Febuary 1st Day 50-51 of my travel. Battambong!

The moment I arrived in Battambong, i am yet again sent into swam of moto drivers, tuk tuk drivers and countless other accommodation touts. It happens just about everytime i step into a new town. What is special this time however is that among all these people, there are mainly just 2 hotel names. Royal hotel and Chaya hotel. So imagine this, a crowd of people shouting and pushing one another, even though they are holding signs of the same hotel. Well since they provide free transport, i decided to pick the cheaper Chaya hotel. At the hotel(or so they claim it is), they told me that the room type(US$3) i wanted is full and they would give me another room and change it the next day. One look at them and i know he is trying to bull shit me. The moment i threatened to leave, he fished out a key and gave it to me at the end.

Extremely hungry, i went to look for food. On my Lonely planet, a few blocks down is White rose restaurant, which was described as cheap and good food. Neither of which i think is true anymore. The food tasted bad and is more expensive now. As expected, many foreigners flock to this place.

Cambodian love to eat, even the children. I passed by a school where the kids happen to just finish school and the mobile snack stores outside is crowded to the brim, leaving the hawker hardly any space to breathe.

A food that can make the children want so eagerly is definitely something i must try!
Cambodian Style rojak! US$0.50 very tasty!
I wonder if she is happy that her business is good or frowning due to the hectic selling

As i savour my "rojak", i made my way towards a distinct sound coming from the other side of the river.

MUI! PI! BAI! BOON!! MUI! PI! BAI! BOON!!

At the river was a big group of ladies of all ages doing aerobic with a local hunk leading them along with local music. It is pretty funny watching them dancing to the beats. As i sat down on the grass patch to observe the people, i was motioned over by a group of people.

Put your hands up in the air!!!!!!!
Even the young is encouraged to exercise
Meet Chorleoun, her brother, her sister and nephew!

Chorleoun had come back to her hometown battambong on her holiday and brought her sister and nephew to the park. She works as a card dealer at a casino at the thailand-cambodian border, providing a retreat for thai gamblers as they cant gamble in their country. Meeting a card dealer, how can i resist showing her my card trick which i bought some time ago! After i refused to tell her the secret behind it, she said she will ban me from her casino... Oh well..

If you do ever visit battambong and the park, do remember to head directly opposite the river for a delicious and cheap local meal.

Day 52 of my travel, Febuary 3rd. On my 2nd day in battambong, i hired a moto taxi to explore the surrounding area of battambong. First up, Phnom Banan(Banan Hill) where there is a nice temple at the top which provides a good view of the surrounding landscape. Phnom Banan

Beneath the hill near the foot, there are 2 caves which can be explored with a flashlight and a local guide which can be found nearby.

To get to the first cave, you will have to craw through a small unmarked hole for about 5m in total darkness. When you finally emerge from the other end, you will find yourself in a much cooler cave with a towering skylight above you. Among you are dozens of fruit bats chipping away. The whole experience of crawling through the small hole in darkness and emerging in this totally different really provides a surreal feeling that seems to have transported you to another land.

The 2nd cave is much larger and is reached by climbing over large boulders into a larger space with a half a dozen human sized figurines and loads of bat droppings(watch your head) on the floor. I tried to find the caves on my own and fail miserably
So i hired a local boy to show me
Total darkness!
Very high Sky light!

Next we went to Phnom Sanpeau, passing through extremely dusty and bad road. There is so much dust that i had difficultly even keeping my eyes open behind my shades. The pot holes are so huge that if i did not hold onto the back of my motorcycle tightly, i would have been flown out at least on 8 occasions.I had to get off at some parts so that the motor can cross!

As the name suggests, i will need to do another climb up the hill... At the top, i met a monk lying lazily in a hammock. Turns out he could speak some english and i sat down and chat with him talking about cambodian girls! HAHA!

Full view of the surroundings
I can see singapore from here!!

Between the submit and there antenna, there is a staircases leading down a canyon. As you descend with a few dozen monkeys jumping overhead between the 2 vines dominated cliff and lush vegetation on both sides, the temperature rapidly decreases and at the bottom, the sight of 2 angkorian warrior statue comes into view as the smell of fresh damp air seeps into your nose. In just this 1 minute, all your 5 senses will experience a complete change.

Stairs to another world
As you gets nearer
2 Angkorian warriors stand to greet you
from the caveNobody was around, so i started fooling around again with my camera and my gorrilapod!
On top of the world!
Fire!!
Modern day toilet

One unique feature in Battambong is the Nori, which actually is wooden planks, fitted with wheels and a motor running on the still in use rail way track. Since there is only 1 track for everybody, whenever 1 nori meets a train or another nori heading in the opposite direction, the one with a "smaller" load will have to unload and disassemble everything to allow the other to pass, then they can fix everything back together again and carry on. It is considered a sight in battambong and you can hire a private 1 hour ride for US$6-8. It is also then that i found out that i could have actually taken a nori to my next destination!! DAMM! if only i have not bought my bus ticket!!Waiting for a nori to come
All aboard!!

My last night in Battambong, i met Chorleoun again for a while at the same spot and after she left, i while my time away, sitting at the road side with a big plate of "rojak", a cup of cold sugar cane and listening to MUI! PI! BAI! BOON!Yum Yum!!
No Money no honey man dancing in this all female group. The hawkers at the side all laughed unanimously at his weird dance moves!

