Our Great Adventure: Siem Reap Day 66 23/11/2014

After two long bus journeys we opted to get the boat from Battambang to Siem Reap. It's a much longer and more expensive journey but, from what we'd read, sounded like a great way to travel and see the countryside around the river, and to be honest we needed a break from buses! The boat departs at 7am so it was another early start. Nani gave us a lift to where the boat leaves from and we were provided with a pack up for breakfast and lunch from the Sangkor. The trip is described in the reviews we'd read as 'an experience'. It certainly was! Clearly some people thought they were off for a cruise down the Thames. This couldn't have been further from the truth. It's scheduled to take between five and nine hours dependent on the water level. The start of the journey as we left Battambang is a good reminder that Cambodia is a third world country with shacks, filth and squalor dominating the river bank. The boat regularly slows to avoid capsizing local fisherman with it's wake and snagging fishing nets. As we travelled further from Battambang the landscape became more rural. The river is clearly a major source of food and alongside small fishing boats were some impressive constructions made of bamboo to catch and lift fish from the river. Although clearly still a very poor area, poverty in rural areas some how looks less extreme than in towns and cities. After a couple of hours we hit sand banks and headed left to squeeze down a narrow waterway with tree branches bashing into the boat and the motor catching on the river bottom. Everyone moved to sit in the middle to avoid being whipped. We then reached clearer water and a large floating village with a stop for refreshments and delivery of more goods that the boat was carrying. We headed off down a wide clear river with fish jumping and lots of bird life. Every now and again a small boat would pull up alongside to allow one of the local passengers to disembark or off load more goods (and money on one occasion - interestingly at the floating police station). After c6.5 hours we reached lake Tonle Bati and after crossing sailed down another waterway to reach the outskirts of Siem Reap. All in all the journey took 7.5 (bum numbing) hours. As soon as we moored the boat was invaded by tuk tuk drivers. Whilst they weren't aggressive by any means it was slightly off putting and made it very difficult to disembark. Our hotel, the Rose Apple, had arranged for a tuk tuk driver to collect us and we were pleased to see him with a sign with Simon's name on. The mooring is about 11km out of town and there is no local bus service so it's moped, tuk tuk or taxi. We had a very welcome greeting at the Rose Apple with cold towels and refreshing lemon juice, despite a rather frustratating American chap who kept interrupting Dara who was telling us about the hotel, the town and importantly Angkor, the reason why we've come here. After a few days on the go we decided to chill out and eat at the hotel in the evening giving us time to plan what we wanted to do over the next few days.