14. The boat to Battambang

I chose to travel to Battambang by boat. It is billed as the most scenic boat trip in Cambodia, and can take anything between 4-8 hours depending on the river conditions. Our journey took almost 8, and the water level was pretty low. The bus was cheaper and quicker, but hey, nowhere near as interesting! 

Our boat was jam packed. There were the same number of people sat on the roof! I decided to stay in the shade and the cool.

This was the guy at the rear looking after the engine, sitting amongst the push bikes and boxes.

Note the width of the channel! Luckily it was all floating reed beds and vegetation which they frequently just ploughed their way through! 

The driver sat at the front steering like it was a car. They stopped at one point to fix the gear box, and that made an improvement! 

We travelled past many floating villages, picking up and dropping off people and post, boxes and other paraphernalia. 

We stopped at a local shop for some provisions and a loo stop. There were so many people on the raft like structure that our feet were getting wet!

The loo was the hut at the side, straight into the water below. 

That was a better option than on the boat though.... Both were squat toilets, but on the boat squat also meant stooping to fit into the cubicle that was only 4 foot high..... A job for me so must have been almost impossible for someone tall! 

We passed all sorts of wildlife... White egrets, 2 beautiful birds which I thought were kingfishers but  found out later they were bee eaters. A bird of prey circling round. Flooded trees. Lots and lots of swallows, fish leaping out of the water, lots of villagers going about their daily business, and huge draped fishing nets. 

We met boats coming the other way a which sometimes meant we hit the river bank or the boats moored alongside. 

And trees whose roots are getting more and more exposed as the river banks get work away by the wash from these fast boats. (It didn't seem fast but that's what they are called... Fast with an engine as opposed to the locals who paddle). No wonder they locals don't like the boats with all the havoc they bring.