[Cambodia] Chapter XXVII: In which we undergo, at a speed of 15 km/h, a course of Khmer geography

There are two ways of getting from Siem Reap to Battambang. One --- by bus --- is cheap, fast, comfortable, and purportedly air-conditioned. The other --- by boat --- is expensive, slow, crowded, and exposed to the elements --- water, wind, sunshine, and the occasional protruding tree branch. Not surprisingly, locals use the

bus, and the only people travelling by the scenic boat route between the two cities --- across the Tonlé Sap lake and through its rivers, waterways, and wetlands --- are tourists and perhaps one or two inhabitants of the lake's many floating villages.

Needless to say, we opted for the second alternative, the better to glimpse the lives of rural Cambodians upon the water. Given that we travelled at the very end of the wet season, when the lake was at its highest and widest, and that we were lucky enough to have chosen a day that was mostly overcast and therefore not too oppressively hot, the six-and-a-half-hour ride was quite bearable, if at times a tad monotonous, and the scenery beautiful to be behold when away from human settlements, and most educational when near them.

Note that despite the map showing the route as if over land, all of it is actually over water at this time of year, when the Cambodian floodplain is fully flooded.

Accommodations:
- Star Hotel, Battambang (1 night; ok)

Photo captions: (a-dd) life on and around the Tonlé Sap