The Amazing Eurasian Odyssey
Matthew Garrick (l) and Stephen Williams beside the tain that carried them to Phnom Penh. After an unnecessarily lengthy checkout procedure at our college (Institute for Tourism Studies in Macau), we were on our way to Macau International for our three- hour flight to Bangkok.
After changing our Macau patacas into Thai baht, Matthew decided to throw away his boarding pass along with the money exchange receipt. Luckily, he located it, probably to the amusement of the several hundred Chinese watching the funny gweilo (literally, in Cantonese, "white ghost") as Matthew rifled through the trash receptacle.
Many still perceive Bangkok to be stuck in the 18th and 19th centuries, but Bangkok is a very modern city. While some parts of Thailand are still undeveloped by today's (Western) standards, I must say that the capital city is quite impressive.
After taking the bus to the hostel district, we found our room and were off to get some food. We both have eaten a lot of Thai food in our past visits to the country. It is deliciously spicy and flavorful when compared to the foods of onother parts of Southeast Asia. But, , this time we wanted a good ol' American sandwich. That's right, none other than a delicious Subway sandwich! One really can't beat it when it is coupled with Thai's Sing- ha brand of beer.
The 161- mile train route between Battambang and Phnom Penh featured a passenger car in an advance state of decay. That night, we browsed around the local shops in search of Indiana Jones- style leather hats. We decided these would be the perfect addition to our backpacker/adventurer gear, but, alas, none were to be found.
We did not stay up very late that night because we knew we had to be up early to catch the train to the Thailand's Eastern frontier, Aranyaprathet, which sits by the Cambodian border.
The train ride was a wholly interesting experience, although not nearly as exciting as our later ride across the Cambodian wilderness. Every few stops, locals would get on and walk up and down the aisle trying to sell their food and drink, which ranged from fruits to beer to fried chicken to rice and eggs.
This is the entrance gate to the Kingdom of Cambodia. The three spires are representations of the various ancient religious temple around the country, the most popular of which is Angkor Wat. After approximately five hours, we arrived at our destination. We did not stick around for too long, as we needed to get across the border to Poiphet, which is Aranyaprathet's sister city on the Cambodian side.
Once in Poiphet, we were surprised at the number of English- speaking locals, even though nowadays English is the international language of tourism. We found a taxi driver to take us two hours down the road to Battambang, where we would need to be the next morning to catch the once- a- week train to Phnom Penh.
The drive was extremely perilous, as the road was rarely paved. As the driver dodged basketball- sized boulders and drove blindly through dust screens (not to mention hurdling potholes), we thought that we might die.
In Battambang, we found a place recommended by Lonely Planet where we actually had a quesadilla and chicken wraps, along with an A&W Root Beer, which was amazing.
The streets of Poiphet, Cambodia, are dirty, dusty, and destructive to motorized vehicles. We were up again the next morning around 5 am to catch the train. This train route between Battambang and Phnom Penh is backpacker legend. The train, only about five cars in length, had two passenger cars. To say they were decrepit would be an understatement. There were holes in the cars where the rotting floorboards had given way probably decades ago. Literally, one could fall through the floor if he was not careful. Some of the benches were displaced or overturned. It was dirty. It was dangerous. It was great!
There were a few other backpackers there, as well as a number of locals. They knew what to do, it seemed, as they brought hammocks to hang in the empty box car. THAT would have been a good idea, as the wooden seats were ridiculously uncomfortable.
We were off, at breakneck speeds of about 18 km/hr (11 mi/hr). Though the total distance was not more than 260km (161 mi), it would take us the entire day to traverse the distance to Phnom Penh.
Once out of Battambang, we were surprised to see how rural Cambodia is. We would occasionally stop at villages, and it was like something out of National Geographic, including naked children running around. The villages were usually nothing more than a cluster of straw huts.
We found it amusing when we had time to get off the train (such as when they were loading cargo, a ridiculous amount of wood that eventually overflowed into the passenger car- thanks!), the general stores would ALWAYS have Coca- Cola. So no matter how basic life is or how far away from civilization one lives, one can always be assured, at the very least, a moderately cool Coca- Cola.
At most stops, locals would come up to the train windows and sell food. Nothing seemed too out of the ordinary, except for the baked snake (didn't try it, very charred) and meat- on- a- stick that I think was some sort of rodent (did try it, actually very good). We will see if eating any of this gives us the feared "Battambang Belly."
No one cared when wae climbed on the roof. Though the train wobbled quite a bit due to the crooked tracks, for the most part it was safe...well, as safe as riding on top of a moving train could be.
The Cambodian countryside was very beautiful, if not very flat. Palm trees would line the distance, though most of the land directly adjacent to the train track was marked for agriculture.
We heard that the trip was supposed to take 12 hours, though 18 is not out of the question "if it breaks down a few times." Instead, it took us about 20 hours with no breakdowns. The experience was entirely worth it.
We joined up with two of the other backpackers, found a hostel, and quickly hit the hay, after chatting with the hostel's French owner.
