Most of the reviews about catching a boat from Siem Reap to Battambang commented on how uncomfortable it was but also what a great trip it was. We decided to give it a try. We checked that the water wasn’t too low (the boats don’t travel when the water’s really low) and packed our bags for an early start. The reviews also commented that the pick up time had little to do with the time the boat actually departs! The time of departure was given as 7.30am. We were therefore pleasantly surprised that it was only 40 minutes late.

It took about an hour to drive around the town collecting fellow travellers and to reach the boat station. It wasn’t a problem rolling our cases down the ramp to the boat; again reading reviews we were ready to get our rucksack straps out from the case back pouch. (We have been travelling with rucksacks with wheels, or suitcases that could be used as rucksacks, why carry everything when you could pull it?). We were actually quite excited about the prospect, because in 8 months of travelling we hadn’t used them once yet; although it was close in Kiribati when the hotel “boys” carried the bags across the river for us!

We were one of the last to get on the boat, everyone else had been very good westerners and had walked to the back of the boat to allow others on behind them. Luckily it meant that we were at the front of the boat away from the engine with a good view and a bit of space. The only downside was a fine spray of dirty river water from the wash, nothing a shower later wouldn’t put right.

The route took us down the Siem Reap river into Tonle Sap lake then up the Sangker River to Battambang (pronounced Battambong). Tonle Sap is a huge lake in the centre of Cambodia. The water normally flows east down the Tonle Sap River to Phnom Penh and thus into the Mekong. In October when the Mekong floods, the waters reverse and the lake size increases 5 fold, flooding over the land. It actually makes Tonle Sap lake very nutrient rich as it gets the ingress from the Mekong annually.

As we entered the lake we came across floating houses and even a floating church. There was a smart restaurant there that would make a special place to watch the sunset. We crossed the top corner of the lake and then there was a lot more weed cover. It was just the sort of place to look for hippos, oh wait – wrong continent! We couldn’t see the mouth of a river, so it was a good job the captain knew where he was going. Floating water lillies continued to be a hazard for the rest of the journey, we stopped 10 times for them to be removed from the propellor. A simple blast of the reverse gear and we were off again.

The next few hours were fascinating as we motored through floating villages. We stopped to pick people up from houses, others were brought to the boat on another boat, and we dropped people and goods off. Stopping points were not organised points but the individuals would point to their house and that’s where the boat stopped. All goods were taken over the roof of the boat and stored at the back. We all stopped for lunch at a ‘service station’ where we added to the river volume by using their toilets. You could also buy something to eat.

After about village 4 we swung left to continue up a narrow, twisty stretch of river. Only 2 more hours to go….wish we’d had a pillow to sit on! The boat had to drop us off 10 km out of town as a new bridge construction had blocked the river. We had done our research and booked a tuk tuk driver from our hotel to meet us. Before the boat came to a stop, the front was covered in a swarm of tuk tuk drivers looking for business, we could hardly get off. The few westerners that had not done the research looked completely bemused, which we could easily understand as there was no sign of being anywhere near the second biggest city of Cambodia.

Battambang felt like a small dusty provincial town. Sam, our driver, proudly showed us the central market and walking street before mountaineering over the railway track (it reopens next year) and taking us to the small guesthouse we had booked, Friendlys’. (We immediately thought of the book; Eats, shoots and leaves as we had no idea what the apostrophe meant!) The day before we left Siem Reap we had been asked if we were going to see the bats at Battambang ( Lonely Planet you let us down here, no mention of bats!). We checked if Sam could take us; he could and so he returned 40 minutes later. After a quick shower to remove the river water and we were ready.

About 12km out of town is a mountain cliff. En route, Sam stopped at a BBQ stall to ask if we would like to buy what was on offer, snakes and paddy field rats. We declined the treat! There is a Buddha cave as well as others (#killingcave) and a couple of places to watch bats leave their roosts at dusk. On the road under one cave opening were lots of chairs and local bars. We stopped there briefly before Sam drove us around the corner. “If we climbed up the mountain for 5 minutes” he explained “we can see a different exit point, a great view and the sunset”. How right he was! We watched for over 40 minutes as a smoke plume of Asian wrinkle-lipped bats set out for their evening foray. Apparently there are about 6 million bats in 13 major colonies in Cambodia. What a view ! Sunset with bats flying across. This is where mathematical calculations came in. Which country has a similar biomass to 6,000,000 wrinkle-lipped bats! WhatsAp is a great tool for keeping in touch but there was a feeling that maybe Donald Trump had something, with his fake news comments (say it in his sneering, toe curling way and you have way more effect!). Andrew had told us that his guide said there were a trillion bats, and family members chipped in with disbelief – the cave must have the same biomass as the whole of China ! Phil, of course got going again with his mental maths and worked out that a mini bus of humans was closer to the truth! It’s probably somewhere between the two. Regardless, the 6 million bats and the biomass of China comment got us humming the tune for 6 million bicycles in Beijing. And I’m very sorry that you are now doing the same !

Friendlys’ guest house helped sort out our bus ticket to Phnom Penh for the following day. They even drove us to the bus station and gave us a bag of mangoes. A bit like our house in apple season, if you want one apple you have to take a carrier bag full! They were lovely people. The bus was a very comfortable minivan, run by Mekong Express. It left on time and stopped halfway for a bio break and some mango eating.

We arrived in Phnom Penh at the bus station just North of Wat Phnom, and got a tuk tuk to the Molyan hotel which had only been open one month. Phnom Penh felt an edgier city, not helped by quite a few people warning us to watch out for our bags. At night there are few street lights, it was, in places, a very dark city with few street lights. Having said that, we sat in the roof bar of our hotel watching the building opposite light up and a giant TV screen in the opposite direction. So there’s clearly electricity for some.

We had originally planned on being in Phnom Penh for two days but the Khmer New Year celebrations meant that there were no buses running the day we wanted to leave. Instead we chose to leave a day earlier and squeeze in what we could in a day.

When we were in Siem Reap a fellow traveller had given us the telephone number of a great tuk tuk driver, so we called him up and Van duly turned up at the agreed time. We started at the Cheung Ek genocide museum, better known as the killing fields. Will mankind never learn? The audio guide was excellent. It wasn’t a holiday maker destination but it was a must see memorial and was recent modern history happening in our life time. If you are interested in some of the real social history some reading material are the 2 books by Loung Ung which tell about the events of 1975-79 and what happened to her family afterwards. It is not surprising that 30% of Khmers are thought to be suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

To brighten the mood from Cheung Ek Van, our tuk tuk driver, drove us back into the city and before going to S-21 (another gruesome explanation that held no punches about what went on in this prison and interrogation centre) and making a city tour took us for lunch in a local eatery.

The people here do look poorer than in the Vietnamese cities. There are the same sort of shops but no lights in the dark recesses. It’s all just a bit tattier, but they are slowly recovering from a terrible 20th century. Let’s hope the 21st brings them peace and more prosperity. We spent the best $10 ever with a tip to Van, his eyes opened so wide as he couldn’t believe he could get that much money. Happy Khmer New Year to him!

We have met such lovely people, a lot of smiles and wishing to help. An unexpected bonus in Cambodia is that they sell red wine at a reasonable price! The decorations are going up for new year (14th – 16th), children are running around with water pistols and people are moving by the van load back to their home towns. Hotels and transport are shutting down. We had to leave Phnom Penh a day early as no buses were running on the 13th.

Next stop Kratié on the Mekong to try to catch a glimpse of the rare Irrawaddy dolphins.