As this year’s trip draws into it’s final week, we decided to take a short trip to Battambang. This is an important secondary city with about 100,000 people and a close history with France and China, especially in its architecture. Remnants of that history can be seen everywhere. The first day we took a walking tour of the colonial and historic buildings which included some of these:
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| Chinese shop houses |
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| art deco roof of the market |
The next day we went out of the city a bit to a village called Wat Kor where we could see two examples of traditional style Khmer houses, albeit once owned by wealthier, politically connected families. Note that both styles, and all houses today, have steep external stairs leading up to the living space, while below is space for cooking, resting/sleeping in the shade, space for bicycles and motos. Both of these houses were built about 1908, but although they were abandoned during the Khmer Rouge time, surviving family members were able to reclaim them and now use them as tourist attractions.
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| plaster and wood living space on top. |
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| Inside the plaster house. Wooden beams and shutters |
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| All wooden house |
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| Beautiful wrap around balcony |
But the highlight of the trip was definitely a ride on the bamboo railway. This railway, though big with the tourist trade, is still in use with the locals who transport themselves and their goods on it through the countryside outside of Battambang. The “cars” are made of bamboo planks called “norries” and the beauty of them is that if two carts meet up with each other, well…watch my video and see:
Brilliant… wonderful to see the buildings, but the best bit is the train that comes apart to pass another! Maybe our railways can take a lesson….(although I’d hate to think what rush hour on the London-Brighton line would be like!)
Lovely photos, that veranda is fantastic.