Battambang’s Interesting Trains

My stop in Battambang was just a quick one: four days on the way to Phnom Penh, to run a few errands and hit its “must-see” attractions…

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Battambang’s vibe was immediately very different from S...

In many ways, it reminded me of Vietnam.

Luckily, even without all the competition Battambang’s ...

Exhibit A: my $12 room.

My reasons for coming to Battambang were threefold:

First, for the sake of yesterday’s boat ride.

Second, I was right at the end of my visa. Since Batta...

And third, to ride the famous bamboo railway.

So after spending my first day getting the visa (and ru...

Battambang’s bamboo railway (located just outside of to...

The “trains” are built of just a few basic parts: an en...

By quickly disassembling and removing it from the track...

…An oncoming car can easily pass by…

…And the single rail can be used for transit in both di...

The clever system is really Battambang’s primary touris...

Sadly, the whole thing is set to be dismantled any day ...

For my quick journey, I joined up with another group of...

(…and earn a few bucks by providing a “tour” of an old ...

Once we’d learned how to fashion glasses out of grass, ...

…And off I went for yet another day of exploring-by-bik...

The first thing I found on the way back to town was a s...

It seemed to be opened, but the inside was eerily empty...

Literally a ghost town of a mall.

Next up was yet another train-related sight:

Battambang’s old, out-of-use railway yard.

I found this area to be *incredibly* interesting.

It was a sprawling graveyard of skeletons,

Parts,

Warehouses,

And even a community of locals who’d moved in and made ...

I spent considerable time exploring every nook and cran...

The rest of the day I pretty much just rode around the ...

I traversed its commercial center…

…Checked out its many roundabout statues…

…Zipped through its residential back-streets…

And even stumbled across some local entertainment.

All in all, I guess I’d describe Battambang as a basic,...

Note: These posts are behind realtime; the above took place in March, 2012.