Battambang - the third town in a row I've been to which no-one knows how to pronounce.

I'd heard about a boat trip from Siem Reap to Battambang which sounded like an intresting way to see the country, so after talking Cords, Ben and Ambika into it we set off at the crack of dawn, loaded down with snacks and desperately trying not to drink any water (the toilet on board was a hole in the floor of the boat). Our fellow shipmates were a motley crue of locals (I'm guessing they hadn't paid $20 each for their passage), older couples, a middle aged lady looking very good in hotpants (jealous, moi?) and the usual rabble of travellers in baggy trousers. The leisurely trip along the river was calm and peaceful.. for a while. We sailed along, admiring the view of partially submerged trees (the river flows in different directions at different times of the year, so we were travelling through flooded land which at some point becomes dry again - very odd indeed. The reeds and water lillies rippled with the motion of the boat passing, giving the illusion of the riverbanks moving. Along the way we stopped at some floating villages - quite large collections of small, wooden huts each one floating on a little platform - the locals use boats to travel in between each one, and at times the entire village is towed away to a new location. They're like water gypsies! It was so interesting to see, and raised all sorts of questions about how the villagers live - where do they shop, how do they go to the toilet (actually they hang off the back of the hut holding on to a stick and just go in the water), how do they exercise? I'm finding that the more I see of South East Asia, the more questions I have…

Anyway the boat ambled on, and we happily sunbathed, munched peanut butter sandwiches and had a good chin-wag on deck. Then we noticed that the 'riverbanks' - trees and plants growing out of the water - we getting closer. And closer… soon we were squeezing our long boat through a suspiciously narrow pathway of very scratchy trees, causing everyone to move into the centre of the boat to escape a nasty whack in the face! Then there was a loud bang as the engine blew up. Resourceful as ever, the crew fixed the problem by throwing water onto the battery, and kicking it a bit. Soon we were on our way, all quite relieved not to have to get out and push (the water was only about 4 feet deep so it wasn't outside of the realms of possibility).

8 hours on a boat was enough for us to work up a thirst so on arriving in Battambang, the second largest city in Cambodia and described by Lonely Planet as charming (more on that description later), we were ready for some drinks. We'd picked up Daniel and Kevin, fellow British travellers who were also on the boat, so a happy little band of 6 headed off to find the Battambang nightlife. Turns out, there is one bar. And it plays Cambodian pop music. And it only serves beer. Still, if there's no fun to be found you just make your own so we had a good laugh back at the hotel rooftop restaurant.

The bamboo train is pretty much Battambang's main attraction (the Lonely Planet's inaccurate description: "much of Battambang's special charm lies in its early 20th century French architecture".. it goes on to highlight fine colonial buildings and impressive structures. I saw nothing to support these lies, the town is an ugly, charmless dive). The train is an ultralight bamboo frame, essentially a raft placed on wheels which runs along a warped, French-era track which occasionally has a few gaps…it makes for a bumpy but very fun ride, a bit like a very basic and straight rollercoaster. It's mainly used by locals to transport goods to the market, and of course daft locals willing to pay inflated prices for a little nosey at the countryside. The 6 of us piled on, squealing with delight at the bumpy track, dodging plants, pretending to do Wipeout while standing up and holding our arms in the air and throwing ourselves from side to side like a fairground ride. Its nice to be silly sometimes...

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