rather, were killed - here.

Back in Battambang we demonstrated our equipment. Everybody was very eager to see our tent. My aunt said that tents were not available in Cambodia. So we pitched the tent and everybody went in and out. Absolutely great fun! Also the sleeping bags, inflatable mattresses, cooker and fuel bottle were highlights.

Although it was Christmas time, we didn't feel like Christmas. While in Phnom Penh we did hear Christmas music and saw artificial Christmas trees in the shopping malls, there was nearly no indication of Christmas in Battambang. On the 24th (Germans celebrate Christmas on that day) we suggested to have dinner altogether. My aunt invited the rest of the big family. Early in the morning we went to the New Market to get ingredients for the hotpot. Sarah insisted on buying Christmas presents for the kids too. The hotpot event was nice. We sat altogether in the front-yard on the bamboo mat and did sweat a lot because of the hot and spicy but delicious hotpot. 

Another day my aunt came up with the idea to ride the bamboo train. She said that it was one of Battambang's tourist attraction that would disappear sooner or later when they would start to build the new railway line from Phnom Penh to Battambang. Bamboo train sounds more exciting than it actually is. It is a simple bamboo mat on four wheels running on old railways. Still it was fun to ride this bamboo train. The fare, however, was with 5 USD per person extremely expensive for what it was. Luckily we got a cheaper fare and paid only 10 USD for 6 people altogether. We still cannot get used to the enormous difference what foreigners and locals pay.

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Gaining weight in Battambang

Spending time at my aunt's place in Battambang is fantastic and interesting. They live in a traditional Khmer house that does not sit on stilts like the houses in the countryside. The wooden walls keep the house more or less cool. Well, Sarah and I think it's hot but my family here in Cambodia considers temperature around 25°C as cold. Some days ago temperature dropped below 20°C and they got sick. It's hard to understand how some Cambodians can walk in jackets while we wear T-shirts and shorts. When we showed them latest pictures from Germany, where heavy snow fall makes life difficult at the moment, their first thoughts are often "Let's get some syrup and eat it".

On one day we celebrated my grandmother's birthday and many relatives came. I met so many cousins that two hands are not enough to count them. It's a big family! We had a "golden pig". It's a roasted pig that Chinese often serve as a birthday dish. Staying at my aunt's place we enjoy her hospitality. She goes to the market several times a day and brings back food. It's so much that we are not hungry when it comes to real dinner in the evening. In her backyard there are many coconut and banana palm trees. How cool is that! We got fresh coconut milk and those delicious mini bananas off the trees.

When we don't eat we discover the Battambang area. Although Battambang is the second biggest city in Cambodia we find it still very small and there is not too much to do here. What we have never done in France and Germany, we do here: riding a scooter. Once we tried what we had seen so many times in China, Laos and Cambodia. Sarah, Daniel and I were sitting on one single scooter. It was fun! Cambodia has a weird law. While the person steering the scooter is obliged to wear a helmet, all other persons on the scooter don't have too. We borrow my aunt's scooters and visit famous places like Phnom Sampeau, where Pol Pot and his Khmer rouge fellows killed many Cambodias, Wat Ek Phnom and Phnom Banan. Latter ones are small sites with temples that look like the ones in Angkor Wat.

Sights are free of charge for Cambodians but Sarah had to pay as a foreigner. In Phnom Sampeau we were stopped by a guard who asked Sarah to pay her admission fee. Just for fun we told him that Sarah is Cambodian too. So he asked her in Khmer whether she speaks Khmer. Sarah were taught some Khmer by my cousins a few days ago and was able to answer. The guard let her pass for free.

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