My time in Cambodia did involve more than just visiting temples š. I ventured off to visit areas around both Battambang and Siem Reap – with fabulous memories, videos and photos to share as evidence!
The Bamboo Train
Where to even start with this oneā¦so back in the days when Cambodia was a French colony – the French built a limited, but functional, railway system within the country. The onset of civil war saw the end of railway travel, but resourceful locals found a way to use those railway tracks – and the Bamboo Train was born. Originally used to transport rice, people and supplies between villages, the Bamboo Train is now a āmust doā on the tourist trail. Itās essentially a sheet of bamboo, placed on top of two axles, which is powered by a motor. And ohhhh so much fun (and reaches speeds of up to 40km/hr – which I am pretty sure we reached)!
The next video is some footage I took on our trip out. Then we needed to stop and allow the operators to turn around our ātrainsā for the journey back. They mentioned we would wait about 15 minutes before heading back – which we all assumed was to wait for the looming rain to pass. Nope, not the reason at allā¦turns out the government reinstated passenger train travel a few months ago – we needed to allow a real train to pass through š All of which was captured in the second videoā¦
Kulen Mountain National Park
An hour outside of Siem Reap is Kulen Mountain National Park – complete with stunning landscapes and waterfalls. The pictures speak for themselves – absolutely gorgeous!
Floating Village – Kampong Phhluk
Another great experience was visiting a floating fishing village outside of Siem Reap (the feature photo for this blog post). Although not technically floating – the housing in this village is up on stilts – because the water levels will rise another 3 to 6 meters during the wettest part of the rainy season (late October). The video in this segment is of me taking a ride in a local traditional boat. This was part of an initiative by the womenās collective in the community, as they seek additional employment opportunities beyond the fishing industry.
So many other great adventures in Cambodia that I didnāt even share – going to the local circus, visiting the Apopo Visitor Center to see a live demo on how the government uses trained African rats to sniff out undetonated landmines (a sad need and reality in todayās Cambodia) and of course enjoying local cuisine. Now itās time to head back to Thailand, to the northern part of the country. Next stopā¦Chiang Mai!!
Love the waterfall video and of course recreating the false bamboo train with the grandkids in downtown Toronto, just to keep them in tune with your adventures.
OK that was just awesome. Love the Bamboo Train!!!
It was pretty awesome – like a roller coaster without the seat belt š
Love catching up on the blog. Have an amazing time. Much love Jan & Jesse