Bangkok day 1-6

Finally after such a long wait (1 month to be exact), i finally left home! Met XY and gang for lunch at this Italian place in vivo that serves weird pasta and sped(HAHA!) to the airport. Met up with my family and some of my other friends. Turned out all the guys that said they would come didn't turn up, making it a all-female party. Nonetheless, i met up with my 2 other friends who are going to Bangkok with me and checked in.

My family!
My "got heart" female friends

My singapore wall paper...

turned into thailand! Cool eh?

Basically, my first few days in bangkok were spent shopping and eating. Went to famous shopping places like chatuchak market, Mah boon Kong Shopping center, a few Siam shopping center and Puan Lum Night bazaar.

Loads and loads of cheap counterfeit goods here. Any brand, any merchandise you would ever want. I didn't want to add any weight to my bag and i only bought 1 fire man t shirt(

The place where we initially wanted to stay (New Joe GH) was full. We were there at 10pm so in the end, we had to settle for another place nearby called Top Inn (600B Dbl room $24). It was an average place for its price and we couldn't stand the small and cold shower. So after 2 nights, we moved to Sawadee Banglumpoo hotel (850B Dbl Rm $36), a place with bad reviews on the net. Nonetheless, we did not find any faults with the place after 3 nights. It had good shower facilities, tv, air con, mini fridge, free breakfast and is very close to the (in)famous Khao San Rd.

Phad Tai, many stalls selling this along khao san till very late at night(20B)

Khao San Rd is knowned for its happening night life and the many backpackers lodgings around. Walking down the streets, you see many foreigners especially westerners EVERYWHERE. Mostly making a fool of themselves. From my friends who went to the pub/bar, the girls(half girls) there are very easy to hook. All you have to do is to treat them a drink and they are yours for the night. Definitely not my kind of place to stay. So after they left home this morning, i switch to another GH for the remaining days in Bangkok.

Leg and back massage, was very good and not sleazy at all.(450+50B tips $21)
Internet cafe (10B 30 mins $0.45)

One of the days, we were bored of shopping (finally). We went to watch Ong Bak 2. The cinema was cheap at 120B ($5). Ong Bak 2, fortunately they had english subtitles
Cinema
Nachos (sucky) and drink
Mah Boon Kong, a place with many singaporeans
Big extinguisher :P
Then we chanced upon this shop with chopped bodies while we were walking....
Ouch
Looks real... i did a little editing on my camera for these 3 pictures.
All these faces are actually made of bread! If you like it, you can even buy it home
Talking about bread, this is Wong's room service. Skinny chicken wings on the left. Omelet egg from Khao San Rd (20B $0.90)

So i changed from Sawadee Banglumpoo GH to Apple GH(100B dorm bed $4). It is located a short walk from the main street and into the side alley. The place is not a nice clean hotel, instead it looked like the owners converted their homes into it. So i have to share my room with 3 others tonight. Haven't met any of them yet, i hope they don't snore.

My room
My bed

I locked my bag to the bed post and went out to do some exploring. Went to the river to take their boat. Unlike in Singapore, their boat is their public transport. It is much cheaper than taxis and tuk tuks (which i have not taken any yet). A ride cost 14B and you can stop anywhere along the river. A land ride would put you back probably 10 times that price. Boat
Many tourists and locals were on board
Monks use them as transport as well

I took the boat to Tha Tien Pier where the Grand palace and Wat Pho are. Was hungry so ordered something.

Bee hoon soup with alot of ingredients, very tasty (30B $1.30)
Reclining buddha
What is that? That is Wat
"Need guide for you sir? good price, best price, first sale"
Then i took another ferry (3B $0.12) across the river to Wat Arun.
And saw an older monk teaching a younger monk
Wat Arun from far

Next, i decided to stop by Thonburi railway station to get my advanced ticket for kanchanaburi on Saturday morning. The route map shows the boat stopping there...but it didn't... It only stopped at the next one. Great, now i have to walk back. Walk past a few schools and even went the wrong direction and ended up in a hospital. Quite interesting as i have never really been to any other hospital except for those in singapore. Interesting snack kinda like the ones we have in singapore except we have it with coconut or peanut and they have it with sweet cream and an unknown thing. Cost 2 baht ($0.10) cheap cheap!

After reaching the station, they said that i can only buy the ticket on Saturday itself :( oh well, at least i know exactly the time and location of the railway station. I ended my route earlier than i expected so i decided to try to take a bus back. Note: don't do this unless you are willing to risk getting lost. In the end, a guy sitting beside me kept looking at me when i flipped through my map and he helped me with the bus. He spoke very good english and said that he just came back from a friend's wedding in Singapore. There are lots of buses with different rates in Thailand, there are no bus routes written anywhere, just the number. Worth a try or two if you have the time to wander around. Funky bus interior (8.5B $0.30)
Char Siew Wanton noodle
Bought from a road side stall

I came to bangkok last saturday and will leave for kanchanaburi this saturday. A week in bangkok really is quite enough to shop and see all the main sights. Wong calculated, including air ticket, he had spent almost $1000 in these few days. Not exactly as cheap as initially expected with the many goods and apparels here.

For me, i had spend roughly $600 plus including my spanking new glasses and prescription sunglasses which cost 6000B ($260). Exceeded my budget a little considering i did not do much shopping.