And now, another entry in the 'local transportation' series.
From Phnom Penh, the capitol of Cambodia, to Kampong Thom, a random
provincial capitol, and from Kampong Thom to Siem Reap, home of Angkor Wat,
I took the local version of high speed luxury land transport. Also known as
a Toyota Camry. Mind you, I only paid for regular class, which is something
the airlines only wish they could do--fractional seating. Full capacity for
a Camry is after all eight people when you count the driver, although if
there's a lot of luggage you might have to tie down the trunk lid. If you
can, you might also want to try to find a vehicle which is left hand drive,
though the preferance seems to be for right hand drive vehicles. Presumably
they're used from Thailand and often Japan before that, but since there are
no VIN plates in SE Asia it's hard to tell.
The cambodian roads themselves are notorious, though they too are slowly
being rebuilt. The major roads have been demined for many years, and the
minor ones are mostly clean at this point too. Many even have bridges now.
But they still are dusty. From Battambang to the Thai border, I took the
other standard form of local transport, and this time there were 3 of us to
buy the 'four' back seats of the pickup truck, thus ensuring a ride with a
bit more hip room. The normal people in the back were taking the normal form
of cambodian transportation. Yes, you heard that right, pickup, if you put
10 (or 20) people in the back of the pickup, it does a pretty good job of
keeping the dust off the cargo, though the cargo does end up getting a bit
squashed.
The last form of long distance transport is by boat. (Well, airplanes can be
useful too). From phnom penh to siem reap there's the hydrofoil. I never
took it, and wonder if its days are numbered, once the road is complete it
will be faster than the boat and probably more comfortable. From Siem Reap
to Battambang you can also go by boat, this too will be faster by road when
that is finished. In the wet season you go by decent sized speedboat. Yes,
fiberglass western style speedboats, unseen in most of SE Asia. Mind you,
the river is small, and the speedboats are destroying the banks with its
wakes, and even more irritatingly to the villiagers it swamps their floating
houses and often comes close to tipping their boats. In dry season, you take
a smaller boat for part or all of the trip. If you're lucky, you'll get a
tiny speedboat. If not, you'll get a bigger tourist boat which can take up
to 10 hours to go the whole way. Be prepared for this, and consider getting
a pickup if they try to put you on a tourist boat at the start. You'll be
dusty but there hours sooner.
--matthew
Posted by MBlain at March 14, 2002 12:00 AM