4th February: Battambang, Cambodia
After the last few days of early starts and dusty, sticky journeys, we had a lazy morning. The internet in the hotel once again didn’t play ball but we did eventually get our final buses and hotels booked as far as Ho Chi Minh City and, therefore, were able to apply for Kaja’s Vietnam visa. Fortunately for me, UK citizens are now allowed 45 days in the country visa-free (recently up from 15), so that’s one less thing to organise.
Heading out for a late lunch, we wandered down the dusty streets back over the river. The old gravel streets are charming with countless murals on walls. It was down one if these that we ate a lovely mango salad, tofu amok (traditionally a creamy fish dish in banana leaves), and chha mareas prov – lemon grass, an aniseed leaf, morning glory, and other veggies in a ginger sauce. At the end of the street, a gorgeous old at deco clock tower sat over the market.
Battambang has an odd feel to it. It’s artsy but this is set amongst dusty and muddy streets. There is obvious poverty, but food and other items are oddly expensive. For example, about half a day’s wage at the median income for a dish at a low-end restaurant aimed at foreigners. There are a weirdly high number of westerners here too, with many seemingly to work for NGOs. I wonder what impact the recent US funding cuts will have on many of these groups. Broadly speaking, the reduction of US ‘soft power’ must surely be a good thing for the world. However, some local people do currently benefit as a side-effect of this ready-to-coup global network being in place, and they will be the ones to suffer in the short term.
Back in the room, we watched the sun set as a deep red orb in the dusty skies. At around 7pm, a prayer began to echo atmospherically into the dark skies from a very loudspeaker in the Wat beside the hotel. Everywhere you look in Battambang, there seem to be beautiful Wats.
A little peckish but out of local money, we ventured to a line of cash points. These gave money in US dollars but only in 100-dollar bills! Given they also charged a substantial fee, I drew out what I thought we’d need for a couple of weeks. Walking back in the dark with the equivalent of 25% of per capita GDP felt a little sketchy. Thankfully, a shopkeeper was happy to change a note, and we got some smaller bills in both dollars and riels. I walked back, two 8-year-olds flew past on a motorbike. At least when they stopped to pick up two more friends their combined ages would’ve at least been old enough to drive!
The restaurant from last night was closed, so we tried a local spot across the road. We clarified twice that they could make fried rice without meat but, of course, there was meat! This is the third time today that we’ve ended up with meat or milk in something we were told definitely didn’t have it! I’m not sure how, with translation apps, this has happened so often. I can only think that Cambodian people don’t widely understand that people wouldn’t want something and think they’re doing you a favour by putting it in anyway? Who knows, but we will try to find out. Regardless, the fried breaded mushrooms were at least meat free and tasty!