Dreaming of Dust

The trip to Battambang was a familiar one…. Just in the sense that it was a slow boat on a small river (9 hours winding our way through backwaters). I think I have had all the boat trips I need for this journey, sorry Mekong. Along the way we had a great chance to observe river life and many floating villages set on stilts above the water or houseboats tied together. Most are made out our bamboo and thatch, but some are made of one of the many tropical hardwoods that grow in the jungle. Shocking was seeing a bamboo and thatch hut, hovering above the water, with only 2 solid walls but with a television and stereo featured prominently inside! The electronics are run from car batteries, as there is no electricity (and there are no generators either).

Battambang is much more quiet than Siem Reap, and less affected by tourism, giving me more of a glimpse into typical Khmer life. I immediately signed up for a cooking class at the one cooking school in town, at a fantastic restaurant called Smokin’ Pot (not kidding!) Our small class of 5 (2 Aussie couples and me) learned to make the famous amok fish, lok lak and Khmer chicken soup. We got a tour of the market and an education in the fresh herbs of the region, including lemongrass, Chinese coriander and fresh turmeric root. After that I latched onto the Aussies and shared a dusty tuk tuk ride out into the country to climb the biggest hill around and visit another temple (yawn) and the “Killing Caves” used by the Khmer Rouge. At this site on top of a mountain the Khmer Rouge soldiers bludgeoned people to death and pushed them into the caves in mass burial. There is a small shrine and some of the bones found are on display.

Any venture off a sealed road involves inhaling a fair amount of dust, and you see why the locals wear surgical masks on their bicycles, mopeds and other open vehicles. They call the fine red dust “Cambodian Snow” since it coats everything. Even on pavement in the middle of town, the air seems to bear a fine silt leaving you feeling always just a bit dirty.
While I didn’t meet anyone in Siem Reap, in Battambang I met many people, a lot of them, like me, traveling for several months. It’s been interesting to share travel and life stories with people from all over the globe. I read 12 books (not including the guide books for Burma, Thailand and Vietnam, which I read thoroughly as well) during my first 5 weeks of travel, but meeting people puts a damper on solo reading and for the last several days I have been stuck on the first third of “Pride and Prejudice”!