Battambang, Cambodia

           After navigating the licentious lechery of the Aranyaprathet / Poipet border, I found myself in an open air bus station a few kilometres away from the city. Potholed streets and a vacant station with exorbitant prices charged in US dollars greeted me.  There, I unsuccessfully tried to find fellow travellers to split a taxi – a much quicker option – towards Battambang, but received only curious looks.  It seemed everyone was heading towards Siem Reap, the tourist destination central where temples of splendour and wonder abound.  If they weren`t going to Siem Reap, then they were going to Phnom Penh, a gruelling traverse of central Cambodia by bus that lasted 8 hours. 

            When I was asked why I was going to Battambang, I would reply that I was meeting a friend in Phnom Penh the following day – then, why not head straight through on the bus to Phnom Penh?  I didn’t have a good answer, except: why not?

These last few pictures were taken the day after my night in Battambang, during the aforementioned gruelling trip to Phnom Penh.  A shot of the road I took from one of the stops.

Here is a shot of the outside of the cook’s family’s lodging behind a roadside open air restaurant in the middle of nowhere, Cambodia. As you can guess, the area was a bit rough but it was a welcome stop to buy a drink after roasting in the old, dilapidated bus.  The food on offer was sitting in big metal bowls in 30 c + weather; I’ve learned sometimes it’s better to go hungry.

Lastly, it’s the roasting bus I just spoke of.  Every two hours or so we would stop, the vents would be opened, and buckets of water poured on the engine.  My only guess is to stop any overheating in the scorching heat.