"Speed" Boating During Dry Season...

All Aboard to Battambang, Cambodia!!!

After much contemplation on whether to continue our travels in Cambodia or scoot back to Southern Thailand, The Prancers agreed to board a 25-passenger "speed" boat from Siem Reap to Battambang to view the river village life and palm-tree specked landscape from the Tonle Sap Lake and Sangker River. A driver would pick us up at 6am to drive (or should we say honk, swerve, and fly) us to our 7am boat call.

The Prancers rolled out of bed, bags packed, a few snacks and 1 water a piece in hand to be literally man-handled into a truck already loaded with passengers. Jill's backpack was thrown on top of the truck as she was carted into an already full seat behind the driver. Tom hopped onto the truck bed where a 1X1 space awaited him and his bag which is larger than him. Once again we were thrown all over the place as we passed through villages of Cambodians, lighting their morning candles to start selling their goods for the day to passerbys.

Ignoring the cramped quarters we were in, taking in the surrounding motions of the already bustling Cambodian life shocked both of us, beyond belief. Jill's life will be changed forever from what she saw on that truck ride to the boat. Lined up along the muddy river on red clay "streets" were "houses" lined up one after another; the communities thriving on one thing only: the muddy waters of the river. The "homes" are nothing more than sagging-floored, bamboo-stilted shacks with nothing but one 6 X 6 room to do everything in. We could see straight through the walls comprised of delapidated bamboo stalks, into the lives of the poorest of poor. Jill's mouth (almost) gaaped open in complete awe of what she saw that morning; what was most fascinating is that those people are the happiest people we have ever witnessed. So pure, so full of life. There is nothing else in the world more that they could want than just to continue with a life thriving on being able to feed their children and family enough rice, fish from the river, and veggies from the ground. Jill and Tom had feelings of disruption as we flew through, driver honking endlessly in our pickup truck, pushing people out of the way and what they were involved in. But that is the life of a country beginning to thrive on tourism....
We arrived at our boat, bombarded by the local girls selling their baguettes, imported cheese, and bananas. Each passenger loading up on the fresh goodies. All aboard, westerners!!!

As most of you know, currently it is DRY season in Cambodia. What alot of us didn't know is that would severely change the arrival time of our boat into Battambang. Were told by the agent, roughly 4 hours. But 4 turned into 5 turned into 6 turned into 7 turned into 8!!!!!!!!!!!
The floating villages of the river were so fascinating! Everything is built onto the river: homes, "gas stations", markets, fishing net contraptions, schools, gardens, temples, etc....... what an amazing sight! Scattered throughout the floating villages were other simple villages, comprising many levels of income and status of Cambodians as you washed from one to another. Overall, the simplicity of the life in each and every village was something to never forget.

Arriving 8 hours later into French colonial-style Battambang was much overdue, as the sitting bones were sore and mouths parched. After retrieving the bags from the bundle on top of the boat (where passengers also sat for the ride), we climbed a long steep flight of steps to be once again bombarded by what? You guessed it: TAXI, MOTORCYCLE, and MINIVAN drivers, all SO willing to drive us to their hotel or guesthouse!!! The Prancers took their normal approach of skirting their way to the outer edges of the crowd, giving our "no thanks, we'll walk" line over and over. We need to stretch our legs! We checked into a guesthouse and set out on the town to find food and to gander about aimlessly through the evening.

The next day, just to give you a tiny piece of life on the road, consisted of 6 forms of transportation through Cambodia and Thailand to reach Trat, Thailand, preparing for our entry into the islands of the Gulf of Thailand. We got racketed around all day, taken for our money multiple times, and swifted into one transport to the next without barely taking a breath. Luckily, Trat is slow and easy, preparing us for a smooth transition to some beautiful white sand beaches......... stay tuned!!!