Where did we get to last time, the end of the homestay?
Our next stop was a city named Battambang, where we decided that taking a train made out of bamboo would be a good idea. The Battambang Bamboo train is notorious for being 2 things - exciting and dangerous. You're hurtled along actual rail road tracks balancing on a couple of pillows and holding on for dear life. Its certainly a thrill, and we're glad we did it while its still (somehow) legal, but after the first five minutes of uncontrollable nervous laughter, you realise that you might as well be on an actual, safety regulated, metal train, because your surroundings are hidden by the hedges that run alongside the tracks. So all you're really paying for is a game of Russian Roulette. And of course, where tourists flock, as do the sellers. You're literally emptied off of the train onto a platform where children bearing handmade bracelets and rings attack you with their little fingers, screaming "PINKY PROMISE YOU WILL BUY FROM ME OK LADY". The next 20 minutes are filled with awkward 'no thank you's and 'I have no money left', until finally your driver reassembles the train and sends you flying off into the distance again.
The same evening, Moo and I took a trip with a few others to see the circus, which is organised and performed by former refugee children. I couldn't remember the last time I went to a circus, so I didn't have a clue what to expect, but it was fantastic. There was contortion, dancing, acrobatics, and some brilliant acting. If you're ever in town and it happens to be on a night that they are performing, i'd definitely recommend a trip.
Moo was, sadly, still unwell the following day, so she missed out on a trip to the Blue Lagoon with her hostel buddies, but as it goes she still managed to have a productive day. We hired a bicycle with a friend and rode along the river for a few hours, exploring local villages and temples, frequently hollering "FISH PASTE?" at people we passed. We weren't going insane, we were actually looking for the fish paste market. We never found it, so it will forever remain a mystery to us. What we did find, however, was a cave filled with what seemed like MILLIONS of bats that all emerged in symphony as the sun began to set. It was another moment that can't be translated through a camera lens, something that you can only really appreciate by being there.
After our short but sweet stay in Battambang we ventured on to Phnom Penh and struck lucky with our hostel - staying next door to one of the most reputable doctors in Cambodia. A short consultation and $70 dollars later, Moo was holding magic pills and praying for the best. They worked!! It took a few days for Moo to feel right again, but those few days were spent visiting the Killing Fields and S21 prison, so she probably wouldn't have felt right anyway. We really knew nothing about Cambodia's horrific past, so we were shocked to discover that this was all happening while in the UK we were listening to 'Play that Funky Music' and shopping for suede. We didn't take any pictures here, because frankly its not something that you want to look back on.
With Moo feeling back to her normal self again, we travelled on to Kampot to be reuinted with Ami for one night by the river. The next day we hopped over to Mad Monkey Hostel to meet our Phnom Penh travel friends, and took mopeds out on a trip to Kep for the day. Along the way we stopped off at the Elephant Caves and the Pepper Farm, and then a restaurant by the sea to taste the famous Kampot Peppered Crab. We had no idea how difficult it was to eat a crab. But it made us enjoy it just a little bit more.
Too right
Do you see the elephants?
And this one?
Mini Moo and Rock Moo!
We loved Kep so much that we took another trip the next day, but this time we got off the bikes and decided to a little bit of hiking. We nearly died. Not only was it extremely steep and lacking in ropes to hold onto - we are really unfit. Really really unfit. At the end of our mountain scaling, we reached a butterfly sanctuary. A little bit of an anti-climax. But pretty all the same. And its good to have goals.
After finally making it back to our bikes, we rode off in search for some more caves. Instead of writing this part of the blog, i'm going to paste in Ian's brilliant description of our day:
"The cave was a pretty wild experience. Our "guide" was a girl who claimed to be 15 but looked 9. We had no light but a couple of cell phones. At one point we had to slide on our asses along a slick, steep decline where one wrong move would send you shooting off the edge through the darkness down into a chasm that I assume is filled with the bones of tourists who've done just that. No way this 15 going on 9 kid is fishing you outta there. Then we had to actually jump off a ledge and land well enough to not luge down into another corpse filled cavern before catwalking DOWN A LOG ALA FRED FUCKING PENNER IN ORDER TO ESCAPE THIS GOD FORSAKEN DEMON PIT!!! Got to see some bats though... That was cool."
So after our near-death experience, we headed home, stopped off for some fake streetside Oreos on the way, and drank the night away. It was a sad goodbye the next morning, we really had a good time with our 3 travel buddies, Ian, Brittney and Marianne. But hopefully one day we'll meet again, perhaps in Norway. Because why not?
That time we met Hitler in the middle of nowhere in Cambodia
Wonder how he got stuck?
Moo sunbathing
This is serious Oreo talk.
Moo and I returned to Phnom Penh for one last night, ate with the locals and then found a lovely cafe for breakfast the following day with another hostel buddy. Daughters of Cambodia is an NGO run company which helps women escape their lives in the trafficking industry and gives them training in all sorts of areas. Their french toast went down a treat, and before we knew it, it was time to jump in our last tuk-tuk and head to the airport, where we met up with Ami again for our long onward journey to the Philippines.
Passenger Assistance - i.e. free chicken if your flight is delayed
33 hours and 3 flights later, we've made it, and have spent most of our first day in a cafe guzzling fresh mango juice and planning our month ahead. Its going to be a good one.
From One Nutty Moo to Another
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